Private charter to & from Yuma

Yuma sits on the Colorado River near where Arizona meets California and Mexico, and its irrigated fields make it the center of America’s winter lettuce and leafy green production. From November through March, growers, packers, shippers and buyers fill local hotels as the harvest moves through the valley. The military is the other pillar of the economy: Marine Corps Air Station Yuma is home to F-35B squadrons, and the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground tests equipment in the desert to the north. Border trade through San Luis and a large population of winter visitors round things out.

Yuma International Airport shares its runways with the Marine Corps air station, and flying private avoids the three-hour drives to Phoenix or San Diego across open desert. For agricultural executives, buyers and defense contractors, a direct flight makes it practical to visit fields, packing sheds or the base and return home the same day. Visitors explore the town’s Old West history at the Yuma Territorial Prison, sample Medjool dates grown nearby, paddle the river and drive out to the Imperial Sand Dunes just across the California line. Yuma is often called the sunniest city in the world.