Albuquerque International Sunport
Albuquerque International Sunport, locally known as the Sunport, is the primary international airport serving the U.S. state of New Mexico, particularly the Albuquerque metropolitan area and the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Los Alamos combined statistical area. It handles around 5.4 million passengers annually and over 400 flights daily. ABQ is located in Bernalillo County, between the Rio Grande and the Sandia Mountains, east of Old Town and Barelas, 3 miles southeast of downtown, south of the University of New Mexico and directly to the west of Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base.
ABQ is a focus airport for Southwest Airlines, which accounts for over half of all passengers, and is served by several other major airlines, including Advanced Air, Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, Sun Country and United; cargo airlines serving the Sunport are FedEx Express, UPS Airlines, Empire Airlines, Ameriflight, Amazon Prime Air, and South Aero. ABQ is the center of the Air Route Traffic Control Center, which is responsible for the airspace over most of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as parts of Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas.
ABQ has a wide range of restaurants and shops, including national brands such as Hudson News and Book Sellers and Panda Express. It also features regional gift shops and local eateries such as Black Mesa Coffee, Rio Grande Brew Pub & Grill, and New Mexican cuisine restaurants like Tia Juanita's and Comida Buena.
The Sunport is unique for its low-lying structure and Pueblo Revival architecture, which references Albuquerque's Tiwa and Hispano heritage and New Mexico's Pueblo and Nuevo México roots. In a 2023 J.D. Power study, it ranked fifth among medium-sized airports in the U.S. based on customer satisfaction surveys.
History
Albuquerque was first served by two private airports. The Albuquerque Airport, later known as Oxnard Field, opened in 1928, and the West Mesa Airport, later known as the TWA airport, opened in 1929. The first airlines to serve the airports were Transcontinental Air Transport, Western Air Express, and Mid Continent Air Express, all inaugurating service in 1929. At first the airlines operated from the Albuquerque Airport but within the first year had moved to the West Mesa Airport where they stayed for most of the 1930s decade. TAT and WAE merged in 1930 to form Transcontinental and Western Air. Mid Continent Air Express' service was replaced by Varney Speed Lines in 1934. Three years later Varney changed its name 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 large hangar designed to accommodate the new Boeing 307 Stratoliner operated by TWA. TWA became Trans World Airlines in 1946. Within two years after the airport opened, the Albuquerque Army Air Base was constructed to the east. This facility later became Kirtland Air Force Base and still shares the runways and other facilities with the commercial operations of the airport today. Monarch Airlines came to Albuquerque in 1947 then merged with other carriers to become Frontier Airlines in 1950. Pioneer Air Lines began service in 1948 and merged into Continental Airlines in 1955. TWA, the largest of the carriers serving Albuquerque, introduced the first jet service in 1961 using the Boeing 707. The airport was renamed Albuquerque Sunport on April 17, 1963. In late 1963, Trans Texas Airways began service, rounding out the first four carriers to serve the airport prior to the airline deregulation act of 1978. Several smaller commuter airlines also served the airport over the years including Ross Aviation.
The present terminal was designed by William E. Burk Jr. It is built just east of the original terminal and opened on November 12, 1965. At first the terminal had eight gates, four at the main building and another four at a small satellite building to the south connected by a tunnel. None of the gates had jetbridges. The airport gained international status in 1971 and was renamed the Albuquerque International Airport on September 17, 1971.
The terminal has been expanded several times, first in 1973 when a west wing was added with a large gate and jetbridge able to handle new wide-body aircraft. TWA used this gate to introduce the Lockheed L-1011 to Albuquerque in 1974 with flights to Chicago. After airline deregulation was passed in 1978, a flood of new airlines came to ABQ. The west wing was expanded in 1980 with three more gates, all of which had jetbridges and were used extensively by TWA and several new carriers. Southwest Airlines, which started service on April 3, 1980, quickly grew to become the largest carrier serving the airport. Southwest used the old gates 1 and 2 at the main terminal and installed three ground level jetbridges at these two gates.
During 1987 through 1989, the terminal was greatly expanded and renovated advertising a design by Phillip Jacobson and BPLW Associates. A second level was added to the front of the building for separate arrival and departure levels, and the satellite gate building was replaced with two concourses, A and B, giving the Sunport 19 new gates, all with jetbridges. In 1994, the airport's name was changed to the current designation of the Albuquerque International Sunport. Concourse A was further expanded with four additional gates in 1996 and the above-ground connector link to the concourses was expanded in 2005 to accommodate the need for additional security screening by the TSA after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The three gates added to the west wing in 1980 were no longer used and were removed in 2007. From 2017 through 2020, the terminal received an extensive modernization and facelift.
Several fixed-base operators handling general aviation have operated at the Sunport over the years, the largest being Cutter Aviation, which traces its roots back to the original Albuquerque Airport in 1928. Cutter relocated to the current Sunport grounds in 1947 operating from a large hangar on the southwest corner of the terminal ramp. An all-new general aviation facility was constructed on the south side of the main east–west runway during the mid-1980s and the Cutter hangar was torn down for the terminal expansion of 1987–1989. A new United States Post Office facility and a new freight facility and air cargo ramp were opened in the 1990s. In 2001, a new off-site rental car facility was opened, and all rental car operations were moved out of the main terminal.
