| Eagle County Regional Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: EGE – ICAO: KEGE
EGE
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Eagle County | ||
| Serves | Eagle, Colorado | ||
| Location | Gypsum, Colorado | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 6,540 ft / 1,993.4 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 7/25 | 9,000 | 2,743 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2006) | |||
| Passengers | 218,105 | ||
| Aircraft operations | 40,840 | ||
| Sources:[1] | |||
Eagle County Regional Airport (IATA: EGE, ICAO: KEGE, FAA LID: EGE), sometimes referred to as Vail/Eagle Airport or the Eagle Vail Airport, is a public airport located four miles (6 km) west of Eagle, Colorado, United States. The airport serves its namesake Eagle County, which includes visitors to the nearby Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts. It covers 632 acres (256 ha) and is configured with a single runway. The History Channel rated Eagle County Regional Airport as #8 on its list of Most Extreme Airports in July 2010 due to the altitude, weather variability, an approach through mountainous terrain and challenging departure procedures. In 2008-2009, the airport finished its runway repaving and extension which brought the runway up to 9,000 feet. This enables planes to take off with more weight.
The airport is highly seasonal, and most of its scheduled flights only operate from EGE during the winter. It is the second busiest airport in Colorado during the ski season, the first being Denver International Airport. Operations into the airport during the summer months have proven to be increasingly popular with tourists, but only United Express and American Airlines offer service year-round. Due to the abundance of flights (and bad weather) during the ski season, some passengers fly into EGE rather than attempting to fly into Aspen. The Eagle County Airport is also popular with private aircraft operators.
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EGE's terminal facilities consist of a single concourse with five gates, constructed in 1996. The airport offers customs facilities for private aircraft (in a separate terminal), as well as free Wi-Fi. There are four luggage carousels (in addition to a special ski/snowboard slide), two TSA screening lanes, a restaurant and a gift shop. Like most Colorado airports, there are no jetbridges, all passengers exit and enter the plane via airstairs.
Most major car rental companies are also present. Eagle County has its own transportation department with buses running between the airport and ski resorts.
There are several private charter companies that offer service to Vail, Beaver Creek and Aspen.
The Eagle County Sheriff is in charge of airport security. The airport has it own ARFF department with 3 trucks, and an BLS ambulance. The airport has several trucks used for snow removal operations. The tower is staffed by county contract air traffic controllers and not the FAA.
Aircraft departing runway 25 must make a left turn to avoid terrain and the town of Gypsum, Colorado. There is no standard ILS at the airport, so all aircraft come in with VFR, DME or LDA approaches. However there is a special ILS which requires permission and training from the FSDO.[2] All IFR clearances are given by Denver center.
In the winter, American, Delta, and United provide non-stop jet service between EGE and 12 major airports in 11 U.S. cities. American Airlines replaced its previously-operated Newark-Eagle route with a non-stop flight to its new gateway at New York's JFK International Airport, providing connections throughout the East coast and across the Atlantic.
Summer options include daily non-stop flights on United Express. Services link Eagle County Airport to their Denver hub, with connections to hundreds of domestic and international cities. A CRJ700 of SkyWest Airlines is used.
In the summer of 2008, United Airlines also offered service to their hub at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, offering additional connection options. This service is now only offered in the Winter.
In the summer of 2010, American Airlines will offer summer service to Miami for the first time.
During the ski season, airlines mostly operate the Boeing 757 which are able to make non-stop flights to most U.S. airports. United operates the 737-700 on its daily Newark nonstop flight as well as select frequencies to Houston, in addition to 757-200 service. United also operates the A319 into EGE during the winter season. Year-round, United Express (operated by SkyWest) regularly flies CRJ-700 aircraft into EGE.
There are no jetways at EGE; all passengers board and disembark their aircraft via airstairs. [3]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| American Airlines | Dallas/Fort Worth Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia |
| Delta Air Lines | Seasonal: Atlanta |
| United Airlines | Seasonal: Denver, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark |
| United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines | Denver |