Albuquerque International Sunport Albuquerque |
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Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
Owner | City of Albuquerque | ||||||||||||||||||
Operator | Albuquerque Aviation Department | ||||||||||||||||||
Serves | Albuquerque, New Mexico, US | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | 2200 Sunport Boulevard SE Albuquerque, New Mexico |
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Elevation AMSL | 5,355 ft / 1,632 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 35°02′21.6″N 106°36′38.8″W / 35.039333°N 106.610778°W | ||||||||||||||||||
Website | abqsunport |
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Map | |||||||||||||||||||
Location of the Albuquerque International Sunport | |||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2015) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Sources: airport website and FAA
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Aircraft operations | 124,174 |
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Total Passengers | 4,745,256 |
Albuquerque International Sunport (IATA: ABQ, ICAO: KABQ, FAA LID: ABQ) is a public airport 3 miles (5 km) southeast of downtown Albuquerque, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. It is the largest commercial airport in the state, handling 4,745,256 passengers in 2015. The airport serves Albuquerque and Santa Fe (also served by Santa Fe Municipal Airport).
Albuquerque was first served by two private airports. Oxnard Field opened in 1928, and West Mesa Airport, also known as the TWA airport, opened in 1930. The first airlines to serve the airports were Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT), Western Air Express (WAE), and Mid Continent Air Express, all inaugurating service in 1929. At first the airlines operated from Oxnard Field (which was also called Albuquerque Airport) but moved to the West Mesa Airport for most of the 1930s decade. TAT and WAE merged in 1930 to form Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA). Mid Continent Air Express' service was replaced by Varney Speed Lines in 1934. Three years later Varney changed its names to Continental Airlines.
In 1935 it was suggested that the city build a new public airport using Works Progress Administration money. Having secured US$520,500 in funding, Governor Clyde Tingley broke ground for the project on February 28, 1937. Albuquerque Municipal Airport opened in 1939 with two paved runways, a Pueblo Style terminal building designed by Ernest Blumenthal, and a massive hangar designed to accommodate the new Boeing 307 operated by TWA. TWA became Trans World Airlines in 1946. Monarch Airlines came to Albuquerque in 1947 then merged with other carriers to become Frontier Airlines in 1950. The airport was renamed Albuquerque Sunport on April 17, 1963.