Albany County advances plans to reconstruct Laramie Regional Airport

Albany County commissioners have advanced plans to reconstruct Laramie Regional Airport, putting one of the county’s most important transportation assets into a more active planning stage. For Laramie employers, the stakes reach well beyond aviation: the airport affects business travel, air service reliability, flight training, emergency response and the ease with which clients, instructors and researchers reach town.

Laramie Regional Airport describes its mission as serving both commercial and general aviation, with coordination and cooperation from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Wyoming State Aeronautics Division, Laramie City Council and the Albany County Commissioners. That network matters because airport reconstruction usually depends on long-range budgeting, federal grant timing and sequencing work so the runway system stays usable while improvements are underway.

The county has already been tied to one airport improvement plan that carries a reported federal share of $628,472 for apron reconstruction design. In July 2025, the airport also asked for Specific Purpose Tax funding to design and build a new heated aircraft hangar measuring 176 feet by 150 feet. Airport materials said that hangar would support economic development, transportation resilience and reduced reliance on local tax dollars.

The airport’s business park materials show why the reconstruction discussion has an economic-development angle. Laramie Regional Airport says 240 acres are set aside for business development, and 125 of those acres already have water and sewer service. That kind of infrastructure makes the airport more than a place to land planes. It gives Albany County a site that can be tied to freight, aviation services and future employers looking for shovel-ready ground near Laramie.

The airport has also seen steady investment over time. Aviation International News reported in 2015 that Cowboy Aviation, the airport-owned fixed-base operator, replaced a 1940s-era 1,500-square-foot building with a newly built 4,000-square-foot terminal. The Albany County Historical Society noted in 2020 that a new terminal was under way, underscoring that airport work in Laramie has been a continuing project rather than a one-time upgrade.

Public meetings are scheduled on the second Wednesday of every month, and the airport board’s calendar shows the next regular meeting on Aug. 12, 2026. FAA Airport Improvement Program grants were announced on June 25, 2025, adding another funding channel as county leaders weigh how to pay for reconstruction, how to limit disruption during construction and what long-term payoff taxpayers should expect from a modernized airport.