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San Diego International Airport

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Control Tower at Lindbergh Field

San Diego International Airport (IATA: SAN, ICAO: KSAN), also known as Lindbergh Field, is located in San Diego, California.

San Diego International Airport is the busiest single-runway airport in the United States (the busiest single-runway airport in the world is London Gatwick Airport). SAN is also one of the physically smallest airports in the world supporting commercial service, with a total of 614 acres (2.5 km²) of useable land.

History

Dedicated on August 16, 1928, the new airport was given the prominent name San Diego Municipal Airport - Lindbergh Field. This naming occurred because San Diego holds the honor of being the city from which Charles Lindbergh began the journey that would ultimately become the first solo transatlantic flight. Additionally, the airport holds the distinction of being the first federally certified airfield to serve all aircraft types, including seaplanes. The original terminal was located on the northeastern side of the field, along Pacific Coast Highway. On June 1, 1930, a regular San Diego-Los Angeles airmail route was initiated. The airport gained 'international airport' status in 1934, and a United States Coast Guard Air Base located adjacent to the field was commissioned in April 1937. The Coast Guard's fixed-wing aircraft make use of the runway at Lindbergh Field.

World War II brought significant change to the airfield when the U.S. Army Air Corps took it over in 1942 to support the war effort. The infrastructure of the airport was improved to handle the heavy bombers being manufactured in the region during the war. This transformation, including an 8,750 foot runway, made the airport "jet-ready' long before jet passenger planes came into widespread service [1]. After the war, commercial air service at Lindbergh Field expanded rapidly. Pacific Southwest Airlines established its headquarters in San Diego and inaugurated service at Lindbergh Field in 1949 to points throughout California. In 1960, Lindbergh Field gained its first jet service, with American Airlines and United Airlines operating the Boeing 720 to Phoenix and San Francisco, respectively.

Tragedy struck on September 25, 1978, when a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727, operating as PSA Flight 182, suffered a mid-air collision with a privately owned Cessna 172 while on final approach to Lindbergh Field. One hundred and twenty-eight passengers and seven crew members on board the Boeing, two on board the Cessna and seven people on the ground were killed. This disaster remains the single worst aircraft accident in California history.

The original terminal was used until the 1960's, but by that time, air traffic in San Diego had increased considerably and new facilities were needed badly. The current Terminal 1 was opened on the southern side of the airport property on March 5, 1967. It was not until July 11, 1979 that Terminal 2 was opened. A third terminal, dubbed the Commuter Terminal, opened on July 23, 1996. Terminal 2 was later expanded by 300,000 square feet in 1998.

Originally operated by the San Diego Unified Port District, the airport is now operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

Flight Operations

The vast majority of operations at SAN are to the west.

Landing at the airport from the east (the most common approach) offers dramatic closeup views of skyscrapers, Petco Park (home of the San Diego Padres), and the soaring, curving Coronado Bridge from the left side of the aircraft. On the right, Balboa Park, site of the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition, can be seen, along with the world famous San Diego Zoo and several freeways.

The approach from the east is steep, necessitated by terrain which drops from 250 feet to sea level in less than a mile. SAN's only runway is located at the base of the hill, and the steep approach is further complicated by a parking garage under the glidepath. Aircraft arriving from the east do not land at the end of the runway as at most airports, but land at what is called a displaced threshold, located 1810 feet from the runway end, effectively shortening the landing distance to 7591 feet. Aircraft departing to the west use the east end of the runway as their departure point. A photo from the cockpit of an arriving aircraft clearly shows the approach and the displaced threshold.

Under fog or Santa Ana wind conditions, operations are reversed with landings and takeoffs to the east. Because of the terrain, weight limits are imposed on departing aircraft under these conditions.

SAN is located in a highly populated area. To appease the airport's neighbors' concerns over noise, departures are allowed between 6:30 AM and 11:30 PM. While arrivals can occur outside those hours, the aircraft operator is subject to a fine. This usually occurs when an arriving flight is delayed at the departure airport. Several flights are scheduled with departure times before 6:15 AM. These times, however, are pushback times. First takeoff roll begins at 6:30 AM.

