Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Telluride Regional Airport sits at 9,052 feet on a plateau six miles west of Telluride in San Miguel County, Colorado, making it one of the highest airfields in the United States with scheduled airline service. Surrounded by peaks exceeding 14,000 feet and edged by a sheer drop to the San Miguel River, it presents a genuinely demanding but spectacular destination for visiting pilots. The field is publicly owned, hosts general aviation, charter and scheduled commercial traffic, and offers an ILS approach to its single runway.
Telluride Regional Airport is a public airfield owned by the Telluride Regional Airport Authority, lying six miles west of the resort town of Telluride in San Miguel County, Colorado. At 9,052 feet above sea level it is among the highest airports in North America to see scheduled airline operations, currently served by Denver Air Connection with flights to Denver and Phoenix. For the visiting simulator pilot it is notable chiefly for its dramatic high-altitude, high-terrain setting, its single runway perched on a plateau, and the very real operational challenges of density altitude and mountain wind that shape every arrival and departure.
The airport lies in mountainous terrain in San Miguel County, six miles west of the town of Telluride, with surrounding peaks rising above 14,000 feet. Denver Center provides area radar/centre service on 125.35 MHz, and Denver Radio (Flight Service) is available on 122.15 MHz. The airfield sits on a plateau with a roughly thousand-foot drop to the San Miguel River at one end, a feature that dominates the approach and departure environment.
The airport has a single physical runway, 09/27, of hard surface construction and lit for night operations. Runway 09 measures 6,897 feet and is served by an ILS; the reciprocal, Runway 27, measures 6,894 feet. Field elevation is 9,052 feet.
CTAF/UNICOM is 123.00 MHz, and the runway edge lighting, REIL and PAPI on both Runway 09 and Runway 27 are pilot-controlled on this same frequency. An AWOS-III automated weather observation is broadcast on 118.325 MHz. For wider area communications, Denver Center works 125.35 MHz and Denver Radio (Flight Service) is on 122.15 MHz. Instrument approach guidance includes a localizer on 109.3 MHz and a VOR approach referencing 110.2 MHz, in addition to GPS approach procedures.
Pilots operating at Telluride must contend with density altitude that can exceed 11,000 feet, and the airport itself closes nightly between 21:00 and 06:00, with no snow removal undertaken outside daylight hours. Runway lighting, REIL and PAPI for both runway ends are pilot-controlled via the Unicom frequency of 123.00 MHz. The combination of high terrain, a plateau-top runway and a steep drop to the San Miguel River at one end makes this a demanding environment that calls for careful attention to published approach and departure procedures and to mountain-flying technique.
The runway sits atop a plateau with a roughly thousand-foot drop to the San Miguel River below at one end, a striking and useful visual cue when approaching from that direction. The surrounding San Juan Mountains, with peaks exceeding 14,000 feet, dominate the skyline and provide unmistakable orientation for pilots inbound to the field, which lies about six miles west of the town of Telluride itself.
Scheduled commercial service to Telluride began on 19 December 1985 when Mesa Airlines introduced Beechcraft 1900C flights to Albuquerque and Denver, with Phoenix service added shortly afterward. Over the following decades a succession of carriers served the field, including Rocky Mountain Airways operating as Continental Express with Beechcraft 1900C and de Havilland Dash 7 turboprops, StatesWest Airlines, SkyWest Airlines as Delta Connection, and WestAir Commuter Airlines as United Express, among others, with routes to destinations such as Denver, Los Angeles and Laughlin/Bullhead City. Mesa Airlines' service ultimately ended in April 2011, and Great Lakes Airlines later took over the market before ceasing flights in March 2018. The runway underwent a renovation in 2009 that reduced a pronounced dip in its centre profile. Commercial service returned in August 2018 with Boutique Air, and the airport has remained the highest airfield in the United States with scheduled passenger flights.
The airport operates 365 days a year but is closed nightly between 21:00 and 06:00 local time. Aircraft and pilot services are available from 07:00 to 19:00 from 15 June to 30 September, and from 07:00 to 18:00 from 1 October to 14 June. Denver Air Connection currently provides the only scheduled passenger service, flying daily nonstop to Denver and Phoenix, while the field also handles a substantial volume of general aviation and private business jet traffic. Pilots are cautioned that density altitude can exceed 11,000 feet and that no snow removal is carried out at night.