Austin Colbert/The Aspen Occasions
The Aspen-Pitkin County Airport offered its 2025 charges and costs on Monday, with will increase in hire charges and reduces in touchdown charges.
Pitkin County units charges and costs by a “compensatory” methodology that focuses on the airfield and the terminal, which means airport customers pay for what they use — like occupying house and touchdown on the runway.
The signatory touchdown charge will lower 10%, from $7.75 in 2024 to $6.98 in 2025.
Seasonal touchdown charges will lower from $10.85 to $9.77.
The final aviation touchdown charge will lower from $9.18 to $8.41.
Domestically based mostly common aviation is not going to see a change.
Gasoline flowage charge per gallon will stay the identical at $0.14.
Airline terminal shared house hire per sq. foot for all airways will enhance from $115.60 to $129.36.
For terminal unique and preferential hire house per foot will enhance for all, together with signatory, seasonal, exterior lined, and out of doors seasonal.
Passenger enplanements, touchdown weight
Some assumptions that inform the proposed modifications embrace elevated passenger enplanements and elevated airline touchdown weight as a result of United Airways’ gradual swap to Embraer 175s in 2025.
Complete enplaned passengers for the airport throughout fiscal 12 months 2025 had been forecast to be 50 passengers per flight, in keeping with historic load elements.
In 2024, there have been 335,115 whole enplaned passengers. In 2025, there may be an anticipated 9% enhance, with 364,579 passengers.
“Landings and passengers are crucial to setting price range charges and costs at airports,” mentioned Bryan Elliott, vice chairman of Ricondo & Associates, Inc., the monetary advisor utilized by the airport. “And so what sometimes occurs is there’s a 12-month sort of projection or forecast.”
The overall landed weight for fiscal 12 months 2025 is 67,000 kilos for CRJ700s and 75,000 kilos for E175s.
Much like the enplaned passengers, the overall touchdown weight can even enhance by 9%, shifting from 895,911 kilos in 2024 to 972,701 kilos in 2025.
American Airways and Delta Air Strains will proceed to solely have CRJ700s. United will regularly incorporate E175s into their fleet. From January to August 2025, 72% of planes shall be E175s, per revealed schedules. From September to December, 100% of planes are assumed to be E175s.
State, federal funding
All COVID reduction funding has been requested by the county as of the top of fiscal 12 months 2024.
“One large change that the airport and the county is experiencing in 2025 is that clearly throughout COVID there was federal reduction funding for airports, and it was utilized for and obtained between 2021 and 2024,” Elliot mentioned. “All of that’s been obtained.”
In 2025, the airport can even not obtain funding from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Originally of September, the airport didn’t obtain Federal Aviation Administration funding meant to help infrastructural wants as a result of its Airport Structure Plan has not been authorized by the administration but.
The airport can even not obtain funding “till we make progress on shifting the runway or not less than eradicating the lower than commonplace distance between our taxiway and runway centerlines,” mentioned Aspen-Pitkin County Airport Director Dan Bartholomew, in response to earlier reporting by The Aspen Occasions.
Due to this, the airport will see an 81% lower in web working income after grants. This can be a lower of $9.7 million.
“We misplaced $10 million, and that shall be ongoing,” mentioned Aspen-Pitkin County Airport Deputy Director Diane Jackson. “It’s sustaining, not modernizing.”
Different bills
Working bills embrace roughly $8.8 million for runway pavement upkeep, which shall be paid for with airport funds. The runway will endure its annual spring closure from Might 5, 2025, to June 1, 2025 for pavement upkeep.
Plane Rescue and Hearth Combating bills are cut up 60% to the airways and 40% to common aviation. Normal aviation income is budgeted to whole roughly $22.3 million for fiscal 12 months 2025, primarily because of the new fixed-base operator lease with Atlantic Aviation, which has but to be offered to the general public and the Board of County Commissioners.
“Sources of income, patio shelters, and so on., that could be coming in, however it’s primarily pushed by the change within the lease settlement with Atlantic Aviation,” Elliot mentioned. “So you may see that in 2024 the overall aviation income was roughly $17.7 million, and in 2025 it’s estimated to be $22.3 million.”
Different revenues in 2025 embrace $37 million, a 24% enhance from 2024. Airline revenues for 2025 is $6.8 million, which is up 7%. Web income funding priorities for the airport embrace, fund 100% prices of airfield upkeep, together with runway, taxiway, and aprons, construct restricted money stability in airport fund for airport modernization, and supply discretionary credit score for airfield requirement to credit score touchdown charges if obtainable.
Wanting forward
Pitkin County commissioners will hear the identical presentation throughout a piece session Tuesday. A primary studying for charges and costs is about for Nov. 6, and a second studying is scheduled for Nov. 20.
Commissioners set charges and costs in December of every 12 months based mostly on its adopted price range.
Charges and costs are efficient Jan. 1 of the next 12 months after adoption of a decision set by the commissioners.
Regan Mertz might be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.