News & Facts

Santa Barbara Airport Receives $700,000 Federal Grant

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 SANTA BARBARA, CA –  Santa Barbara Airport will receive a $700,000 federal grant to develop a new Master Plan as was announced today by Congresswoman Lois Capps. The grant, which is awarded through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP), will be used to identify future needs at the Airport.

Airport Director Karen Ramsdell expressed her pleasure about the grant award adding, “Through the vision of Congress many decades ago, the Airport Improvement Program was established to fund infrastructure critical to the nation’s air transportation system.   The Program was, and continues, to be funded by the system users, not the general taxpayer.”

Assistant Airport Director Hazel Johns explained what the new Master Plan will entail, “The Airport has implemented all the projects approved in its 2002 Master Plan and, as required by the FAA, it is time to develop a new Master Plan. This Master Plan will focus on any airfield safety improvements that may be recommended and facilities for general aviation.”

Ms. Ramsdell also said that over the past ten years, the Santa Barbara Airport has received over $65 million in AIP grants that have funded airfield safety improvements and contributed to the funding of the Airport’s new airline terminal.  Commenting on the Airport’s economic impact to the region, she stated that, “Santa Barbara Airport is an important economic asset of this region and the projects funded by AIP grants provide jobs in the engineering and construction industries, material suppliers, and ancillary support businesses.”

The Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is a self-supporting enterprise owned and operated by the City of Santa Barbara; serving over 750,000 passengers annually.