The five oldest airports in California still operating in twenty twenty-six

California is home to five airports that have been in continuous operation since the 1920s and 1930s, making them some of the oldest active airfields in the United States. From Long Beach Airport, which opened in 1923, to LAX and Burbank, both dating to 1930, these fields have survived a century of change by adapting to each era’s demands. They remain open for business today — serving everything from general aviation to international commercial traffic.

Why Did California Build So Many Early Airports?

California and aviation grew up together. Within two decades of the Wright Brothers’ 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk, California was building airports at a pace other states reserved for train depots. The reasons were straightforward: near-perfect flying weather, flat and affordable land, and a booming early aviation industry that needed permanent facilities to prove flying was more than a novelty.

That combination made the state a natural incubator for airfield development, and several of those original fields are still receiving aircraft more than a century later.

Long Beach Airport (LGB) — 1923

Long Beach Airport is the oldest operating airport on this list, dating back to 1923. It began as a dirt strip on farmland south of Los Angeles. By the late 1920s it had grown into a legitimate municipal airport, and during World War II it became one of the country’s most important aircraft manufacturing hubs. Douglas Aircraft built thousands of planes there.

Today Long Beach still has commercial service — JetBlue and Southwest both operate there — but a noise ordinance and slot restrictions give it the feel of a small-town airport inside a massive metropolitan area. It treats general aviation like it still matters, largely because it remembers a time when general aviation was the only aviation.

Oakland International Airport (OAK) — 1927

Oakland’s airport history begins in 1927, the same year Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic. The field positioned itself as the Bay Area’s front door to the sky, becoming the western terminus for early transcontinental air routes. Amelia Earhart departed from Oakland on her final flight in 1937. The airport she took off from is still operating — pilots today can file an instrument flight plan from the same field where Earhart filed hers.

Oakland has always lived in the shadow of San Francisco International, but it carved out its own identity. Southwest turned it into a major low-cost travel hub on the West Coast. For general aviation pilots, North Field at Oakland remains one of the great urban airports in America, offering views of the San Francisco skyline, the Bay Bridge, and Alcatraz while commercial heavies work the parallel runways.

San Diego International / Lindbergh Field (SAN) — 1928

San Diego International opened in 1928 as Ryan Field, named after the Ryan Aeronautical Company — the firm that built Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis. The airport later renamed for Lindbergh sits on the same ground where the company that made his transatlantic flight possible was headquartered.

Today Lindbergh Field is one of the busiest single-runway commercial airports in the United States. The approach from the east, threading between downtown buildings and Balboa Park, is one of the most distinctive visual approaches in the country. The fact that a single-runway operation still serves millions of passengers annually is a testament to how well the original site was chosen. The location worked in 1928 and it still works, even as the surrounding city has made it a very tight fit.

Bob Hope Airport, Burbank (BUR) — 1930

Burbank’s airport opened in 1930 as United Airport, and it was enormous for its era. It served as the primary commercial airport for Los Angeles before LAX assumed that role. Lockheed operated its factory on the premises, and during World War II the entire complex was camouflaged to hide it from potential enemy attack — complete with a fake neighborhood built on top of the factory using rubber cars and canvas houses to resemble a suburb from the air.

Today Burbank is the airport locals prefer and tourists rarely discover. It is smaller, easier to navigate, and sits closer to Hollywood and downtown LA than LAX. For general aviation, it offers solid services, and every taxi past the old Lockheed buildings is a roll through aerospace history.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) — 1930

Mines Field opened in 1930, the same year as Burbank. The city of Los Angeles purchased the site as its official municipal airport — at the time a modest field on the western edge of the city, surrounded by bean fields and open land.

LAX did not become dominant by accident. Los Angeles made a deliberate choice in the 1930s and 1940s to invest in a single major airport and pour resources into making it world-class. That decision shaped Southern California aviation for the next century. Every international route, every hub connection, every airline headquarters decision traces back to that original commitment.

What These Airports Have in Common

Beyond their age, all five airports share one trait: they adapted. Long Beach evolved from a dirt strip to a manufacturing hub to a commercial airport with a noise curfew. Oakland survived being overshadowed by SFO. San Diego made a single runway work for a major metropolitan area. Burbank reinvented itself as the convenient alternative. LAX became one of the busiest airports on the planet.

In California, where the pressure to redevelop airport land into housing and commercial property is relentless, these five have held on because their communities recognized that an airport is not just infrastructure — it is identity.

Why This Matters for Pilots

For pilots based in California or planning a trip to the West Coast, these airports are worth visiting with an appreciation for what lies beneath the pavement. The old hangars, the historical plaques, and the taxiways themselves are part of a continuous thread reaching back to aviation’s earliest days. When Long Beach Airport opened in 1923, powered flight was only 20 years old. The decision to build a permanent facility for receiving airplanes was itself an act of faith in the future. A hundred years later, the runway is still there and the airplanes are still coming.

Key Takeaways

• Long Beach Airport (1923) is the oldest operating airport on the list, with roots in WWII manufacturing and active commercial service today
• Oakland International (1927) served as Amelia Earhart’s departure point for her final flight and remains a premier urban GA airport
• San Diego’s Lindbergh Field (1928) operates as one of the busiest single-runway commercial airports in the U.S.
• Burbank (1930) was LA’s original primary commercial airport before LAX, complete with a WWII-era camouflaged aircraft factory
• LAX (1930) grew from a modest field surrounded by bean fields into a global aviation hub through deliberate, decades-long investment
• All five airports survived by evolving with their communities rather than remaining static relics

Source reporting via Simple Flying, as of April 2026.