Work is scheduled to begin next spring on a project that will see the building of a new runway at a growing western Colorado airport.
Located at 233 Airport Road, the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport has seen its runway expanded no less than four times over the decades. Serving a ski tourist clientele, among other travelers, the airport has serviced upwards of 48,000 aircraft operations a year.
Now the facility, located 3 miles outside of downtown Aspen, has received a $37 million grant from Washington for the funding of a runway relocation and reconstruction program.
That funding is coming through an Airport Improvement Program grant via the Federal Aviation Administration.
In a statement, Democrat Senator Michael Bennet, calling the airport a “vital connection and economic engine for the region,” said the grant “will allow the airport to improve its infrastructure and respond to the future needs of the Roaring Fork Valley community.”
Long in the planning stage, the airport has previously received Airport Infrastructure Grant support to the tune of $9.6 million for the design of the runway, along with a previous Airport Improvement Grant of $2.1 million for the same purpose.
A press release from the airport has said that the facility will be closed for around seven months until late November of 2027 to complete the runway project.
The airport, an Associated Press dispatch some years ago noted, is “one of the nation’s most challenging for pilots because of its mountainous setting and the steep descent required to land.”
October 2, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Aspen-Pitkin Airport
