Santa Maria Public Airport

From WikiAir

This article is about the aiport in in California, USA, for the the airport in the Azores see Santa Maria Airport.

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Santa Maria Public Airport Template:Airport codes, also known as the Capt. G. Allan Hancock Field, is an airport located in Santa Maria, California, USA, serving northern Santa Barbara County. The airport is mostly used for general aviation, but is also served by commercial airlines.

1 Airlines and destinations
2 Expansion
3 History
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Airlines and destinations

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

[edit] 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.<ref name=Frontier>Airport looking at new Frontier, March 2, 2007</ref>

Aside from the new Customs area, the airport finished construction on a new baggae claim area. Prior to the new baggage claim, baggage was taken from planes and dropped off in front of the terminal on a sidewalk for commuters to pick up. As of 2007, long cracks in the new baggage claim area has been an eye sore. Although the cracks do not pose any sort of risk, officials state they want to fix the cracks immediately.

[edit] History

The Santa Maria Public Airport, also known as Allen Hancock Field, 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.