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Sunport prepares for another storm
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Expect rain this afternoon, turning into a mix of rain and snow and, by tonight, a full change into snow, the National Weather Service says. The best chance of accumulation will be Friday, when the Albuquerque area could see 1 to 4 inches. The snowfall should be spotty and not as widespread as last week's deluge, the service says.
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It's not that officials with the Albuquerque International Sunport expect it to become an impromptu campground like Denver International Airport did last week, but they're examining the Sunport's readiness for waylaid travelers just in case.
After a snow-caused, passenger-stranding closure last week, Sunport officials scheduled a Jan. 4 meeting with airport vendors, security officials and airlines to consider additional methods for handling stranded passengers, said Sunport spokesman Daniel Jiron.
"We don't anticipate it happening, but we want to make sure we are best prepared as possible," he said. "We think it's a prudent step to take in light of what we've seen happen."
More snowstorms are forecasted for Colorado and New Mexico today and tomorrow. Parts of Colorado could get up to 8 inches of snow.
Some parts of Albuquerque could see up to 4 inches of snow, said Keith Hayes, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.
Jiron noted a plan already exists to handle passengers stuck in Albuquerque due to diverted flights or weather, but it is a general approach to all types of emergencies.
"If there was a plane load of folks who somehow got stranded here, we certainly have the staff between us, the airlines, and the vendors to be able to make their stay as comfortable as possible," he said.
The current plan includes asking vendors to keep airport shops open later, providing additional buses to local hotels, taking extra measures with airport security and working with airlines to meet their passengers' needs.
He said purchasing cots could be considered at the Jan. 4 meeting, though it's an unlikely measure due to low probability of passengers being stuck inside the airport and unable to reach nearby hotels.
"We need to be cognizant of our budget and our expenses," he said. "Do we want to spend a bunch of money on something that may never be used? We're going to look at all the possibilities."
In any event, Jiron noted the Sunport would never experience anything close to what the far busier Denver International Airport went through last week.
It saw thousands of travelers stuck overnight, some setting up cardboard shelters on the concourses as crews lost the battle against Mother Nature to keep the runways snow-free.
The Colorado airport - the 10th busiest in the world - annually handles about 43.4 million passengers, according to a news release from the airport.
The Sunport annually handles about 6.5 million passengers, Jiron said.
He pointed out the Sunport also functions mostly as a destination or departure point, not a hub like Denver International that people pass through on their way to somewhere else.
"It's not an accurate or a fair comparison," he said.
The Sunport also has numerous hotels just minutes away by car, a feature lacking at Denver International, he said. That can make it easier to whisk stranded passengers to nearby hotels for an overnight stay.
"The bottom line is we want to provide the best travel experience we can for all of our customers," Jiron said.
Managers of hotels near the airport said plenty of rooms are available this time of year.
