Los Alamos County Airport

Commercial Airfield

The Los Alamos County Airport was constructed in 1947 and was restricted to operate primarily for the Department of Energy and Los Alamos National Labs. The airport immediately began to receive commuter airline service with shuttle flights to Albuquerque but were restricted to official government use. In 1960, the airport was opened to limited public use for local citizens. Schedules for commercial service to Los Alamos were not listed in the Official Airline Guide (OAG) until 1975. The 3-letter identifier for the Los Alamos County Airport was initially WGS and was changed to LAM in 1978. After government sponsored air service was discontinued in 1996, the airport was opened to full public use. The city and county of Los Alamos then solicited for new service by other commuter airlines. By 2017, after several carriers made failed attempts at providing service, Los Alamos then decided to promote traffic and tourism to their area by using the Santa Fe airport rather than to continue searching for and subsidizing new carriers.

Historical commercial airline service:

Air Terminal

Carco Air Service began shuttle flights to Albuquerque in 1947 in connection with Sandia National Labs. The carrier used Beech Bonanza, Beech-18, and Piper Aztec aircraft. Carco’s service continued until 1969 when the contract for Los Alamos service was switched to Ross Aviation.

Ross Aviation acquired the shuttle service contract between Albuquerque and Los Alamos from Carco Air Service in 1969. Ross initially began using Piper Aztec aircraft but upgraded to De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters by the early 1970’s, operating shuttle flights every two hours. During the 1980’s the carrier obtained De Havilland Dash-7 aircraft for use on flights with heavier passenger and cargo loads. As traffic declined in the 1990’s, flights were reduced until all service ended on September 29, 1995.

Peacock Air, a division of Merlin Express, began operating the Albuquerque-Los Alamos route on October 2, 1995, three days after Ross Aviation discontinued service. Peacock Air used Swearingen Metroliner aircraft but the carrier’s life was very short as all service ended in late December, 1995.

Mesa Airlines briefly operated the Albuquerque-Los Alamos route in 1997 from January 6 through May 2 of that year. Mesa used Beech 1900D aircraft.

Rio Grande Air began serving Los Alamos on March 31, 1999 by adding a stop at the city on their flights between Albuquerque and Taos. The carrier used Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft and service continued for just short of two years, ending in mid-January, 2001.

New Mexico Airlines, a division of Pacific Wings, began service from Albuquerque to Los Alamos on April 8, 2013 through a subsidy agreement from the city of Los Alamos. The carrier also used Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft and service continued until January 24, 2015.