Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB)
History, Facts and Overview

(Orlando, Florida - FL, USA)

Florida's Orlando Sanford Airport began its life just before the 1940s, when it covered around 800 acres / 325 hectares and featured two runways. In 1942, the airport was taken over by the US Navy and became an important naval airbase. The city of Sanford once again took ownership of the airfield in 1946 and named in Sanford Airfield.

However, just five years later and during the Korean War, the navy was using the airport and retained ownership until 1968, when Orlando Sanford Airport now encompassed more than 1,600 acres / 650 hectares, double its original size. At this stage Sanford purchased the airport for the princely sum of just one dollar and began commercial flights one more. By the 1990s, change was afoot and plans were drawn up to improve the overall infrastructure, build a new arrivals building, add a cargo centre, a new control tower and taxiway extensions.


Cash machines are located in both terminals of Orlando Sanford Airport, while a foreign exchange bureau is available in Terminal A (International). Both terminals have postal services and there are newsagents and gift shops throughout the facility including a duty-free store in Terminal A, along with outlets of Travel Pursuits and News World.

There are also a variety of restaurants and cafés at Orlando Sanford Airport, such as the American Grill, the Café Ritazza, the Food Court and the Budweiser Tap Room. Conference facilities can be found in the Avion Jet Center, which was founded in 2001 and is located next to the airport's southwestern ramp. The Delta Connection Academy Flight School is also onsite, suiting those training to be a pilot or simply wishing to take some flying lessons.