Santa Barbara Airport receives new jet bridge

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Santa Barbara Airport received a jet bridge on Tuesday morning.

After more than eight years, city officials purchased the jet bridge to link the absence of a Gate 3, and the quizzical labeling of Gate 4 as "Gate 3 & 4".

This jet bridge will be the fourth jet bridge boarding gate and one ground boarding gate, as was originally design for the airline terminal.

The 150-foot-long glass and steel passenger jet bridge arrived on two long semi-trailers from a manufacturing facility in Ogden, Utah.

This jet bridge is the completing final piece of construction of the airline terminal building that opened in 2011.

Officials say the installation and certification of the new jet bridge is expected to be complete in mid-December.

The bridge's installation will be in time to welcome 2019's one millionth passenger, expected to arrive in the month of December.

The passenger jet bridge was $1.2 million and was funded by a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration along with a nearly 10% matching investment by the Airport.

The Airport's share of the jet bridge investment is in turn supported by income from commercial air service operations, not local tax dollars.