Cortez Municipal Airport

The Cortez Municipal Airport is located in Montezuma County, Colorado, three miles southwest of Cortez. Located between Mesa Verde National Park and Ute Mountain at an elevation of 5,914 feet above sea level, Cortez Municipal Airport has restricted operating hours, seven days a week, for general and commercial aviation services. Denver Air Connection has interline agreements with both United and American Airlines and offers commercial flights to Denver International Airport and Phoenix Sky-Harbor International Airport. In 1949, Monarch Airlines (1946–1950) began operating scheduled passenger flights using Douglas DC-3 aircraft. By 1977, Convair 580 turboprop service to Denver and Albuquerque as well as nonstop service to neighboring Farmington was being offered by Frontier Airlines (1950–1986), the successor airline of Monarch. By 1982, Frontier was no longer in Cortez.

On August 3, 1959, a USAF Lockheed U-2 surveillance plane conducted an emergency midnight forced landing at Cortez Municipal Airport.[12] Laughlin AFB, Texas, was the starting point of Major Hsi-Chun Mike Hua's training flight when the U-2 aircraft engine failed at 70,000 feet mean sea level. Maj. Hua found his finest glide and found his way to a lit airport that wasn't marked on his map and that he hadn't previously been aware of. The runway at this airport was the only one in the vicinity that was lit at night. 8,834 aircraft operated at the airport in 2019 (an average of 27 per day), with 13% being air taxis, <1% being military, and 16% being general aviation. Then, there were 26 aircraft based at the airport: 1% multi-engine, 85% single-engine, and <1% helicopter. There is no control tower at this uncontrolled airport.

Pilots may control the medium intensity lights on the runway, which has a porous friction course surface of 100 feet in width and 7,205 feet in length. In the daytime, the FBO monitors the unicom frequency, which is 122.80. At both ends and the middle of the runway are three wind socks, each of which is illuminated. The optimum convenience for pilots is provided by a parallel taxiway that is the whole length and has four runway connections. Should an aircraft require fuel outside of standard operating hours, it is recommended that they contact the flying service in advance. There are two parking lots available at the Cortez Municipal Airport. There is free parking available in both the main lot and the overflow lot.