Orlando Sanford International Airport(IATA: SFB, ICAO: KSFB, FAALID: SFB) is a commercial, public use airport in Sanford, Florida, United States, near Orlando. It was built as Naval Air Station Sanford, a Master Jet Base for carrier-based attack and reconnaissance aircraft, and was used by the U.S. Navy until 1969. The airport is owned and operated by the Sanford Airport Authority. It serves as an operating base for Allegiant Air.
Sanford is Orlando's secondary commercial airport and is farther away from downtown Orlando and Walt Disney World than the primary airport, Orlando International Airport (MCO/KMCO). Because of the affiliation with Orlando, passenger traffic at Sanford was once dominated by European charter services.[3]
Since 2008, however, a majority of its passenger traffic has been domestic; this is attributable to the entrance of Las Vegas–based Allegiant Air, for which Sanford is a focus city.[4] Sanford was also a small focus city for the travel marketer Direct Air until the company's demise in 2012.
Orlando Sanford International Airport started life as Naval Air Station Sanford with the airport codes NRJ and KNRJ. Commissioned on November 3, 1942, the base initially concentrated on advanced land-based patrol plane training. It was used by the United States Navy until it closed in 1969.
Orlando Sanford International Airport
The City of Sanford assumed control of the former NAS Sanford in 1969 and renamed the facility Sanford Airport, hiring the air station's recently retired Executive Officer, Commander J. S. "Red" Cleveland, USN (Ret.), as the first Airport Manager. The city concurrently established the Sanford Airport Authority. For the next twenty-five years, the airport was a general aviation facility and periodically hosted civilian/military air shows and static displays. Initially an uncontrolled airfield, the control tower was reactivated in the early 1970s as a non-FAA facility, employing a number of retired enlisted Navy air traffic controllers who had served at NAS Sanford.
Additional name changes followed, to include Sanford Regional Airport, Central Florida Regional Airport, Orlando Sanford Regional Airport and the current Orlando Sanford International Airport. Through the 1980s and 1990s the oldest Navy buildings were demolished while those built in the 1950s and 1960s were renovated for civil use. New buildings and hangars were added.
OLF Osceola was transferred to the control of Seminole County, Florida, but was never officially recommissioned as an active airfield. In the 1970s the former OLF began to be used by general aviation drug-smuggling aircraft as a transshipment point. Following a major drug interdiction by local and federal law enforcement agencies, Seminole County placed large speed bumps at various intervals across the runways to deter future illegal use. By the 1980s the county began to use the site as a landfill and dump, demolishing the remaining runways.[5]
1990s
In 1992, parts of the action film Passenger 57, starring Wesley Snipes, were filmed at the then-Orlando Sanford Regional Airport, where it represented a small airport in Louisiana. Shortly after filming, a new control tower was built and air traffic control operations assumed by the FAA. The Navy control tower and the large Navy hangar to which it was attached were demolished.
In the mid-1990s, a new passenger terminal capable of accommodating jet airliners was built. Charter airlines catering to the heavy British tourist demographic that had previously been using Orlando International Airport were offered greatly reduced landing fees at Sanford, and therefore many carriers relocated their operations.
2010–present
An An-124 uploads cargo at Orlando-Sanford Airport in July 2015.
In 2010, Allegiant Air announced it was moving many flights to the larger and more centrally located Orlando International Airport in order to compete with AirTran Airways. Owing to passenger feedback, all flights have returned to Orlando Sanford.
In 2014, Thomas Cook Airlines moved their operations back to Orlando International Airport after almost a decade of serving Orlando Sanford with the operations of Airtours, JMC Air & My Travel. In September 2019, Thomas Cook ceased all operations.
