Taos Regional Airport

regional Airfield

The Taos Regional Airport opened in March, 1967 as the Taos Municipal Airport serving Taos, the Taos Ski Valley, and northern New Mexico. The name was changed to the Taos Regional Airport in the early 2000’s. The airport opened with one runway and a second runway was constructed in the mid-2010’s that is much longer and able to accommodate regional jets. Several commuter airlines have served Taos in the past with flights to Albuquerque and Denver. Today the airport receives seasonal service by a public charter airline using 30-seat regional jets on flights to Dallas and Austin in Texas as well as Los Angeles and San Diego in California. As of the fall of 2022, a new 8000 square foot terminal building is planned to be constructed at the Taos airport along with new roadways and parking.

Historical commercial airline service:

Air Terminal

Trans Central Airlines is thought to be the first airline to serve Taos as they reportedly provided service to Albuquerque for the 1968/1969 ski season.

The Santa Fe Airline Company operated a single flight to Santa Fe and Albuquerque from late 1973 through late 1974 and added several Saturday only nonstop flights to Albuquerque during the winter ski season. Cessna 206 aircraft were used.

Taos Airways operated two Saturday only flights between Albuquerque and Taos for the 1973/1974 winter ski season. The carrier used small Beechcraft aircraft.

Mountain Air operated a Cessna 402 aircraft on a Denver-Taos-Santa Fe-Albuquerque route from late 1974 through 1975.

Zia Airlines provided flights to Santa Fe and Albuquerque from 1975 through 1978 using Cessna 402 aircraft.

Trans American Airways operated weekend flights on a Denver-Taos-Santa Fe route in 1976 through 1977 using Cessna 402 aircraft.

Trans Western Airlines made a stop in Taos along their Santa Fe-Denver route for a short time in 1978. Other stops were also added at Espanola, New Mexico and Alamosa, Colorado.

Star Airways operated a Saturday only flight to Denver during the winter ski season of 1978-1979 using a Piper Navajo aircraft.

JetAire operated a single daily flight between Albuquerque and Taos from November, 1985 until the carrier ceased operations in mid-January, 1986. The carrier used a Handley Page Jetstream aircraft.

SierraWest Airlines was due to begin service from Taos to Albuquerque on March 1, 1987 however it is not known if the service began and/or how long it may have lasted.

Mesa Airlines began operating to Taos on a seasonal winter ski season basis. During the 1986-1987 ski season, three Saturday only nonstop flights to Albuquerque were flown with Beechcraft C99 aircraft. During the 1987-1988 season, daily flights were flown on an Albuquerque-Taos-Colorado Springs-Denver route. On June 13, 1988 year-round service began with daily flights to Santa Fe and Albuquerque using a Cessna Caravan aircraft. Extra nonstop flights to Albuquerque were still flown on Saturdays during the 1987-1988, 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 ski seasons with Beech C99, Beech 1300, and Beech 1900 aircraft. All service was discontinued on April 6, 1991.

Rio Grande Air, based in Taos, began flights from Taos to Albuquerque on March 1, 1999 using Cessna 207 aircraft. One month later the flights began making a stop in Los Alamos and Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft were soon added. All service ended on June 23, 2004 when the carrier ceased operating.

Westward Airways operated nonstop flights to Albuquerque from November 30, 2004 through July 14, 2005. The carrier used Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. No other carriers served Taos for the next 13 and a half years.

Ultimate Air Shuttle, a public charter airline doing business as Taos Air, operated flights on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays to Dallas Love Field and Austin, Texas from December 20, 2018 through March 31, 2019 for the ski season. The service was planned to resume for the summer season from June 27 through September 22, 2019 but was cancelled due to a termination of the contract with Ultimate Air Shuttle. Taos Air used a 30-seat Fairchild Dornier 328Jet aircraft. The Taos airport had recently opened a new runway which is much longer and more adequate for handling jet aircraft.

Taos Air then purchased two Fairchild Dornier 328 jets and resumed service for the 2019/2020 ski season under a new contract using Advanced Air to manage the operation. Austin and Dallas service resumed December 19, 2019 and new service to Carlsbad and Hawthorne, California was added on January 9, 2020. All flights operated three days per week. Service was scheduled to end on April 12, 2020 however all flights were discontinued after March 16 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. No service was operated during the summer of 2020 or the 2020/2021 ski season due to the ongoing pandemic. Service resumed for the summer of 2021, from July 1 through September 27, for the 2021-2022 ski season from December 15 through April 4, and for the summer of 2022 from June 30 through September 27, all under the contract with Advanced Air. During the summer of 2022, service to Austin was operated through the Austin Executive Airport. All flights continued to operate three days per week during the winters and only two days per week during the summer operations.

The Taos Air contract was then switched over to JSX Air using 30-seat Embraer-135 and Embraer-145 regional jets beginning with the winter 2022/2023 ski season from December 15 through April 3. Service continues to Dallas Love Field Airport service to Los Angeles is now flown through the Burbank Airport rather than Hawthorne, California, Service to Austin was operated through the Austin Bergstrom International Airport for the winter and summer of 2023 and moved back to the Austin Executive Airport beginning with the winter 2023/2024 ski season. Service to San Diego operated through the San Diego International Airport for the winter and summer of 2023 then back to Carlsbad, California beginning with the winter 2023/2024 season. Winter service operates four days per week to Dallas and Austin and three days per week to Los Angeles and San Diego. Summer service operates two days per week to each city.