The old terminal of 1939 has been restored and houses offices of the Transportation Security Administration. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Historical airline service
The Sunport is served by Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United Airlines, as well as one commuter airline, Advanced Air. Total weekday departures averaged 83 flights per day in the fall of 2023; however, the Sunport peaked with 163 flights per day in December 1995 and again in August 2001. Many extra flights are added during the week of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in early October of each year.In the past, Albuquerque has been served by the following commercial airlines:
TWA, Continental, Pioneer, Monarch, Frontier Airlines, Trans Texas/Texas International, Eastern, Western, PSA, America West, Wien Air Alaska, USAir, Braniff, Pan Am, Northwest, Frontier, Reno Air, Western Pacific/Mountain Air Express, AeroMexico Connect, Great Plains, US Airways , ExpressJet, Allegiant, Volaris, and Spirit.
TWA was first: passenger flights began in 1929, with Albuquerque being one of many stops on a transcontinental route between Los Angeles and New York. TWA had the first jets to serve ABQ, the Boeing 707, and Convair 880 in 1961. In 1974 TWA brought the first wide-body jet to ABQ, the Lockheed 1011. Service peaked in 1979 with 21 daily departures to 13 cities including nonstops to Los Angeles and New York. After airline deregulation in the early 1980s, TWA downsized its operation and in 1985 only had flights to its hub at St. Louis. Service continued until December 2, 2001, when the carrier merged with American Airlines.
Continental Airlines was second at Albuquerque, since 1934 as a stop on its north–south route between Denver and El Paso. In 1940 Continental added flights to several smaller cities in Southeastern New Mexico but that was transferred to Frontier and Trans Texas Airways in 1963. In the latter half of the 1960s Continental expanded with Boeing 720, Boeing 727, and Douglas DC-9 jets nonstop to Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, San Antonio, and San Francisco. Service peaked in summer 1977 with 24 daily departures. Continental downsized its operation after airline deregulation and by 1994 was only flying to its Houston hub. Continental merged with United Airlines in 2012.
Frontier Airlines began service to Albuquerque in 1947 as Monarch Airlines, flying to Salt Lake City with stops at many smaller cities in the four corners states. Service was expanded in the 1960s with Boeing 727 and Boeing 737 jets to Denver, El Paso, Phoenix, Tucson, Dallas, and Las Vegas and in 1973 Frontier operated 19 daily flights at ABQ. Frontier began the first international flights to several resort cities in Mexico in the early 1980s but the carrier closed down in 1986. A new Frontier Airlines came to ABQ in 1994 with flights to Denver and El Paso. The carrier discontinued service in 2014 but returned in October 2017 with flights once again to Denver. Service to Austin, Orlando and San Antonio were added in 2018 but discontinued in 2019. Service was changed from Denver to Las Vegas, NV in 2022 but Frontier ended all service to Albuquerque by the end of 2022.
Pioneer Air Lines served Albuquerque between 1948 and 1955 with two flights per day to Dallas, Texas making eight stops en route. Pioneer merged into Continental Airlines in 1955 and by 1959 Continental was flying the route nonstop. The Albuquerque to Dallas route would be a major stronghold for Continental for the next 20 years.
In 1963 Trans-Texas Airways came to Albuquerque, taking over service to the smaller cities in New Mexico that Continental had served. It later expanded with nonstop Douglas DC-9s to Dallas and Los Angeles. TTA became Texas International Airlines in 1969 and flew DC-9's from ABQ to Santa Fe and Roswell, New Mexico. The carrier peaked in 1975 with 15 daily departures and merged with Continental Airlines in 1982.
Southwest Airlines began service to the Sunport in 1980 and expanded quickly creating a hub at ABQ. The carrier took over the number one spot by the early 1980s and peaked with 66 daily departures in October 2001. Although Southwest has cut back since then, it has served 29 cities nonstop from ABQ. The decline in service is attributed to the repeal of the Wright Amendment which only allowed air travel to Texas and airports in bordering states from Dallas Love Field.
American Airlines began serving the Sunport in 1979, Delta Air Lines in 1982, United Airlines in 1983, jetBlue in 2013, Alaska Airlines in 2014, and Sun Country in 2024.
At least 35 commuter and regional airlines have served Albuquerque, the largest of these by far was Mesa Airlines which served the Sunport from 1980 through 2007. Mesa peaked with 46 daily departures in 1990 and served 18 cities in New Mexico and Colorado nonstop from their hub in ABQ. Mesa still serves ABQ but now as a regional airline providing feeder service for American Eagle and United Express on regional jets. Other larger commuter airlines that served the Sunport for many years include Air Midwest and Great Lakes Airlines.
Regional airlines serving the Sunport on behalf of the majors are: CommutAir, Envoy, Horizon, Mesa, Republic, and SkyWest. Sun Country Airlines, iAero, and Denver Air Connection, also serve ABQ with regular charter flights.
In November 2018, low-cost Mexican carrier Volaris began serving Albuquerque from Guadalajara, Mexico, and later from Chihuahua, Mexico — a route previously operated by Aeroméxico Connect in 2009. Volaris stopped serving Albuquerque in June 2019 due to very low passenger loads and a disagreement over government subsidies to its flights. At that time, these were the only two international destinations offered by any airline flying to Albuquerque.