Relocation Proposals

California Assembly Bill AB 93 created the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority in 2001. The SDCRAA believes that Lindbergh Field will reach capacity between 2015 and 2022. The county of San Diego will vote in 2006 on recommendations made by the SDRAA.

The current site of the airport is bounded by San Diego Bay, military facilities, and residential areas. Extension into the bay is an undesirable option because the required landfill would interfere with nearby U.S. naval operations. Furthermore, such an addition would not properly address projected capacity demands. The adjacent military land remains in active use and is not currently available. Using residential land, although possible through eminent domain, is publicly and politically unpopular.

Because of Lindbergh Field's geographic constraints, the Airport Authority is exploring several proposals to completely relocate the airport. Of the nine locations under consideration, two are considered remote to San Diego.

One such remote location has created local controversy. A proposal promoted by Congressman Bob Filner would locate the new airport in Imperial County, approximately 96 miles from downtown San Diego. The proposal has garnered severe criticism because of the anticipated long driving times and a costly companion proposal involving a high speed train connection. The cost of the transportation and roadway alone is nearly $10.2 Billion, excluding construction of the actual airport facilities. This is approximately 3-4 times the cost of constructing Denver International Airport, to which it would then be necessary to add an additional $5-7 Billion for the proposed airport itself.

An unsuccessful proposal was the construction of a "floatport," a fully floating airport located three miles off of the tip of Point Loma. The floatport concept remains technically unproven, could cost nearly $30 Billion USD (Denver International Airport, by comparison, cost $4.9 Billion when it opened in 1995, about $14 billion in todays dollars with 6 six runways and 120 gates - three times as many runways as San Diego proposes and double the gates), and raises substantial environmental concerns (Considerably more than a land based site because of fears of fuel spills and disruption of a major whale migration route). The proposal has been rejected by SDCRAA as simply being too costly.

Had MCAS Miramar become available through the BRAC, a new airport on that site would have cost between $8 and 12 Billion (including access) in 2015-2020 dollars, that being the timeframe in which the new airport would have opened if approved by the voters. The airport is now proposing joint use. It's clear from the latest BRAC round that Miramar is changing to an all MV-22 airlift base. The fighters are beign retired or moving to Yuma and the training for the replacement aircraft (The F-35) will be at Eglin in Florida.

San Diego is also looking at single runway solutions to compliment SAN due to the reduced footprint requirements making sites previsiously evaluated with two runways an option.

Airlines and destinations

Complete information on flights to and from SAN is available at the Flight Planner section of the airport's web site.

Terminal 1

  • Air Canada
  • Alaska Airlines Gates 16, 17, and 20 (Int'l Arrivals) (Los Cabos, Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma, Vancouver)
  • Frontier Airlines Gate 15 (Denver)
  • Midwest Airlines Gate 15 (Kansas City)
  • Southwest Airlines Gates 1-10 (Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Chicago-Midway, Denver, El Paso, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, New Orleans, Oakland, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Jose, Tucson)
  • United Airlines Gates 11-14, and 18 (Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, San Francisco, Washington-Dulles)

Terminal 2

Commuter Terminal

Cargo Airlines Serving San Diego

Airlines that have served San Diego

Since the deregulation of air travel in the United States in 1978, many airlines have carried their passengers through San Diego on a scheduled or chartered basis. Sadly, some of these airlines may have lasted one or two years at the most. But other more established carriers have also ceased operations due to the cold reality of economics. In addition, several international airlines have come and later found San Diego unprofitable, as LAX is approximately 2 hours away by car. The following list comprises airlines which provided scheduled or regular charter service to Lindbergh Field.

1 There is a possibility that Aero California's routes to San Diego were abandoned because they also serve Tijuana International Airport, which is only 15 miles (24 km) away.

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