People often ask us which airport they should fly into. While San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento are all options, we also really love the often overlooked Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, also called the Charles M. Shultz Airport. The airport acronym is STS. Note that while this is in Sonoma County, it’s a ways north of the City of Sonoma – about a 50 minute drive. But that’s still 30 minutes closer than the nearby major airports!

Depending on your agenda, STS might not be an option: right now it only serves American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, and private charter as well as private helicopter. It has only 4 gates, leading to a small town feel, and the connecting airports are limited — if you’re coming from the midwest or east, this would be a connecting flight. However, if you can make it, there are some great upsides. And, most importantly, your first case of wine flies home free on Alaska.

In April of 2026, Southwest will start offering flights to and from STS, which will open up a new range of possibilities for travelers.

Arrival

For the arrival side of your journey, the airport is close to most destinations in Sonoma, and even parts of Napa county – it’s only 15 minutes from Healdsburg. While the distance to downtown Napa is similar to that of larger airports, STS has a pleasantly low key atmosphere that makes it a superior option for those who find larger airports overstimulating or excessively convoluted.

Because the terminal is small, you won’t be wandering around outside on your cell yelling, “I’m in section Q! Where are you?” to a family member, or trying to figure out what the difference is between four different categories of buses and shuttles that all pick up in completely different concentric circles around the airport. Your driver can easily meet you inside or curbside with little concern for crowd scanning. After flying in from San Diego, I couldn’t believe how close Ben was able to park to the main exit to the terminal – he was easily visible to my nearsighted astigmatic eyes, despite the late hour of my arrival.

Just outside the terminal, you’ll find Runway Express Juice Bar + Spa, which also offers wraps and gyros, and Costeaux To Go for pastries and coffee. There’s also a full service restaurant called Flying Ace, with a concise but friendly menu of American fare. If you need a quick bite to eat before you head to your lodging, Flying Ace is open from 6am until 11pm.

Departure

For my departure, I took an afternoon flight out of STS and arrived early so I’d have time to check it out and review it.

The airport was almost empty in the morning, and busy but not crowded in the afternoon. There is a lot of seating in the waiting area, in good condition relative to major airports. I found tons of places to plug in my laptop, and both sitting and standing desktop surfaces for the workaholics in your group – not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I liked it.

Inside the terminal and past security, there’s a few options. There’s a bar, Crush, serving beer, wine, and cocktails, as well as sandwiches and small bites. And a branch of the Apple Spice franchise offers grab and go sandwiches, salads, and snacks.

You can also find the usual suspects in vending machines (soda, chips) and the finer local options, like bottled kombucha and local charcuterie options from Canteen Meats.

Again, waiting for your flight is a pretty relaxed experience at STS. You won’t strain yourself to hear your gate being called over huge echoey speaker systems giving five different sets of flight numbers from five different directions at STS, nor will you find tedious long lines and pushy crowds everywhere you go. Seating is abundant, amenities are sufficient for the foot traffic, and it’s hard to go wrong when all four gates are within a stones throw of one another. Grab some duck and pistachio salami, a glass of local red wine, and check all the wine that you picked up in Sonoma – mission accomplished.

One last note, STS is engaged in an oh-so-Californian energy project – 100% of the electricity the terminal uses is offset by the solar canopy in the airport parking lot. Keeping Sonoma sustainable and green is definitely a boon for wine lovers.

Overall I really preferred flying directly into and out of Sonoma County versus a larger airport like SFO or OAK. When you get off the plane, I feel like your trip should be basically over – the last thing I want after a flight is a two hour drive to my hotel, even in one of our super luxurious vehicles. STS was close to everything upon arrival, and pretty relaxed to spend time in before departure. I’ll probably set it as my preferred airport when flying up to wine country in the future. Please, share your STS experiences with us – love it? Hate it? Let me know, or use our contact page to get in touch.