Nearly 1.1 million people have hopped on a plane at the Santa Barbara Airport so far in fiscal year 2022 — up from 437,000 at the height of the travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
Airport officials said they’re expecting record numbers in 2023, with up to 1.15 million enplanements.
Brian D’Amour, acting airport director, said during a budget presentation Tuesday before the Santa Barbara City Council that the arrival of Southwest Airlines has been instrumental in the growth of passengers. Southwest provides daily service to Las Vegas, Denver, Oakland and — beginning Sunday — Sacramento.
“We’re really thankful for that additional service,” D’Amour said. “We’ve also benefitted greatly from, in general, a strong demand for leisure destinations, which Santa Barbara, thankfully, falls into that category.”
D’Amour said Santa Barbara has led the state in recovery.
The airport has a budget of $28.5 million. It also has an extra $1.8 million in reserves largely because of an increase in ridership.
“Last year we didn’t anticipate how rapidly the recovery would happen,” said Jonathan Abad, the airport’s budget services manager.
Nestled snugly on City of Santa Barbara land surrounded by the city of Goleta, the Santa Barbara Airport has historically been the most commercially successful airport between Los Angeles and San Jose.
The budget presentation also talked about plans for 2023 that include a feasibility study for the buildings on the southside of the airport, which include the fixed-base operators and the potential for a new restaurant inside the former Elephant Bar.
“The Hollister corridor is such an underutilized and underdeveloped area,” Councilman Mike Jordan said. “The word embarrassment is a little harsh, but it looks embarrassing for the City of Santa Barbara.”
Jordan said the future development area would be “just a series of success stories waiting to happen.”
In addition, the Santa Barbara Airport is raising parking fees to help cover the cost of a rising minimum wage and increased shuttle rental costs.
The maximum fee for parking in the short-term lot will jump from $25 to $27. The maximum fee to park in the long-term Lot 1 will go from $15 to $17. The long-term Lot 2 will rise from $10 to $12. The cost per hour for each lot is currently $1, but that will rise to $1.25.
The airport also plans to increase fees for the right to do business at the airport. Currently, on-demand taxi companies pay $1,000 a year for a permit. The proposed increase is for the cost to go up $1,275 annually. Pre-arranged taxi services, shuttle and limo costs will rise from an annual fee of $120 to $150. Annual permit fees for rideshare services such as Lyft and Uber will also bounce from $120 to $150.
The pickup and dropoff fees for taxis, shuttles and limo services are also proposed to increase, ranging from 25 cents to 75 cents depending on the number of passengers.
Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon said she was impressed with the work of the airport officials and how the airport was able to rebound so quickly through proactive work. She said the arrival of Southwest Airlines has been key.
“That is an affordable option for so many people in a way that so many other travel options aren’t,” Sneddon said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