Icelandair moved to Orlando International Airport in 2015.[6]
In April 2016, Interjet operated flights to Mexico City. It later switched operations to the main Orlando airport from May 2018.[7][8]
In 2017, Thomson Airways (now TUI Airways) began operating routes to UK airports. This was the largest international airline at the airport having served eight destinations around the UK. However, in November 2019, TUI Airways announced that, from 2022, it would switch their Orlando operations from Sanford to Melbourne Orlando International Airport, including the daily flights to/from those 8 British airports. This will bring their operations nearer to Port Canaveral, where TUI Cruises will operate from in coming years. The decision has angered many TUI passengers who fly with the company to visit Orlando for Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort.[9]
In July 2021, Canadian low-cost carrierFlair Airlines announced they would launch service between Sanford and five Canadian destinations beginning in winter 2021.[10]
In 2025, the airport announced it had attracted $300 million in proposed development to expand its services and offerings.[11]
Facilities
The airport covers 3,000 acres (1,214 ha) and has four runways:[1][12]
Runway 9L/27R: 11,002 x 150ft. (3,353 x 46 m), asphalt
Runway 9C/27C: 3,578 x 75ft. (1,091 x 23 m), asphalt
Runway 9R/27L: 5,839 x 75ft. (1,780 x 23 m), asphalt
Runway 18/36: 6,002 x 150ft. (1,829 x 46 m), asphalt/concrete
The dominant runway is 9L/27R. This was built from the naval air station's original Runway 9/27, which was 8,000ft (2,400m) x 200ft (61m) with overruns of 2,145ft (654m) and 1,985ft (605m). A project to extended runway 9L/27R by 1,400ft (430m) to 11,000ft (3,400m) was completed on April 1, 2013. Parallel Runways 9C/27C and 9R/27L were built later, the former on a previous taxiway and the latter all-new, for small aircraft. The airport also has Runway 18/36, another Navy runway, for rare northerly fronts in the winter, but this 6000-ft runway is rarely used by airliners.
In 2024, the airport secured a $13 million loan to improve on key infrastructure projects to enhance operations. Plans include an extension to runway 9L/27R as well as a rehabilitation of the terminal ramp, with both planned for completion in late 2026. The plan also includes expansions to car parking lots, which would see 1,000 additional spaces.[13]
On December 31, 2019, there were 326 aircraft based at this airport: 221 single-engine and 53 multi-engine airplanes, 48 jet, and 4 helicopters.[1]
The airport is home to Acron Aviation Academy, formerly variously known as L3Harris Airline Academy (owned by L3Harris, formerly L3 Technologies), Aerosim Flight Academy, and Delta Connection Academy (owned by Delta Air Lines). It provides ab initio flight training for prospective airline pilots. The Seminole County Sheriff's Office has a hangar and support facility for aviation elements of the agency's Special Operations Division.
Destinations from Orlando Sanford International Airport Red = Year-round destination Green = Seasonal destination Blue = Future destination Pink = Destination being terminated
Statistics
Top destinations
Busiest domestic routes from SFB (October 2024 – September 2025)[81]
On July 10, 2007, a Cessna 310, originating from Daytona Beach International Airport, Florida, en route to Lakeland Linder International Airport, Florida, crashed into two homes in Sanford, Florida, killing five people: the pilot, his passenger, and three people inside the houses. The pilot reported smoke in the cockpit and attempted an emergency landing at nearby Orlando Sanford International Airport. NASCAR said the pilot of the plane was Michael Klemm, a senior captain with NASCAR Aviation. His passenger was Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corporation president Lesa France Kennedy, herself the daughter of the longtime head of NASCAR Bill France, Jr., who had died a month earlier in June 2007.[85][86] They were the only two people on the plane, according to both NASCAR and the NTSB. Four people also were injured, three of whom were critically burned, authorities said.[87] The NTSB factual report dated December 2007 indicates that the accident was caused by an electrical malfunction, including smoke in the cockpit, that occurred on the previous flight and that was not rectified prior to the accident flight, resulting in the subsequent fire. The accident pilot was informed about the known problem prior to flight but elected to fly the aircraft regardless.[87]
On March 30, 2018, a Cessna 650 Citation III (N126MT) of 2M Leasing LLC experienced a hydraulic issue en route to Sanford from Macon, Georgia. The aircraft circled the airport for 1 hour and 5 minutes, and the crew lost directional control upon landing. The Citation collided with two parked aircraft and took substantial damage; there were no fatalities.[88]
On March 14, 2019, a Cessna 650 Citation III (N220CM) of RP Sales and Leasing Inc. took substantial damage while taxiing after landing at Sanford from Charleston, West Virginia. The pilot took an alternate taxiway due to other aircraft being present, and was driven onto grass due to a miscommunication between the pilot and co-pilot, causing the nosewheel to strike concrete. The aircraft was written off.[89]
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