New upgrades for Santa Teresa ahead of Amigo Airsho

The Amigo Airsho is finally opening to the public at a new location this year. A lot of work has been done around the the Doa Ana County Airport at Santa Teresa to get ready and expand capabilities.

It’s been in the works for the better part of two years now, and moving the Amigo Airsho has involved a lot of work. One of the biggest changes people can expect to see is a huge parking are for the Santa Teresa airport to accommodate a lot more people.

“A 37 acre parking lot,” said Bill Provance, manager for the Santa Teresa airport. “Holds 5,500 cars. A great big huge area, sand at the moment.”

That lot, built specifically to handle the huge influx of Airsho attendees coming Nov. 1 and 2, cost Doa Ana about $300,000, to be paid back by the Amigo Airsho over the next five years it will be at Santa Teresa.

Also in place are about $20,000 worth of refinishing and repainting of the runway to handle the incoming air traffic, paid for by federal grants. And the airport has a brand new customs station, at a cost of about $800,000 between the state and county. It won’t play a part in the Airsho, but will allow international traffic starting Nov. 7.

For the attendees, the new location will come a lot of changes. There will still be plenty of planes both on the ground and in the air, but the viewing area will be a lot closer to the show itself.

“This year, the formula is going to be totally different,” said Eric Gensheimer, president-elect for the Amigo Airsho. “It’s going to be easier, it’s going to be a little bit closer, more personable.”

The parking is a stone’s throw away from the tarmac – no shuttles from remote locations – and the audience will be sitting just a few dozen yards from the runway itself.

There is a trade-off though. With less total parking than at Biggs Army Airfield, there will only be around 10,000 tickets for each day.

There are planned improvements and expansions for future years, but you’ll need to get your tickets early to guarantee the experience.

“So it’s really more user friendly for the crowd,” said Tyler Francis, owner of Francis Aviation, which is helping to organize the event. “We just aren’t going to have that large a crowd year one.”

Even with a smaller crowd, traffic is expected to be congested. But there is an alternative to driving. Private planes will be able to fly into Santa Teresa ahead of the show, a big difference from previous years at Biggs.