The Airport Show Clovis Skipped for Its New Terminal Returns Oct. 31, Before the Terminal Does

"Better to cancel this year and show improvements next year." City Manager Justin Howalt said that to the Clovis Civil Aviation Board on Oct. 7, 2025. He was explaining why Wings 'n' Wheels, the airport's family car-and-plane show, would not happen that fall. Terminal construction had narrowed the entry points and traffic was a concern, so the city chose to wait.

"Next year" has arrived. Wings 'n' Wheels is on the calendar for Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, and the new terminal is still not open. On Oct. 1, Howalt told a joint city-county meeting that recent weather had pushed the terminal past its end-of-October target. He said he hopes it opens to the public within two to three months. So the comeback event will run beside a building that is close to finished but not ready. For anyone curious about what Clovis is getting at its airport, Halloween morning is the easiest chance so far to see it up close.

What Shows Up on Halloween Morning

The city's event listing and the 2026 flyer set the event for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Clovis Regional Airport, 459 CR 11.5. The mailing address says Texico. The lineup:

• Car show
• Trunk or treat
• Costume contest
• Food trucks
• Vendors
• Static plane displays
• Family-friendly activities

Sponsor and vendor questions go through the city at 575-763-9670.

The last time the show ran was September 2024. The Eastern New Mexico News reported about 250 people, 25 cars and six aircraft that Saturday, even with severe thunderstorms in the forecast. Then-director Amanda Brungart said the weather shrank the event and a couple of aircraft canceled. She also said vehicle registrations and public turnout were up, and she predicted that "next year is definitely going to be even bigger." That year she listed a Cessna 414, a Cessna Caravan freight plane, and a few aircraft from the airport's base tenants.

The bigger follow-up never came in 2025. The Halloween theme and the trunk-or-treat are new this year.

The Year the Show Stood Down

The Halloween idea came up before the cancellation did. At its October 2024 meeting, the aviation board set Oct. 18, 2025, as the next date. Members pointed out that the Los Lunas airport runs a Halloween-themed Wings 'n' Wheels and said Clovis could try something similar.

Twelve months later, construction made that date unworkable. At the same October 2025 meeting where the cancellation was confirmed, airport director Christopher Marshall said the project was 31% complete. A section of Taxiway Bravo would be closed from the end of October 2025 into March 2026, and some landing aircraft would have to back-taxi around it. He said the whole project should be done "at the end of April." Marshall, a former airfield manager at Cannon AFB, had taken over as director in 2025 after Brungart. He also told the board he was satisfied with the contractor. He said there was good communication, and that having local partners do the work had motivated the care going into the project.

So the 2025 cancellation assumed a spring 2026 finish. If the terminal had opened in April, this year's event would have been the debut party Howalt described.

How the Opening Date Kept Moving

Public meetings and local reporting give a clear record of the target dates. Here they are in order:

Two to three months from that Oct. 1 meeting works out to roughly early December 2026 through early January 2027. That is a hope from the city manager. Nobody has announced a ribbon-cutting.

The January 2026 minutes show where the work stood then. Crews were on the parking lot, and Taxiway Bravo had been closed since Nov. 4 with reopening expected in April. The latest delay came after two rounds of storms on Sept. 24-25 and Sept. 29-30. Curry County's disaster resolution lists the Clovis Regional Airport among the damaged public facilities.

What the Building Is Supposed to Hold

The city needs the terminal because traffic outgrew the old one. Brungart told the News that the airport had about 5,000 passenger enplanements in 2019 and more than 13,000 in 2023. She said the new building would be more than 20,000 square feet larger than the current terminal, with:

1. Two gates for arriving and departing traffic
2. A full TSA screening queue
3. Airline ticket counters and rental car counters
4. A traditional baggage claim
5. Offices for airport staff, TSA and airline employees
6. A restaurant with a full view of the airfield, open to passengers and the general public

For people who never board a plane in Clovis, the restaurant is the feature that matters most. Brungart said it would be "accessible to everyone." Neither the city nor the airline describes a restaurant at the current terminal. Brungart also said the extra gates and ramp space "will allow for additional flights or airlines in the future."

The reported price depends on the source. In September 2024, commissioners approved a $25.5 million low bid from EPX Construction Partners of El Paso. Howalt put the city's share at about $500,000, with the Federal Aviation Administration covering the rest. The News's groundbreaking story described a 21,000-square-foot terminal costing $22.7 million. KFDA NewsChannel 10 reported more than $26 million, funded by the FAA, the New Mexico Aviation Division and the City of Clovis. All three agree that federal money pays for most of it.

Flying Out of Clovis Until Then

Service is not waiting on the building. The U.S. Department of Transportation picked Key Lime Air, which operates as Denver Air Connection, to keep Clovis's Essential Air Service contract from May 1, 2026, through April 30, 2030. The contract covers 12 nonstop round trips a week, six to Dallas/Fort Worth and six to Denver, on 30-seat Dornier 328s or 50-seat ERJ-145s. Those are the same two destinations and the same 12 weekly round trips as the 2022 contract. Advanced Air and SkyWest also submitted proposals.

The current terminal has its own timing. As of January 2026, Denver Air Connection's Clovis check-in page said online check-in opens 24 hours before departure and closes three hours before. The counter opens 90 minutes before departure and closes 45 minutes before, and checked bags have to go through the counter. The airline suggests arriving 90 minutes early and no later than an hour before your flight. It lists free Wi-Fi, a family restroom and power outlets at the gate. Those rules were written for the building travelers use now, so they may change when the new one opens.

That matters for anyone booking holiday flights. If Howalt's estimate holds, a December or early January trip could start in either terminal. The airline's page is the place to check closer to departure.

Getting There on the 31st

The airport sits out on CR 11.5, away from the Main Street rehabilitation project. Howalt said that work began Oct. 1 and should run through November. That is one more downtown project on a street already full of them, as our Lyceum Theater post covered. If you are pairing the airport show with other Halloween weekend plans, the fall calendar breakdown lays out who runs what.

The city has not said how much of the new building visitors will see on Oct. 31, or whether parking and entry will still be narrowed the way they were when the 2025 show was canceled. The flyer lists only the time, address and activities, and the official Facebook event is the place to watch for parking details. Either way, the show starts at 9 a.m., and the terminal it was paused for will be standing right next to the static planes.

With nonstops to Denver and Dallas/Fort Worth, this terminal will be the first stop in town for anyone who flies into Clovis once it opens. The team at Sagebrush Real Estate follows projects like this one because they shape how people arrive in Eastern New Mexico. If you are planning a move, a lease or a sale around that timeline, schedule a free consultation and we'll help you line up the local details.