SMO at a glance
Published airport facts and public business listings help you identify the right contacts before requesting aircraft-specific quotes.
- FAA location identifier
- SMO Source
- ICAO identifier
- KSMO Source
- FAA associated city
- Santa Monica Source
- FAA county
- Los Angeles County Source
- Airport elevation
- 169.8 ft MSL Source
- Facility use
- Open to the public Source
- Ownership type
- Publicly owned Source
- Physical runway 03/21
- 3,500 x 150 ft; ASPH Source
- Published helipad H1
- 40 x 40 ft; ASPH Source
- FAA owner record
- CITY OF SANTA MONICA Source
FAA NASR cycle effective October 1, 2026; next cycle October 29, 2026. Physical runway dimensions are not declared distances or an aircraft suitability determination. Use current charts, notices and qualified operator guidance for flight planning.
Airport management & official information
City of Santa Monica / Santa Monica Airport
3223 DONALD DOUGLAS LOOP S., SANTA MONICA, CA, 90405
(310) 458-8692
Public-source directory checked 2026-10-28. Confirm current services, contacts and availability directly. An airport listing does not establish aircraft suitability or a relationship with Jaken Finance Group.
FBOs & aviation businesses
Start with the providers’ published locations and the airport’s business directory. Compare written proposals for the exact aircraft and services you need.
Atlantic Aviation Santa Monica
2828 Donald Douglas Loop North, Santa Monica, CA 90405
310-396-6770Verified current company location. Public page contains differing general service-hour descriptions; obtain current arrangements directly.
Santa Monica Flyers
Current company site confirms Santa Monica flight training and aircraft rental. This is not an FBO or jet-qualification endorsement.
The directory is informational. Categories describe published services; no ranking, service guarantee, FAA certificate determination or endorsement is implied. Ask each provider about current capability, availability and contract terms.
Evaluate Santa Monica Airport as a home base or recurring destination for the actual aircraft, passengers and schedule.
Treat the closure horizon as a dated planning fact
The FAA's settlement summary requires continuous airport operation through December 31, 2028 and gives the city the right to close afterward. The city publishes legal documents authorizing its planned closure at the end of 2028. Those descriptions serve different purposes: federal settlement rights and the city's chosen course of action. Recheck both before signing a lease or publishing a future availability assumption.
Plan an alternative before committing capital
Compare Hawthorne, Van Nuys, Burbank and Long Beach according to the buyer's Westside ground destinations and the aircraft's independently assessed operating requirements. Identify the cost of moving storage, crew reporting and recurring service arrangements. A purchase financed over many years should not use a short remaining basing horizon as if it were a permanent solution.
Inspect the lease rather than infer protection
Ask for the storage agreement's end date, termination language, notice process and treatment of deposits or prepaid fees. Confirm whether the provider promises any relocation assistance and obtain that language in writing. Do not present a financing approval, existing tenancy or an aviation business's presence as protection against a city closure decision.
Keep flight suitability outside a marketing promise
Have the operator review the current runway, noise restrictions, notices and aircraft-specific requirements from authoritative operational materials. The airport's historic role does not establish that a proposed jet can meet the intended passenger, fuel and destination mission today. Pair that technical review with a realistic relocation budget and an updated Los Angeles County aircraft assessment discussion.
Build a base-comparison worksheet
Create an SMO relocation worksheet with at least HHR and VNY as candidates for professional screening, adding BUR or LGB if they serve the actual itinerary. Rows should include contractual end date, relocation trigger, proposed replacement space, ground access, provider deposits, moving expense and change in annual cost. Use actual offers rather than assume another field has room when needed. Run the ownership budget both before and after a potential move. Record the date of the city closure-source review so a future reader can tell which planning horizon the comparison used.
Confirm the local reporting and contract roles
Ask the city and the current provider to confirm the actual tenancy and notice position, then have counsel interpret the agreement. Separately ask Los Angeles County or the owner's adviser about records when the aircraft changes its habitual base. Do not assume a city closure plan settles refund rights, assessment allocation or a provider's relocation obligations. Preserve those as separate documentary questions and keep the proposed movement consistent with insurance and operator review.
Compare your basing alternatives
Use this worksheet to request like-for-like evidence for the actual aircraft and recurring trips. Blank or unconfirmed items remain decisions to investigate, not implied airport capabilities.
| Decision variable | SMO evidence | Alternative evidence | Owner priority / unresolved question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual passenger ground itinerary | Obtain current route estimate | Use the same dates and destinations | No fixed transfer-time promise |
| Storage rights and availability | Signed offer, conditional offer or inquiry | Record the same evidence category | Do not price unavailable space as confirmed |
| Airport and provider charges | Request itemized current proposal | Match aircraft and annual activity | Identify excluded or unquoted items |
| Operating and noise review | Current source and qualified operator review | Use each airport's own rules | Distinguish mandatory and voluntary only when verified |
| Assessment and records | Ask the appropriate assessor or adviser | Document actual changed basing facts | No automatic situs or exemption conclusion |
Your next-step checklist
- What is the written agreement's latest end date?
- Which relocation airport has a documented proposal?
- How does relocation change the five-year ownership budget?
Sources & further reading
Primary sources support the relevant facts. Our planning questions and illustrative exercises are editorial analysis; they do not replace transaction-specific advice.
- Santa Monica Airport — official source 1 · accessed 2026-10-28
- Santa Monica Airport — official source 2 · accessed 2026-10-28
- Santa Monica Airport official airport information · accessed 2026-10-28
- FAA NASR · APT_BASE.csv; ARPT_ID=SMO · accessed 2026-10-28
- Atlantic Aviation Santa Monica · published location / directory entry · accessed 2026-10-28
- Santa Monica Flyers · published location / directory entry · accessed 2026-10-28