The 8 aircraft types flying to Santa Barbara municipal airport

The history of Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) dates back to 1928, when an airstrip on what is now the site of the airport was first used by the early aviators Gordon Sackett and Royce Stetson. Since then, the facility has grown substantially, and last year processed more than 1,277,000 passengers, with its busiest routes being to the following destinations:

1. Denver (DEN) - 134,000 passengers
2. San Francisco (SFO) - 100,000 passengers
3. Phoenix (PHX) - 86,000 passengers
4. Las Vegas (LAS) - 85,000 passengers
5. Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - 71,000 passengers.

Five airlines operate flights to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, of which the largest by market share is Southwest Airlines. The market shares of all airlines to operate at the airport are listed below:

1. Southwest Airlines - 29.1%
2. United Airlines - 23.3%
3. American Airlines - 20.8%
4. SkyWest Airlines - 16.2%
5. Alaska Airlines - 4.6%

Using data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, which aircraft types operate services to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport in January 2025?

1 Embraer E175

310 flights

The most frequent aircraft type seen at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) is the Embraer E175, with a total of 310 flights operated to and from the airport across three airlines - Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines. The aircraft typically has a passenger capacity of 76 passengers, and was launched by the Brazilian manufacturer in July 2005 as a stretched version of its successful E170.

American Airlines operates three daily services from Santa Barbara to its hub at Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) through its regional subsidiary, American Eagle. Both Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) are served by United Express Embraer E175s, and Alaska Airlines flies the aircraft between Santa Barbara and its hubs at Portland International Airport (PDX) and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

2 Airbus A220

186 flights

In January 2025, 186 flights to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) will be operated with the Airbus A220. Delta Air Lines deploys the Airbus A220s on its double-daily service to Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) and on its daily flights to the SkyTeam member's primary hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

The latest data from ch-aviation shows that Delta Air Lines currently operates a total of 74 Airbus A220s, made up of 45 A220-100s and 29 A220-300s. The carrier also has a further 71 of the larger A220-300 on order. Both aircraft types feature a two-class configuration, with 12 seats in business class and either 97 seats (A220-100) or 118 seats (A220-300) in economy class.

Given the aircraft's larger capacity than the Embraer E175, the Airbus A220 actually comes out on top when looking at available seat miles (ASMs), which is an industry-wide measure of capacity on a given route. The A220 will have more than 25,513,000 ASMs to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport in January 2025, compared to just over 10,271,000 ASMs for the E175.

3 Boeing 737-800

181 flights

The third most common aircraft to operate at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) in January 2025 is the Boeing 737-800. Three airlines will operate a total of 181 flights to and from the airport, as shown in the table below:

United Airlines uses the Boeing 737-800 to link Santa Barbara to its two hubs at Denver International Airport (DEN) and San Francisco Airport (SFO), where the Star Alliance carrier commands a 39.1% and 43.8% market share, respectively.

United Airlines has 141 737-800s in its fleet, each of which is able to carry up to 166 passengers in a two-class configuration - 16 in business class and 150 in economy class. The carrier also has 40 737-700s, 107 737 MAX 8s, 148 737-900ERs, and 85 737 MAX 9s.

4 Boeing 737 MAX 8

165 flights

In January 2025, 165 flights to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) will be operated with the Boeing 737 MAX 8. United Airlines and the low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines are the two carriers to serve Santa Barbara with their 737 MAX 8s.

Just like its Boeing 737-800s, United Airlines deploys the 737 MAX 8 on flights to San Francisco (SFO) and Denver (DEN), while Southwest Airlines uses it on flights to Las Vegas (LAS), Oakland (OAK), and Sacramento (SMF). The number of flights scheduled to and from each destination in January 2025 is shown in the table below:

5 Boeing 737-700

148 flights

Just one carrier plans to use its Boeing 737-700s on flights to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) in January 2025 - Southwest Airlines. The low-cost carrier will deploy its 737-700s on a total of 148 services to and from the following destinations:

• Las Vegas (LAS) - 119 flights
• Oakland (OAK) - 17 flights
• Sacramento (SMF) - 12 flights.

Southwest Airlines has a staggering 380 Boeing 737-700s in its fleet, making it the world's largest operator of the type. Each aircraft can accommodate up to 143 passengers in an all-economy class configuration.

6 Bombardier CRJ700

87 flights

In January 2025, 87 flights will be operated to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) with the Bombardier CRJ700, making it the third-least common aircraft type to be seen at the airport.

American Airlines and United Airlines will operate one route each with the aircraft - Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Both services will be flown by the carriers' regional subsidiaries, American Eagle and United Express, respectively.

7 Airbus A319

58 flights

One of three Airbus aircraft to feature in this list, the Airbus A319 will operate a total of 58 flights to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) in January 2025. Both American Airlines and United Airlines will deploy the aircraft on routes to and from their hubs at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), and Denver International Airport (DEN).

The number of services operated in both directions on each route throughout January 2025 is outlined in the table below:

8 Airbus A320

57 flights

The aircraft to operate the least number of flights to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) in January 2025 is the Airbus A320, with just 57 flights over the course of the month. American Airlines and United Airlines will both deploy the A320 to and from the following destinations:

• American Airlines - Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
• United Airlines - San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Denver International Airport (DEN).

The aircraft types flying to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport in January 2025 are summarized in the table below, listed by the total number of flights operated throughout the month:

As you can see, by far the most common individual aircraft type to operate at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA) is the Embraer E175. However, if all variants of the Boeing 737 (737-800, 737 MAX 8, and 737-700) are grouped together, it gives a total of 494 flights to and from the airport in January 2025.