Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport

Continent: North America Country: United States Region: California


Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport
Location Santa Rosa, California, USA
IATA code STS
ICAO code KSTS
Airport type Commercial
Website http://www.sonomacountyairport.org/
Overview map Google Maps
Communications
Tower 118.500
Ground 121.900
Clearance
Approach
ATIS 120.550
Departure118.500/122.950

STS is a small airport in the city of Santa Rosa, California. STS serves as the main airport for the northern Bay Area for short flights to larger airports along the west coast, but also sees American Eagle service to Dallas/Fort Worth.

Official Spotting Locations

Location

Other Spotting Locations

Rental Car Parking Lot

Adjacent to the STS terminal, there is a small parking lot used to store rental cars for the companies in the terminal. West of the parking lot a small grassy area can yield good shots. One problem is that part of the chain link fence is blocked with green plastic weaved between the holes. This makes the view smaller and only allows photos to the north of the grassy area. If they are taking off to the south, the Horizon Airlines departure will taxi right and takeoff, right past this area. General aviation traffic taking off to the south will lift off the runway before they pass you and can yield good shots. Past 4pm, the area is shaded and will result with dark shots. This is a good location during the day for taxi and takeoff shots for all STS traffic.

Another spotter disagrees with the above assessment of this spot. This spot was backlit for photographs in the summer by 10:30am, though it is good for photographs of the Cal Fire ramp.

Locations to Avoid

Location

Regular Traffic

Airline Aircraft
Alaska Airlines (Horizon Air) Bombardier Q400, Embraer 175
Alaska Airlines (SkyWest Airlines) Embraer 175
American Eagle (Envoy Air) Embraer 175
Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-800

Kaiser Air has a hangar on airport property. They charter Gulfstreams and Citations. Most of the traffic at STS consists of general aviation traffic.

Facilities and Transportation

The only restaurant at STS is the Sky Lounge Steakhouse & Sushi Bar. It is located inside the main terminal.

Rental cars are available from Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Sixt inside the main terminal. The Airport Express stops at STS and provides transportation to and from Oakland International Airport and San Francisco International Airport.

Events

Wings Over Wine Country Air Show

Every year the Pacific Coast Air Museum (PCAM) organizes the Wings Over Wine Country Air Show. The air show is held in the late summer (late August to early September) and attracts a large gathering. The attractions for this year's show can be found through the link above. The air show is a great place to get close to many planes (flying and stationary), take great pictures, and even climb aboard a few.