maintains that helicopter base, but fixed-wing medical traffic tells the bigger story. “What we’ve seen particularly during COVID and post-COVID is a lot of fixed-wing airplanes coming and going out of here on a daily basis, bringing patients to Las Cruces area hospitals. We probably average about six medevacs a day.” INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS AND COMMERCIAL AVIATION CHALLENGES Las Cruces International Airport possesses infrastructure that rivals facilities serving much larger communities. The longest runway stretches 7,506 feet, capable of handling regional jets and even Boeing 737s that occasionally land carrying college football teams. More significantly, the airport features an instrument landing system rare among airports its size.“We have ILS, which most airports our size don’t have,” Hume emphasizes.“We can handle CRJs and things like that. We have the localizer and glide slope systems.” Military aircraft arrive almost daily to practice instrument approaches, taking advantage of equipment that sets Las Cruces apart. “The NMSU football team, their charter flies in. We can handle charter service of that type as well,” Hume says. Sun Country Airlines and Allegiant Air have landed Airbus A320s and Boeing 737-800s here, proving the runway’s capability. In December 2022, three Sun Country 737s sat on the tarmac simultaneously after transporting the New Mexico State Aggies from a bowl game. Yet despite these advantages, terminal limitations throttle commercial growth. The current facility cannot accommodate Transportation Security Administration requirements for larger aircraft. “Because of the size of our terminal, we have an eight-passenger King Air that flies our service. We could fly a larger aircraft, a 15-passenger or something like that, but that’s really the limiting factor,” Hume explains. Operating without an air traffic control tower actually benefits current operations.“It allows a little bit more freedom of flight,” Hume notes.“The pilots very easily talk with each other and communicate amongst themselves. If I need to go out and do an 4 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 07
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