Officials from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan airport in Denver, Colorado and Jefferson County commissioners have put forward an accelerated timeline to transition the airport to unleaded fuel. This accelerated transition will see the airport offering unleaded aviation gasoline well in advance of the FAA's 2030 target date for the full elimination of leaded gas.

“Our team’s commitment to innovative solutions and community collaboration is why the airport’s full transition will be well in advance of the FAA deadline,” says RMMA director Paul Anslow. “The aviation industry is working to scale production of 100UL for the larger market, and we feel confident that availability will rapidly increase while the price decreases. Our goal is to be the first airport in the state that fully transitions to unleaded fuel.”

RMMA recently purchased a fuel truck dedicated to unleaded avgas, and is in the process of procuring a 12,000 gallon fuel tank that will allow the purchase of UL94 in cost-competitive quantities. The airport anticipates being able to offer UL94 in 2024, prior to a transition to UL100 when it is offered in wholesale quantities. Swift Fuels's UL94 is FAA-approved and compatible with approximately two thirds of the existing general aviation fleet. UL100 is compatible with the entire general aviation fleet and is anticipated to be widely available prior to 2030.

Critically, the infrastructure for UL94 unleaded fuel is entirely compatible with 100UL, an unleaded gasoline suitable for all piston aircraft engines but was only FAA-approved in the last quarter of 2022. As the fuel becomes more widely available, RMMA will proactively and fully transition to 100UL unleaded fuel.

"My fellow commissioners and I are proud to have a resource like Rocky Mountain Municipal airport here in our community," says commissioner Tracy Kraft-Tharp. "We are even more proud to partner with the airport team as they work to transition RMMA to a fully unleaded airport."

RMMA, founded in 1960 and owned and operated by Jefferson County, is a general reliever for Denver International airport. The third busiest airport in the state, it has more than 400 aircraft and 50 businesses.