Centennial Airport is Getting the Lead Out

The first aircraft to be refueled with 94UL was a 2022 Piper Archer owned by Aspen Flying Club. 

According to a spokesperson from jetCenters Centennial location, the unleaded fuel is in place and will be available for sale starting Thursday.  

In March the Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the FAA-approved 94UL and to provide incentives to the owners of aircraft based at the airport in the form of up to a $110 reimbursement toward obtaining a supplemental type certificate that will allow the use of the unleaded avgas in their airplanes.

Airport officials have been working with FBOs on the field to facilitate the switch to unleaded avgas. For example, jetCenters of Colorado made the decision to dedicate a tank to 94UL.

According to Tony Buckley, president and CEO of jetCenters of Colorado, the company has been working with airport officials and Avfuel to make UL94 available at the airport by the summer of 2023. This falls in line with the FAA's lead Eliminate Aviation Gas Lead Emissions (EAGLE) program, which targets 2030 as the date for a nationwide transition from 100LL to unleaded fuels.

“I am proud of how quickly Centennial Airport management, the ACPAA board, and airport partners responded to our communities’ concerns regarding the use of leaded fuel in propeller-driven aircraft,” said ACPAA board chair Thad Bagnoto. “We are proud to be the first airport in Colorado, and one of the first in the nation, to offer unleaded aviation gas.”

According to airport officials, approximately 80 percent of flight school aircraft at Centennial Airport have the STC to allow the use of 94UL unleaded avgas.

“This milestone couldn’t have been possible without the partnership of our largest fixed base operator, jetCenters of Colorado, our three biggest flight schools, Aspen Flying Club, Flights Inc. and ATP, and feedback from the surrounding communities,” said Centennial Airport executive director and CEO Mike Fronapfel.

According to airnav.com Centennial Airport is a towered facility located 15 miles southeast of Denver. The airport has 868 aircraft based there and sees approximately 958 operations per day.