Celebrities Using The Airport Were Reportedly Unhappy With The Closure

When Michelle Obama arrived Friday in Aspen for a long Valentine's Day weekend ... with her daughters but not the President ... the Aspen Airport was closed to all other traffic for about an hour while the First Lady's chartered plane made its arrival. And some of the other rich and famous arriving at Aspen for a long ski weekend were apparently not particularly thrilled about the arrangement.

The New York Post reports that some of the wealthy vacationers who were also arriving at Aspen Friday complained that the airport was closed for an extended period on such a high-volume travel day. The airport's director of Aviation told the paper that "typically when VIPs land, we do not close the airport, but hold other traffic for a few minutes." The airport was expecting "several hundred" planes on Friday.

Winter weather both in New York and Aspen was also reportedly a factor. One source told the paper that "the White House did not get back to us about the First Lady's arrival."

President Obama was in Rancho Mirage, CA, where he was meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan.

FMI: www.aspenairport.com