Camarillo Airport was originally established in 1942 when the California State Highway Department constructed an auxiliary landing field with a runway, which was later extended to in 1951 to accommodate what by then had developed into Oxnard Air Force Base. The Aerospace Defense Command, via the 414th Fighter Group at Oxnard AFB, directed the 354th, 437th, and 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons successively. In the years following the closure of Oxnard AFB in January 1970, the Ventura County government actively pursued the acquisition of the former military base property from the Department of Defense for commercial airport use. This initiative ran into public opposition, opposed primarily by local residents concerned about the noise of growing commercial traffic. In 1976, the transfer of the airport was finally approved, provided the runway length was shortened to 6,000 ft by displacing the runway threshold each end, substantially at the eastern end. By 1985, the airport was entirely managed by the Ventura County Department of Airports.
Facilities and aircraft
Camarillo Airport covers an area of and contains one runway which measures 6,013 x 150 ft. It has two helipads, both measuring 50 by 50 ft. For a 12-month period ending June 5, 2006, the airport had 153,360 aircraft operations, an average of 420 per day: 98% general aviation, 2% air taxi and <1% military. There are 600 aircraft based at this airport: 84% single engine, 8% multi-engine, 5% ultralights, 3% jet aircraft and 1% helicopters. It is an FAA-towered facility and there are three Fixed-Base Operators that are headquartered at the airfield.
The is based at the airport, as well as its fleet of a flying B-25J Mitchell and a C-47B Dakota under restoration. Rides on the B-25 are available.
The Camarillo Composite Squadron 61 of the California Wing of the Civil Air Patrol is based at this airfield. The CAP facilities are located near Sky Blue Air, at the east end of the airport.
The Commemorative Air Force's and its museum are located to the west of the Waypoint Cafe in three large hangars. Aircraft include the C-46 'China Doll' on static display, an F6F-5 Hellcat, F8F-2 Bearcat, P-51D Mustang, Yak-3M, Spitfire FR Mk. XIVe, A6M3 Mod. 22 Zero, two SNJ Texans, and a PBJ-1J Mitchell, all of which are in flying condition. In addition — though not part of the CAF's fleet — a privately owned L-29 Delfin and MiG-17F are also housed in the hangars. Rides on the P-51, PBJ-1J, PT-19, and SNJ are available.
The Experimental Aircraft Association's and its facilities are located to the west of CAF museum in two hangars.
From 1995 to 2012, one of the last Lockheed EC-121 Warning Stars underwent a major restoration and dominated the tarmac. It was flown out to the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.
The Ventura County Fire and Sheriff's Departments each support large, separate facilities at opposite ends of the field to support new recruit and recurring refreshment training. A "Viewport" opened in 2014, providing a kid-friendly area to view the airport activities which had become difficult with increased security concerns.
Accidents and incidents
On August 7, 2019, a private aircraft from Wheeler Express crashed 1,000 feet from the runway of the airport. Both people on board were killed. On January 26, 2020, a helicopter en route to Camarillo Airport crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California, under heavy fog, killing nine people, including basketball player Kobe Bryant.
