Edhat Staff
Source: Santa Barbara Airport
[On Monday], Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) announces Sun Country Airlines will begin Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota service from the “depart differently” airport starting on August 16, 2018. Booking is available now with roundtrip fares currently starting at $196.
Sun Country Airlines will operate the three-and-a-half-hour flight on Thursdays and Sundays. The route will be served by a Boeing 737-700 with capacity for 126 passengers.
Thursday – Sun Country Flight Schedule
Depart SBA 9:55am PST arrive MSP 3:25pm CST
Depart MSP 7:05am CST arrive SBA 9:05am PST
Sunday – Sun Country Flight Schedule
Depart SBA 5:50pm PST arrive MSP 11:20pm CST
Depart MSP 2:55pm CST arrive SBA 4:55pm PST
Visit Santa Barbara is promoting the new service within the Minneapolis/St. Paul region and is encouraging residents there to take advantage of the many unique experiences that Santa Barbara has to offer. Direct service from this major Midwest hub will play a part in the robust recovery of the tourism industry in Santa Barbara.
“The low cost direct flight option to MSP opens up significant travel opportunities for our outbound travelers,” noted Hazel Johns, airport director. “Not only does Minneapolis offer a vibrant and dynamic destination in its own right, Sun Country Airlines’ service offers Santa Barbara residents great one-stop, low fare options to New York and Boston.”
Currently, outbound travelers from SBA can travel with one stop through MSP to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York (JFK) for $507/roundtrip or to Boston (BOS) for $333/roundtrip.
Sun Country Airlines’ new direct flight service underscores SBA’s passenger growth trajectory over the last two years, with a 16% passenger count increase in June 2018 over June 2017.
Following the inaugural Sun County Flight from Minneapolis/St. Paul, approximately 106 passengers were greeted by the Airport Director and staff with swag bags.
Not true. The airport is an “enterprise” fund – i.e. self-sustaining. So no subsidies.
This airline is a psudo-offering to create the impression of competition. They couldn’t have picked a more purposeful, Siberian-esque destination if they tried. As Uber and Lyft have “disrupted” ride sharing and ABNB has disturbed traditional hotel stays, it’d be ideal to remove moats and obstacles and allow ANYONE to start regional services to wherever their little investment plans want to travel. Why we’ve not got a west coast plane service is ludicrous. Until then, the taxpayer-subsidized, Santa Barbara-United Airlines Airport, built like sarcophagus will stand as representation of what is monopolistic, moat building behavior that protects the interests of people other then local.
Whoa. I’m no great defender of the airport (liked the little old terminal better, think it should be owned by Goleta, new airport was made solely to appease the TSA sideshow, etc.). But pretty sure than every yellow cab driver would be happy to tell you how “disrupted” they’ve been by Uber. They ain’t jumping from bridges for nothing. Also, a reminder that not so long ago Delta flew SBA/SLC (ceased as the route was unprofitable) and US Airway was independent (merged with American). We also didn’t used to have Alaska/Frontier/Horizon in town. Could go on, but not everything is the airport management’s fault.
Why would you quote “enterprise”? Because you know it’s all an accounting gimic?
Yes. An enterprise fund, by way of fees which are taxes which are subsidies funds the incredibly idiotic airport that was built.
Want an example? Nothing happens on the entire bottom floor. It’s a vacant tomb. To fly? You literally have to go up an escalator, get searched, walk down a hallway and then go back down stairs again (when not using Jetway) to walk out on the tarmac. They made this mouse trap.