Durango-La Plata County Airport is set to begin Phase 1B of its terminal expansion plan in October, aiming to significantly upgrade and expand its facilities to accommodate increasing passenger traffic.
The project received a significant boost late last week when it was announced that the airport will be awarded nearly $13 million in federal grant funding.
Phase 1B of the terminal expansion project will add 19,728 square feet to the existing terminal and renovate an additional 19,000 square feet of current space. The expansion will introduce two new airline gates and passenger hold rooms, an enlarged TSA screening checkpoint, updated food and beverage concessions, and a new, expanded baggage claim area. The upgrades aim to enhance passenger and baggage flow and align the airport with contemporary design standards.
Grant funding for Colorado airports comes from the Airport Improvement Program and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, along with additional discretionary funds secured by Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021 allocated $15 billion to airport infrastructure funding.
DRO Aviation Director Tony Vicari said the grant was anticipated and integral to the plan for the final phase of the airport renovation project.
“Colorado’s airports connect rural communities and power local economies,” Hickenlooper said in a news release issued by the city of Durango. “Our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is still delivering improvements to make air travel safe and accessible for all Coloradans.”
The expansion is expected to support the airport’s capacity needs, as the facility has experienced a steady increase in passenger numbers over recent years. The design incorporates modern technology to streamline operations and enhance efficiency, addressing both current and future travel demands.
The $28.5 million phase is funded through a mix of federal and state grants, airport revenue and a roughly $8 million loan from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Vicari said about $19 million, or 65% of the total project cost, will be covered by grants.
Phase 1B aims to relocate DRO’s American Airlines terminals from the temporary tent structure, which is nearing the end of its service life.
“The concept of being able to add both additional flights to our incumbent carriers or solicit new entrant airlines into the market was very difficult from a gate capacity perspective,” Vicari said. “We need to be able to have a space for those airlines to operate and run their gate operations, stage their passengers.”
He added that although the airport’s security checkpoint is not normally an obstacle for overall passenger traffic, its awkward placement has led to some inefficiencies in passenger flow.
DRO is seeing another big year traffic wise. Nearly 55,000 people passed through DRO in the first three months of this year, an increase of 15% from the 47,628 people who used the airport during the same period in 2023.
Last year, the airport set a record with 431,828 passengers. DRO also added two United Airbus A319s servicing Denver to meet strong passenger demand in 2023.
Vicari said once Phase 1B is complete, airport administration will decide what to do with the temporary tent structure.
“We’ll have some decisions to make relative to whether we would maintain that structure, mothball it, decommission it, demo it, etc.,” he said. “But the intent is that it wouldn’t be actively occupied once we’re done with Phase 1B.”
In April, construction on Phase 1A of the project was complete, costing $7 million that added 24,000 square feet to the airport.
Phase 1B is on schedule and expected to be completed by 2026, Vicari said.
“It’s a long project that will actually open in segments,” he said. “There’ll be pieces that come online through that period.”
tbrown@durangoherald.com
