FARMINGTON, N.M. – After seven years without commercial airline service, the Four Corners Regional Airport will be offering flights sooner than you think.

“SkyWest is the number one regional airline in the world, so having that partnership here in the city of Farmington really brings some relevance to Four Corners Regional Airport,” said Nate Duckett, the mayor of Farmington. 

Starting May 8, SkyWest is bringing commercial air service to the Four Corners Regional Airport. There will be a daily flight to and from Denver each day, seven days a week, serving 50 passengers. The flight to Denver will leave Farmington early in the morning.

Airport manager Mike Lewis said there was a lot that went into making this happen.

“We’ve done a lot of upgrades to the runway. We repaved a runway, fixed up the area around the one runway to meet the classification that we need in order to operate jet aircraft. We’ve been doing work on the terminal to spruce it up and get it ready to go. We’re also working with TSA because we have to re-establish the security program,” Lewis said.

Conversations started with SkyWest in 2017, just a few months before losing Great Lakes Airline Service. The City of Farmington finalized their agreement last Tuesday, Jan. 14, with SkyWest. 

“Everybody’s very excited. There’s a lot of positive reviews right now on the social media websites. We know this is a big deal for our locals,” Mayor Duckett said. 

The mayor said a daily flight to Denver could open doors. 

“We recognize that having direct air service into our city is a big component when it comes to the quality of life of living in Farmington, getting family members to and from our area, also for business and for recruitment efforts. This is a big economic development,” he said. 

If the route is successful, SkyWest could add more flights.

“We service an area here of about 300,000 people that utilize Farmington for their business needs. We recognize that we have a large population all across San Juan County and the Four Corners that this airport is going to be much more convenient for than, say, driving to Albuquerque,” the mayor said.

You can start booking a flight this Thursday, Jan. 23.