A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

Though it’s been nearly two decades since Las Cruces—New Mexico’s second-largest city—has had commercial air service, that drought will end on January 16 when aircraft charter/management provider and regional airline Advanced Air begins scheduled service between Las Cruces International Airport (KLRU) and Albuquerque International Sunport (LABQ) using a nine-passenger Beechcraft King Air 350.
Under a two-year contract supported through a New Mexico Rural Air Service Enhancement (RASE) grant, Advanced, which is based out of Los Angeles-area Hawthorne Municipal Airport, will operate seven flights a week linking the two airports. Fixed pricing for the 54-minute flight will start at $85 each way, including complimentary beverages and snacks, with bulk packs of 10 trips available at an overall 20 percent discount. Drive time between the cities is more than three hours.
“Passenger air service returning to Las Cruces has been a long time in the making,” said Las Cruces Airport administrator Andy Hume. “We’re excited about having a new travel option for business, tourism, and health care.”
In addition to KLRU and KABQ, Advanced also services two other airports in New Mexico: Grant County Airport in Silver City&nbsp;and Gallup Municipal Airport. Last summer, the latter airfield&nbsp;became the first recipient of the RASE program, which was established with the goal to provide smaller communities with regular air service to large or medium-hub airports.

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