Travel Notice: Airport Reopened

As of 9:20 am on December 26, Santa Barbara Airport has reopened and all flights are cleared to resume normal operations. Airlines have been notified and will work to resume service. Please contact your carrier directly for information about a specific flight.  

A big thank you to our team who worked around the clock over their Christmas holiday to clean up the runways and safely restore airport operations. Given the sustained rainfall over the past two days, this was no easy task.  

Prior to the storm, SBA implemented multiple preventative measures to reduce potential impacts, including deploying inflatable Tiger Dams, installing k-rails, staging a 16-inch Gator pump, and clearing v-ditches and drainage channels. Despite these efforts, the volume of rainfall and runoff from the nearby creek proved to be too significant and exceeded capacity.  

We appreciate the patience and understanding of our passengers, airline partners, and the community. We expect to be open for normal operations throughout the remainder of the busy holiday travel weekend. 

12/26, 7 am update: Crews have been hard at work clearing water from the runways all night. Clean up efforts are still underway this morning. Estimated reopening time is TBD.

12/25, 4:15 pm update: Unfortunately due to continued rainfall, SBA is once again closed due to flooding on the airfield. All commercial flights and fixed-wing aircraft are currently grounded.

For information about specific flights, travelers should contact their airline directly.

Updates will be shared as they are available.

12/25, 9:15 am update: All flights are cleared to resume normal operations. Airlines have been notified and will work to resume service. Please contact your carrier directly for information about a specific flight. 

We thank you for your patience and apologize for any disruption in your travel plans today. A huge thank you to our crew who worked overnight on Christmas to clear the runways as quickly as possible!