Santa Monica Airport , also known as Santa Monica Municipal Airport, is a general aviation airport located in the heart of the residential community of Santa Monica, California, United States. The airport is located approximately six statute miles north of LAX and one mile east of the Santa Monica Bay (Pacific Ocean). Van Nuys Airport is 12 miles to the north. The airport has a control tower and, on average, handles 400-500 operations a day - which includes 18,000 jets per year (up from 1,000 per year since 1984).blank">http://www.smmirror.com/MainPages/DisplayArticleDetails.asp?eid=1905

Originally called Clover Field, the airport was the home of the _Douglas Aircraft company. The first circumnavigation of the world by air took off from and returned to Clover Field in 1924.

Three restaurants are on the airport property; The Hump and Typhoon both have runway views and Spitfire Grill is across an airport street with no view of the runway. The Museum Of Flying at the airport houses a collection of historic aircraft. It is currently closed while a new facility is built on the North side of the airport and is expected to re-open in mid-late 2009.

The City of Santa Monica recently opened an 8.3-acre public park on non-aviation lands at the southeast corner of the Airport. The new park, known as Airport Parkhttp://www.smgov.net/ccs/Airport_Park/index.htm, features a synthetic turf soccer field, open green space and an off-leash dog area.