Black Rock Airport was a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) northeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Zuni Pueblo Zuni Pueblo (also Zuñi Pueblo, Zuni: ''Halona Idiwan’a'' meaning ‘Middle Place’) is a census-designated place (CDP) in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 6,302 as of the 2010 Census. It is inhabited largely b ...

, a pueblo in

McKinley County McKinley County is a county in the northwestern section of the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 71,367. Its county seat is Gallup. The county was created in 1901 and named for President William M ...

, New Mexico, United States. It was owned by the Pueblo of Zuñi. According to the FAA's

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2009–2013, it was classified as a '' general aviation'' airport. Although many U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

, this airport was assigned ZUN by the FAA but had no designation from the IATA (which assigned ZUN to Union Station in Chicago, Illinois).

Facilities and aircraft

Black Rock Airport covered an area of at an elevation of 6,454 feet (1,967 m) above mean sea level. It had one runway designated 6/24 with an asphalt surface measuring 4,807 by 50 feet (1,465 x 15 m). For the 12-month period ending March 31, 2009, the airport had 110 aircraft operations: 91% air taxi and 9% general aviation.

Airport closure

On May 2, 2017, the new Andrew Othole Memorial Airport opened 5 miles west of the

. The new airport was the culmination of a 15-year effort to replace the Black Rock Airport. On November 7, 2017, the Black Rock Airport was closed to all traffic except for emergency medical aircraft. On December 11, 2017, the airport was further restricted to allow only emergency medical helicopters. Finally, on February 12, 2018, the airport was permanently closed to all aircraft. An in-depth history of the Zuni Airport / Black Rock AirportZuni Airport / Black Rock Airport
/ref> is available on the Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields website.

References

External links

Aerial photo as of 6 October 1997
from USGS '' The National Map'' Defunct airports in the United States Airports in New Mexico Transportation in McKinley County, New Mexico Buildings and structures in McKinley County, New Mexico