After years of waiting and hoping, Belen city officials announced this week that the Federal Aviation Administration has given its final approval for a new crosswind runway at the Belen Alexander Municipal Airport.

Belen Mayor Jerah Cordova made the announcement on Monday, saying the city has been working on this major project for many years, including through the administrations of former mayors Ronnie Torres and Rudy Jaramillo.

“We’ve been putting together the pieces, buying the land and putting all of the money together for an expanded airport, which will feature, first and foremost, a new runway,” Cordova said. “The new runway will be a crosswind runway that will allow air traffic to take a slightly different pattern into Belen.”

Read more here: http://www.news-bulletin.com/2014/07/23/news/belen-runway-expansion-gets-faa-approval.html