This year and last are watershed years for San Diego International Airport.
In 2024, SAN marked its busiest year with 25.24 million passengers recorded traveling through the airport’s terminals, surpassing the previous busiest record of 25.18 million passengers served in 2019.
“This is a true sign of recovery and growth,” said Kimberly Becker, president and CEO of San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. “Each year following the pandemic, the number of travelers recorded at our airport has increased. We are grateful for our partnering airline tenants who operate at SAN and for the many business and leisure passengers who choose to fly to and from our airport.”
This year will mark another milestone for the airport, one of the busiest single-runway commercial service airports in the world and the third-busiest airport in California.
In November 2021, the Airport Authority began construction on its New Terminal 1, which includes the replacement of the current Terminal 1, improvements to the airfield, improved transportation connectivity to the airport, and a new administration building. The first phase of the new T1 project is expected to be completed this summer.
San Diego Community Newspaper Group reached out to SAN to find out more about recent airport developments in a Q&A.
SDCNG: How is the Terminal 1 buildout going? Will it be done by this summer as expected? What are the other phases, and timelines, following that?
SAN: Construction of the New Terminal 1 is on schedule and will be completed in two phases. Phase 1A is scheduled to open in late summer 2025 and will provide 19 new gates. The second phase, Phase 1B, will open in 2028 and will open an additional 11 new gates for a total of 30 new gates at the New T1. This will be 11 more than is available at the current Terminal 1.
SDCNG: Once completed, how will the Terminal 1 project enhance the overall service and ambiance provided at the airport?
SAN: Once the entire New T1 is completed it will feature 30 new gates, including gate-area seating, more restaurants, and shops, as well as security checkpoints. New three-lane on-airport entry roadway: Allows airport-bound drivers to merge from Laurel and North Harbor Drive onto a three-lane, free-flow roadway without intersections. This will remove an estimated 45,000 cars a day from North Harbor Drive.
Designated transit-ready area: Dedicated location for a future transit station that could connect to a regional transit solution built by regional partners and convey passengers within easy walking distance of the terminals. Dual-level roadway and curb front: separate arriving and departing passenger traffic with an elevated departure roadway and curbside check-in.
Convenient parking: A state-of-the-art parking plaza that will provide close-in parking and minimize walking distances. The parking plaza will ultimately provide up to 5,200 parking spaces.
Airfield improvements: To enhance aircraft traffic flow and reduce taxiing times and greenhouse gas emissions.
SDCNG: Will this increase how many people can be served by SAN?
SAN: No. Ultimately, the single runway, not the terminals, will determine SAN’s peak capacity. The runway can only handle so many flights each day. A new terminal will allow visitors to and from San Diego to have the best possible customer experience through the airport, but the New T1 ultimately doesn’t impact flight capacity.
SDCNG: Will the buildout extend the usable life of the airport?
SAN: The New T1 is intended to provide a more efficient and comfortable passenger experience for decades to come; but the project itself does not change the capacity of SAN, which is governed by its single runway.
SDCNG: What are the factors behind the recent resurgence at SAN?
SAN: San Diego International Airport marks 2024 as its busiest year ever with 25.24 million passengers recorded traveling through the airport’s terminals. Contributing to the passenger volume increase during the last year is the addition of two new airlines, Breeze and Porter Airlines, and service to nine new nonstop destinations, which include Anchorage, Alaska; Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Eagle County/Vail, Colo.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Milwaukee; Norfolk, Va.; Pittsburgh; and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. International travel also contributed to growth in 2024 with a more than 10% increase from last year.
Directly attributing to this growth is British Airways’ expansion in service from one to two nonstop daily flights to London, England. International travel is anticipated to continue growing in the coming year with the addition of service to Amsterdam, Netherlands on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and daily nonstop service to Tokyo, Japan on Japan Airlines. Currently, 18 airlines operate from SAN and offer nonstop flights to 85 destinations around the globe.
SDCNG: Do you expect ridership at SAN to continue to increase for the foreseeable future?
SAN: Yes.
