Fort Stockton, US πΊπΈ Closed Airport
US-10910
-
3900 ft
US-TX
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 30.305316Β° N, -102.723629Β° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: 8TE6
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Designation | Length | Width | Surface | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
03/21 |
5800 ft | 75 ft | ASPH-P | Active |
Type | Description | Frequency |
---|---|---|
CNTR | ALBUQUERQUE CNTR | 132.65 MHz |
The airport was closed sometime between 2004 and 2009. It was still depicted on the 2004 El Paso Sectional Chart but had been removed by the 2009 edition, indicating it ceased operations within that timeframe.
The closure directly correlates with the change in land ownership. Around 2004, the Longfellow Ranch was acquired by an affiliate company of Jeff Bezos to expand the land holdings for his private aerospace company, Blue Origin. The new ownership had no need for this small, private airstrip, as Blue Origin was developing its own extensive, modern launch and landing facilities (including runways) at the adjacent Corn Ranch property. The Faith Cattle Company airport became redundant and was subsequently abandoned.
The site is a defunct airstrip on private land. Satellite imagery of the coordinates shows the faint, deteriorating outline of the former runway, which is slowly being reclaimed by the native desert scrubland. The land is now part of the enormous private holdings of Blue Origin and serves as a buffer zone and operational area for its West Texas launch site. The airstrip itself is completely unused.
The airport was a private-use airstrip exclusively serving the vast Longfellow Ranch, which was historically used for cattle ranching and commercial hunting. It featured a single, long unpaved runway (listed as 6,000 feet), capable of accommodating a range of general aviation aircraft, from single-engine planes to light twins. Its operations were purely logistical, providing convenient transportation for the ranch owners, staff, and high-end hunting clients to the remote West Texas location. It held no public, commercial, or military significance.
There are zero known plans or prospects for reopening the airport. The current owner, Blue Origin, operates its own state-of-the-art aviation and spaceport facilities nearby, making this small, primitive airstrip obsolete and entirely unnecessary for its complex aerospace operations. Its reopening is considered highly improbable.
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