American Airlines to offer direct flights to Dallas from Santa Barbara

After a 7-year hiatus, American Airlines will resume nonstop service from Santa Barbara to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport on June 2.

The Santa Barbara Municipal Airport last offered direct flights to Dallas/Fort Worth from 1983 to 1993, and then again from 2004 to 2009.

“We are thrilled about this renewed service, and know that passengers throughout the region will look forward to, once again, flying directly to Dallas,” said Santa Barbara airport Director Hazel Johns.

The Santa Barbara airport provides nonstop service to six major cities: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Denver, Phoenix (flown by American Airlines) and Los Angeles.

“The Dallas connection will have an increased economic impact for our region, and in light of the major recession in 2008 when the majority of air service to regional airports like Santa Barbara decreased by 20 percent, we are glad to see things swinging back the other way,” Johns said.

Santa Barbara airport travel has been on the decline. In 2013, the airport had 708,854 people travel out of the airport. In 2014, the number fell to 662, 661. In 2015, the number dropped again to 635,741 people.

Tracy Lincoln, airport operations manager, said that the reason travelers or “enplanements” fell was because in April 2014, the airport lost five daily flights and then a sixth flight in 2015. He said the airline tenants that remain have seen ridership increases.

Ticket sales for the June flights will begin Feb. 23, booking through January 2017.

There will be one daily departure from Santa Barbara at 2:14 p.m., with arrival to Dallas at 7:30 p.m. The return flight will depart Dallas/Fort Worth at 10:50 a.m., arriving in Santa Barbara at 12:38 p.m.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 9:35 AM with the headline "American Airlines to offer direct flights to Dallas from Santa Barbara."