Northern Colorado Regional Airport , formerly known as the Fort Collins–Loveland Municipal Airport, is a public use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

located nine nautical miles (10 mi, 17 km) southeast of the central business district of

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and northeast of Loveland, both cities in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The airport is situated west of Interstate 25 and

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

is located about south. It is most notable for serving the tourist areas of northern Colorado, such as the Rocky Mountain National Park, which is situated directly west of the airport. FNL primarily serves the Fort Collins–Loveland Metropolitan area located in Larimer County. The population for the metropolitan area is approximately 300,000.

Avelo Airlines Avelo Airlines () is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier headquartered in Houston, Texas. It previously operated charter flights as ''Casino Express Airlines'' and ''Xtra Airways'', before transitioning to scheduled operations and rebranding as Av ...

launched service to both Burbank, California, and

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, in October 2021, it was announced that they would cease all service at KFNL by June 24, 2022, via press release from the airport, citing increased fuel and supply prices for their exit. As per

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

records, the airport had 31,094 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 31,079 enplanements in 2009, and 35,671 in 2010 when

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America. Allegiant was founded in 1 ...

was providing scheduled service. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport.

History

FNL opened in 1964 under joint agreement and ownership by Loveland and Fort Collins. The construction of the airport followed a significant rise in Colorado State University's (CSU) enrollment due to the civil rights movement. The name was officially changed by the Northern Colorado Regional Airport Commission at the regular Commission meeting on April 27, 2016, to the Northern Colorado Regional Airport to better reflect the area served by the airport.

Operation and management

FNL is jointly (50/50) owned and operated by the two cities of Loveland and Fort Collins. This means that it is publicly owned by the cities and follows a municipal structure. The Northern Colorado Regional Airport Commission provides direction for airport staff and is made up of two mayors and two city managers (one from each city) and three at large citizen members. There is no airport authority, which means funding and decisions are made on behalf of the two cities. However, to ensure proper balance in the decision-making process, the commission is required to communicate with both city councils and involve them in financial and development activities that occur outside of the councils' approved standard form. This was changed under the amended and restated Intergovermental Agreement dated June 7, 2016. The airport manager at FNL is Jason Licon, who previously served 10 years as airport manager for the Kankakee Valley Airport Authority in Kankakee, Illinois.

Facilities and aircraft

Northern Colorado Regional Airport covers an area of 1,065 acres (431 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of 5,020 feet (1,530 m) above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. It has two

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

s with

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surfaces: 15/33 is and 6/24 is . For the 12-month period ending January 1, 2012, the airport had 107,360 aircraft operations, an average of 294 per day: 96%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, 3%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, 1% scheduled commercial, and <1%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. At that time there were 237 aircraft based at this airport: 89% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

, 5%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

, 3% jet, 3% multi-engine, and <1%

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

. On October 2, 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that the airport would be used as a test facility for a remote air traffic control tower. This uses sensors and cameras that are operated remotely. The cost for this test phase was quoted at , paid for by the Colorado Aviation Fund, and unanimously passed by the board of the

Colorado Division of Aeronautics Colorado Division of Aeronautics is part of the Colorado Department of Transportation. The Division's main office is located at Front Range Airport. Aeronautics Board The seven-member Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) was created by statute in 19 ...

Past and future airline service

From the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, Fort Collins received service by small commuter airlines providing shuttle flights to Denver. There was then no service from about 1985 through 1990. From 1990 through 1993, the airport was served by Continental Express on behalf of Continental Airlines and from 1992 through 1997 by United Express on behalf of United Airlines. Both carriers operated shuttle flights to Denver using mainly Beechcraft 1900 aircraft. Continental Express also used larger ATR 42 aircraft. The airport was then served by

from 2003 until October 2012. In August, 2012, the airline e-mailed airport officials revealing that operations would end. The airline said it was due to an "internal business decision" to airport officials for a period of several months. In late September 2012, at a Texas airline conference, Allegiant CEO Maurice Gallagher told a reporter from Las Vegas, Nevada, that the airline left because the airport had no control tower. Since then, the airline has not elaborated on that issue. Allegiant Air previously operated McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliners into Loveland with nonstop service to and from Las Vegas and Phoenix/Mesa Gateway Airport. There was air service between the Northern Colorado Regional Airport and the Chicago Rockford International Airport, which was announced in June 2015, operated by Elite Airways beginning on August 27, 2015. Elite Airways primarily used the 50 passenger Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet and the 70 passenger Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet on the Fort Collins to Chicago/Rockford flights. On October 28, 2016, the flights with Elite Airways ended. In 2018 the Colorado Department of Transportation Division of Aeronautics was nearing completion on the Remote Tower Project at the airport. In 2021,

announced that it would begin operations at the airport, with flights to Hollywood Burbank Airport in California launching on October 6, 2021. This service was suspended by the airline on June 24, 2022. In 2021 United Airlines in partnership with Landline started operating "wingless" options with 4 times per day bus service to Denver International Airport. Luggage is checked through to your final destination. Passengers are presently not screened through TSA and will require them to go through security at the Denver International Airport. However, departures from Denver depart from the concourse level.

References

* FNL. (2007). Master plan update: inventory of existing conditions. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20101217062241/http://fortloveair.com/img/site_specific/uploads/A_Inventory_of_Existing_Conditions.pdf * History Connection. (2006). Fort Collins timeline 1960. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20110710232830/http://history.fcgov.com/archive/timeline/1960.php

External links

Northern Colorado Regional Airport

Northern Colorado Regional Airport (FNL)
at Colorado DOT airport directory
Aerial image as of October 1999
from USGS ''The National Map'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Colorado Regional Airport Airports in Colorado Buildings and structures in Fort Collins, Colorado Transportation buildings and structures in Larimer County, Colorado Transportation in Fort Collins, Colorado