The biggest airport on the Central and South Coasts is reporting that passenger traffic is only a fraction of where it was at a year ago, but officials say there’s some good news about the future. Southwest Airlines has announced plans to start new service to Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara Airport had just under 11,000 passengers in November, down from more than 90,000 in November of 2019. It’s a 72% year-to-year drop as a result of the pandemic.
United Airlines reported its passenger traffic through the airport is only a quarter of what it was a year ago, and American Airlines is at around 60%.
But, the good news is despite the coronavirus crisis, a major carrier has announced plans to begin service to Santa Barbara for the first time. Southwest Airlines want to add Santa Barbara Airport to its network in the second quarter of 2021. The low-cost carrier serves more than 100 destinations.
