Airports

One-year-old Grayc (pronounced Gracie) enjoys the Air Fair from on top of the shoulders of her father Aaron Sugar of Rifle at the Garfield County Regional Airport Sunday afternoon. The event featured historical aircraft rides, Green Beret Jump Team parachuters and fun activities for the family. Kelley Cox/Post Independent Click to Enlarge

Print Email

For travelers who prefer to fly in and out of the Western Slope — as opposed to making the drive to places such as Denver — they’re in luck. Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle, and Mesa counties offer several options for convenient air travel to and from the area.

Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, literally located minutes from the ski lifts, offers three airlines operating daily, year-round scheduled service. The airlines serving the airport are United Express (operated by Air Wisconsin), Northwest Airlink (operated by Mesaba Airlines) and America West (operated by Mesa Airlines). The airlines occupy ticket counters, baggage facilities and offices at the airport for full services to the flying public. Current annual airline enplaned passengers are 249,000, which makes the airport the third-busiest airport in the state.

Eagle County Regional Airport offers a direct route to the heart of the Rocky Mountains, with daily, nonstop jet flights from 13 major cities in the winter. With dining, retail shops, and ground transportation and rental car facilities, Eagle provides big airport amenities in a personable setting. The airport offers service from American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, United Express and US Airways airlines.

The Garfield County Airport, east of Rifle, is a general-aviation facility open 24 hours a day. The facility offers hangars and tiedown parking for planes. As of May 2007, 66 aircraft were based at the airport, and airport operations averaged 136 per week. Around-the-clock refueling, limousine service, aircraft maintenance, helicopter charters and other serviced are available.

Grand Junction’s Walker Field Airport, located one mile from Interstate 70, serves western Colorado and eastern Utah. It features more than 19 daily departures to Denver, Phoenix and Salt Lake City, and more than 500 one-stop connections to cities in the United States, Canada, Europe and Central America. Allegiant Airlines provides service to Las Vegas; America Airlines offers daily service to Dallas/Fort Worth; Frontier Airlines has daily connections from Denver; Great Lakes Airlines and United Express/Skywest provide daily service to Denver; Delta Connection/Skywest offers daily service to Salt Lake City; and US Airways provides daily service to Phoenix. Walker also features Thunder Mountain Ground Services, offering ski charter flights from California, Florida and Texas, and gambling charters and airline diversions.

Airport Info
Aspen-Pitkin County Airport
0233 E. Airport Road Suite A
Aspen, CO 81611
(970) 920-5384
Fax: (970) 920-5378
www.aspenairport.com

Eagle County Regional Airport
P.O. Box 850
Eagle, CO 81631
(970) 524-9490
Fax: 970-524-8247
www.eaglecounty.us

Garfield County Airport
0375 County Road 352
Rifle, CO 81650
(970) 625-1091
Manager: Brian Condie
www.airnav.com

Rifle Jet Center
0375 County Road 352 Building #3000
Rifle, CO 81652
(970) 625-4833; (877) 358-3378
Fax: (970) 625-3833
www.riflejetcenter.com

AV Tech
0375 County Road 352 Building #2085
Rifle, CO 81652
(970) 625-8541
www.avtechcentral.com

Helicopter charter
DBS Helicopters
0375 County Road 352 Building #3060
Rifle, CO 81652
(970) 625-2991, (800) 805-8808
www.dbshelicopters.com
E-mail: fly@dbshelicopters.com

Limousine service
Preferred Limousine
0375 County Road 352 Building #1040
Rifle, CO 81652
Stacey Downing
(970) 379-2259, (800) 745-0181
www.preferredlimo.com
E-mail: reservations@preferredlimo.com
Owner: Stacey Brown

Aircraft Cleaning
Preferred Aircraft Detail
6500 County Road 315
Silt CO 81652
Owner: Mike Brown
(970) 379-6117

Glenwood Springs Airport
1172 Airport Center Road
Glenwood Springs, CO 81602
(970) 618-0778

Walker Field Airport Authority
2828 Walker Field Dr., Suite 301
Grand Junction, CO 81506
(970) 244-9100
www.walkerfield.com