RFP To Be Issued for Aspen Airport FBO

The Pitkin County (Colo.) attorney’s office has accepted Landmark Aviation’s submission of an application to open a second FBO at Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, thus triggering the mandatory issuance of a request for proposals (RFP). In 2012, the county-approved master plan examined the possibility of another service provider at the airport, which is currently served by Atlantic Aviation. However, before officials at the ski-country gateway can request proposals, exactly where any new FBO would go still needs to be determined, according to Brian Grefe, the airport’s acting aviation co-director.

Separation issues between the runway and taxiway exclude from Aspen any aircraft with a wingspan of more than 95 feet, preventing operations by aircraft such as the 99-foot-span G650. The airport’s airline traffic currently consists largely of the Bombardier CRJ700, which is expected eventually to be replaced by larger aircraft, among them the Mitsubishi Regional Jet or Bombardier’s own CS-100, all of which would have greater wingspans.

The airport authorities have begun plans on a $120 million project to relocate the 8,006-foot-long runway 80 feet to the west to meet FAA Group III standards for aircraft with a wingspan of up to 118 feet, while simultaneously widening it from 100 to 150 feet. The airport is in the process of completing the final part of a study required to submit an updated airport layout plan (ALP) to the FAA for approval. Once accepted, the plan would fix the location of any new FBO and associated ramp and new parallel taxiway on the west side of the airport. Grefe believes the new ALP will be submitted at the end of this year, which could pave the way for an RFP later next year.