Airport upgrades to LED

Albuquerque International Sunport has finished replacing the aging lights on Runway 8/26 with light-emitting diode fixtures after a project that kept the airport’s main runway closed for months. (aviatenm.com) The runway work replaced high-intensity edge lights and centerline lights on 8/26, the Sunport’s primary east-west runway for most commercial traffic. The airport’s own advisory board minutes first listed the lighting project for August 2024, then September 2024, before construction moved ahead. (faa.gov) (abqsunport.com 1) (abqsunport.com 2) Runway 8/26 closed on October 17, 2024, for runway and lighting repairs and stayed closed through May 16, 2025, according to an FAA notice cited by Aviate New Mexico. By April 2025, Sunport board minutes said Phase 2 was underway and the project was delayed; by July 2025, the minutes said the 8/26 lighting project had been completed. (aviatenm.com) (abqsunport.com 1) (abqsunport.com 2) Runway lights are the ground lights that mark the edges and center of a runway so pilots can keep alignment during takeoff and landing, especially at night or in low visibility. Federal Aviation Administration standards treat runway edge lighting as core airfield infrastructure, and Airport Improvement Program grants can pay for lighting projects alongside runways, taxiways, signs, and markings. (faa.gov) (ecfr.gov) The switch to light-emitting diodes fits a broader change in airport lighting, where older incandescent or halogen systems are being replaced with fixtures that last longer and use less power. The Federal Aviation Administration has separate engineering guidance for non-incandescent airport lights, and the Airport Cooperative Research Program has published a full maintenance guide for light-emitting diode airfield systems. (faa.gov) (nationalacademies.org) At Albuquerque, the runway project also lines up with a larger modernization push at the city-owned airport. The Sunport says its “Dream of Flight” renovation is upgrading aging terminal infrastructure for the millions of travelers who pass through the airport, while board minutes show a second lighting project later started on Runway 3/21, which is being redesignated Runway 4/22. (abqsunport.com 1) (abqsunport.com 2) The practical effect is simple: the Sunport’s main runway now has a new lighting system after the old one, installed in the mid-1990s, had reached replacement age. For passengers, the work was mostly invisible except for the long closure; for pilots, it changes the lights they follow on every landing and departure. (aviatenm.com) (faa.gov)