Los Alamos Airport , also known as Los Alamos County Airport, is a county-owned, public-use airport in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States. It is located one nautical mile (2 km) east of the central business district of Los Alamos, New Mexico. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility. History The airport was built in 1947 by the Atomic Energy Commission as part of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, but the federal government transferred the facility to county ownership in 2008. Facilities Los Alamos Airport covers an area of 89 acres (36 ha) at an elevation of 7,171 feet (2,186 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 9/27 with an asphalt surface measuring 6,000 by 120 feet (1,829 x 37 m). Because of the restricted airspace immediately to the south of the runway, and the noise-sensitive residential area just west of the runway, Los Alamos Airport employs a non-standard traffic pattern. All takeoffs, regardless of wind conditions, are to the east on runway 9. All landings, regardless of wind, are to the west on runway 27. Unlike many airports, the orientation of the runway at Los Alamos was chosen due to geographic necessity rather than preferential wind alignment. Pilots will frequently encounter a gusty crosswind at this airfield, particularly in spring. This fact, combined with the rugged terrain off the east end of the runway, has given LAM a reputation for being a challenging airport at which to land. Historical airline service Los Alamos has seen scheduled passenger airline service to Albuquerque since the airport opened in 1947. Carco Airlines was the first, operating primarily Beechcraft Bonanzas through 1969 under contract with Los Alamos National Labs. A number of commuter airlines operated turboprop aircraft on the Los Alamos - Albuquerque route as well including Ross Aviation which was subsequently awarded the contract and flew de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters through 1995. Occasionally Ross would operate larger, 50-seat de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7s when passenger loads warranted. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), in late 1988 Ross Aviation was operating nine departures every weekday from the airport nonstop to Albuquerque including four flights with the Dash 7 and five flights with the Twin Otter. Peacock Air briefly provided flights to Albuquerque in late 1995 using Swearingen Metroliners followed briefly by