Aspen airport closure

Aspen/Pitkin County Airport will shut down for 28 days starting Thursday, April 23, halting all commercial and general aviation flights until the evening of May 21. (aspenairport.com) The airport said the closure begins at 9 a.m. on April 23 and ends at 7 p.m. on May 21, while crews repair aging runway and taxiway pavement at Sardy Field. Pitkin County said the work was scheduled with airlines and local partners to limit disruption in 2026. (pitkincounty.com) Airport officials said passengers should work directly with their airlines on alternate travel plans, and private aircraft operators should contact Atlantic Aviation, the airport’s fixed-base operator. The airport’s Elk Lot long-term parking area will also be closed during the maintenance window. (pitkincounty.com) Aspen relies on a single runway, so paving work stops all flight operations instead of shifting traffic to another strip. The airport says the annual spring closure has become necessary in recent years because the pavement is aging. (aspenairport.com) The timing puts the shutdown between the late ski season and the Memorial Day travel rush. Pitkin County said it expects to finish before Memorial Day, with a second round of improvements later in the season handled overnight to avoid another full closure. (pitkincounty.com) The closure also sits in front of a much larger airport project. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport says enabling work starts in summer 2026 for a runway safety and modernization program that will require a one-season airport shutdown from April 2027 through November 2027. (aspenairport.com) That 2027 work follows voter approval in November 2024 for the broader modernization plan, which includes runway safety improvements and a new passenger terminal now in schematic design. Airport officials say the runway upgrade is intended to end the need for these annual spring closures once construction is complete. (aspenairport.com; pitkincounty.com) Before the shutdown, Aspen remains one of the closest commercial airports to the resort corridor, sitting about three miles from downtown Aspen and six miles from Snowmass Village. The airport says it is served by United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines, with local bus connections into Aspen and Snowmass Village. (aspensnowmass.com; aspenairport.com) For travelers, that means the spring closure is no longer a rumor or a tentative schedule. The airport has fixed the dates, and the runway reopens at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 21. (aspenairport.com)