[seventwenty]

Originally Posted by EngiNerd

Thanks for that, I had always assumed Front Range was used or going to be used for big cargo planes, but I guess that isn't the case.

It was going to be a cargo airport at one time.

Early last year aviation consultancy SH&E undertook a study here focused on identifying compatible business development strategies. Completed in August, the study articulated reasons the airport has not realized some growth goals, and identified opportunities thought to be achievable.

Air cargo and scheduled passenger service were identified as non-attainable; however, the upper end of general aviation, military, and aircraft storage were identified as target opportunities, explains Heap.

“Front Range began as a GA airport and was going to become a cargo mecca,” he says. “At one point, both FedEx and UPS had signed to be here, and FAA started putting money into the airport [in the early ‘90s].

“All of that was coming together, but due to cost overruns and other issues, cargo went back to DEN; FAA stopped developing for that.”

Even wiki says the 2011 Front Range Space Port concept had a major setback in 2012; citing financial incentives, the company backing the project moved to Texas.

Really, why would you build commercial infrastructure at Front Range when DIA's cargo area is about 10 miles away?