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With flights from Santa Fe to Los Angeles returning this year on American Eagle, Santa Fe Regional Airport now serves four destinations - Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix, and Los Angeles on American Eagle, and Denver on United Express.
I wonder, do you think the next potential destination from SAF could be Houston (IAH) on United Express and/or Salt Lake City (SLC) on Delta Connection? Either one of those two seem like the most logical destinations to serve next from Santa Fe.
I wonder, do you think the next potential destination from SAF could be Houston (IAH) on United Express and/or Salt Lake City (SLC) on Delta Connection? Either one of those two seem like the most logical destinations to serve next from Santa Fe.
No, I don't wonder about it...
Albuquerque International Sunport (IATA: ABQ, ICAO: KABQ, FAA LID: ABQ) is the primary international airport serving the US State of New Mexico, the Albuquerque metropolitan area, as well as the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas CSA, handling 5,467,693 passengers in 2018.
With flights from Santa Fe to Los Angeles returning this year on American Eagle, Santa Fe Regional Airport now serves four destinations - Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix, and Los Angeles on American Eagle, and Denver on United Express.
I wonder, do you think the next potential destination from SAF could be Houston (IAH) on United Express and/or Salt Lake City (SLC) on Delta Connection? Either one of those two seem like the most logical destinations to serve next from Santa Fe.
Well, now that SF--LA has been added, why not SF--Bay Area? That would seem just as "logical" to the many California transplants in northern NM, and to NorCal residents keen on visiting The City Different.
I must say, that the long layovers in Denver to get anywhere on the West Coast (IDK about elsewhere, but the layovers are probably similar--3 hrs!) are kind of a pain. That's whether one flies from Santa Fe or from ABQ. Kind of makes New Mexicans feel low-priority on the schedule. I wonder if the layovers are any better/shorter from TX or AZ...?
I guess the main question relevant to the OP is: do Santa Fe residents want a larger airport? Keep adding new destinations, and another airport expansion will be needed eventually. This reminds me of how San Francisco used to be the main airport serving the entire Bay Area, while Oakland was a small home-town alternative. Then Oakland added service, and expanded. Then later, it expanded again, and was no longer a cozy, convenient little home-town airport.
Be careful what you wish for.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 02-19-2020 at 09:05 AM..
I dug into this a bit (I've worked in aviation for 30+ years so call it morbid curiosity), and Delta announced plans for service between SAF and LAX and SLC back in 2007. Those were suspended pending the results of an environmental impact assessment, and have never resurfaced. I assume the environmental impact assessment passed muster since American and United have added service since.
SLC and IAH would make the most sense as destinations. LAX probably does, too, given the tourism we get from California.
Now the bad news: Increasing service to a place like SAF is a complicated equation. We are close enough to a bigger airport that if the only result is pilfering passengers from one nearby destination to another, it does not make sense for the airlines. Some of the ABQ flights from those places are regional jets now, so reducing the load factor on two aircraft when one might be full is not a winning formula. And they would rather fly a single 737/A320/A321 into ABQ that is mostly full than two regional jets, one to ABQ and one to SAF.
As a passenger, I would rather be on one of those 737/A320/A321s than a regional jet. The reliability of the bigger jets is inherently better, meaning less delays, cancellations, and headaches. I don't think regional jets are unsafe, but I have had to reschedule more flights that were originally on them than on larger commercial aircraft. There is probably a perfectly good explanation for that, but it is not relevant here.
I've been told flying in and out of SAF is not the most dependable thing, either. Wind is the primary culprit. And when they have had to divert, particularly at night, ABQ is not always an option so they sometimes wind up going back to where they came from.
I know there is a plan to upgrade SAF to a regional airport. I have no idea if there is any money behind that plan. The main runway is plenty large enough for any equipment that might fly in and out of here. The problem is the other facilities needed to support increased arrivals and departures. I'm not convinced expanding SAF does not require building an entirely new terminal and bulldozing the existing one. That is a pretty big expense with a larger airport roughly an hour away.
So, could it happen? Sure, especially in peak tourist season. But the ceiling for how much the SAF airport can handle in terms of passenger movement is pretty low.
The Little Airport That Will
Cash for the Santa Fe Regional Airport expansion and upgrade is finally, really, seriously here
| June 21, 2019
City officials have talked about upgrades at the Santa Fe Regional Airport for years. On June 12, 2019 the City Council voted through the consent agenda to push an extra $1 million for parts of which already are under construction. Flyers can expect a new terminal, repaired runways and more parking once the project is completed.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a capital improvements bill in March that funneled $9.5 million to the airport project. And another $10 million coming in from other federal and state money streams over the next 19 months...
I've been through A LOT of airports in my time, both domestic and international, and the facilities in Santa Fe are HORRID...especially for an airport that serves a capitol city. The runway capacity, etc is fine, but the passenger facilities leave a lot to be desired.
Thanks for the info, Poncho. I'm not sure what to think of the money allotted vs. the final cost. Having worked in and around the government for over 30 years, I apply dog years to both time frames and costs.....multiply everything you hear by 7. Sadly, the dog years estimates are usually closer to the final result than the published estimates.
As for the current state of things, I don't fly out of SAF mostly because of on-time/reliability issues. Most of my travel is business-related, and the risk of it being delayed or having to be completely rescheduled makes the extra 45 minute or so drive to ABQ more than worth the effort. Not to mention I can park, grab a decent bite to eat if I want, and find a seat to get something done while I wait.
I describe the current SAF airport as "looking like a place the Hindenburg once moored."
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