Santa Maria Public Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Santa Maria Public Airport
nativename = Capt. G. Allan Hancock Field


image-width = 221
IATA = SMX
ICAO = KSMX
FAA = SMX
type = Public
owner = Santa Maria Public Airport District
operator =
city-served = Santa Maria, California
location =
elevation-f = 261
elevation-m = 80
website = [http://santamariaairport.com/ SantaMariaAirport.com]
r1-number = 12/30
r1-length-f = 6,304
r1-length-m = 1,921
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 2/20
r2-length-f = 5,130
r2-length-m = 1,564
r2-surface = Asphalt
stat-year = 2007
stat1-header = Aircraft operations
stat1-data = 62,480
stat2-header = Based aircraft
stat2-data = 243
footnotes = Source: FAAFAA-airport|ID=SMX|use=PU|own=PU|site=02251.*A, effective 2007-10-25] , airport website [ [http://santamariaairport.com/ Santa Maria Public Airport] , official site]

Santa Maria Public Airport airport codes|SMX|KSMX|SMX, also known as the Capt. G. Allan Hancock Field, is an airport located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Santa Maria, a city in northern Santa Barbara County, California, United States.

History

The airport was first built in the 1940s when during World War 2, the Army constructed what first started out as the Santa Maria Army base. Its main purpose was to provide training for pilots of B-25 aircraft.

After the war, Santa Barbara County decided to acquire the land and facilities. It controlled the area until 1949 when the city of Santa Maria took interest and obtained half of the airport. It was in 1964 that the newly renamed Santa Maria Public Airport was born.

Its first location is where what is now Allan Hancock College. The final and current location of the airport is on Skyway Drive at the southern tip of city limits.

Facilities and aircraft

Santa Maria Public Airport covers an area of 2,516 acres (1,018 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 12/30 measuring 6,304 x 150 ft (1,921 x 46 m) and 2/20 measuring 5,130 x 75 ft (1,564 x 23 m).

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2007, the airport had 62,480 aircraft operations, an average of 171 per day: 79% general aviation, 19% air taxi, 2% military and <1% scheduled commercial. There are 243 aircraft based at this airport: 83% single-engine, 7% multi-engine, 6% helicopter, 3% jet, <1% glider and <1% ultralight.

Expansion

The airport hopes to expand one of its runways in the hope to attract new airlines. It has opened an international customs facility on December 1, 2006, and airport officials hope that this would encourage new airlines to set routes to Santa Maria. The airport has also undertaken negotiations with Frontier Airlines in 2007, in hopes of launching a route on the low cost carrier to its Denver hub.cite web |url=http://www.santamariaairport.com/news/07/news030207.htm |title=Airport looking at new Frontier |work=Airport press release |date=March 2, 2007] Santa Maria is currently out of the running for the Denver-based flight. In August 2007 Allegiant Air added another route to Santa Maria from its newly proclaimed focus city at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. However the Phoenix-Santa Maria service has been discontinued in May 2008. Allegiant Air has also expanded air service from Las Vegas to Santa Maria adding a Monday flight to its schedule. Skywest, in late 2007 (which provides current service to Los Angeles International Airport several times a day), has plans to add routes to destinations such as Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and other various key hubs. If Skywest approves of these routes Santa Maria Airport will be one of a few airports that would offer flights to major cities back east.

Airport officials have recently opened the new, approximately convert|4000|sqft|m2|sing=on baggage claim facility, and have repaired the cracks in the floor. It is one of the first airports on the Central Coast to use a state of the art baggage carousel (in a smaller scale) to deliver luggage to passengers.

A new passenger terminal holding room was recently opened. The old area was able to accommodate only 30 passengers. To handle the larger crowds of passengers that Allegiant Air flights bring, the new holding room accommodates 200 passengers and has enough room for a new cafe.

Airlines and destinations

* Allegiant Air (Las Vegas)
* United Airlines
** United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines (Los Angeles)

ee also

* California World War II Army Airfields

References

External links

* [http://www.centralcoastjetcenter.com/ Central Coast Jet Center]
*FAA-diagram|00379
*US-airport|SMX