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San Diego International Airport

Coordinates: 32°44′01″N 117°11′23″W / 32.73361°N 117.18972°W / 32.73361; -117.18972
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32°44′01″N 117°11′23″W / 32.73361°N 117.18972°W / 32.73361; -117.18972

San Diego International Airport

Lindbergh Field
File:San Diego Airport logo.png
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerSan Diego County Regional Airport Authority
ServesSan Diego-Tijuana metropolitan area
Elevation AMSL17 ft / 5 m
Websitewww.san.org
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9/27 9,401 2,865 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations220,839
Based aircraft7
Source: FAA[1], airport website[2]
FAA diagram of San Diego International Airport

San Diego International Airport (IATA: SAN, ICAO: KSAN, FAA LID: SAN), also known as Lindbergh Field, is a public airport located two miles (3 km) west of the central business district of San Diego, a city in San Diego County, California, United States and also 15 miles (24 km) from Tijuana, Mexico. It is owned by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.[1]

San Diego International is the busiest single-runway commercial airport in the United States, with approximately 600 departures and arrivals carrying 40,000 passengers each day, and over 17 million passengers a year. The busiest single-runway airport in the world is London Gatwick Airport, although Gatwick technically has two runways, one of which is largely out of operation. Counting that runway, San Diego would technically be the busiest single runway commercial airport in the world.

SAN occupies the smallest land footprint of any large commercial airport in the United States, occupying 661 acres (2.67 km²) of land.

The most prominent airlines at the airport are Southwest Airlines (34.6%), United Airlines/United Express (12.5%), and American Airlines/American Eagle (12.1%).

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. The airport also holds the distinction of serving as a testing facility for several early U.S. sailplane designs, notably those by William Hawley Bowlus (Superintendent of Construction on the Spirit of St. Louis) who also operated the Bowlus Glider School at Lindbergh Field from 1929-1930. 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 (2,670 m) 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 1960s, 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 (30,000 m2) 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

Air Traffic Control Tower

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 266 feet (81 m) to sea level in less than a mile. Aircraft normally descend at 317' per mile, but in San Diego they must descend at 376' per mile. San Diego's only runway is located at the base of a hill lined with several obstructions, including the I-5 freeway and trees in Balboa Park. Contrary to local lore, the parking structure off the end of the runway was built long after previous obstructions built up east of the I-5. The parking structure was then built up to this controlling limit. Aircraft clear the parking structure by the required 109 feet (33 m).

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 1,810 feet (550 m) from the runway end, effectively shortening the landing distance to 7,591 feet (2,314 m). 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.

Reverse operations

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.

Terrain east and west of the airport greatly impacts the available runway length. Runway 27 (heading west) has a climb gradient of 317' per nautical mile leaving an equivalent takeoff distance of roughly 8,700' (7,000' for twin engine aircraft) compared to a non-terrain airport. Taking off to the east requires a 600' per mile climb rate, this leaves an equivalent takeoff distance of 6,400', enough to force a weight penalty on the 737-800. It should also be noted that Lindbergh Field does not have standard "Runway Safety Areas" 1,000' in length at each runway end. An Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) has been installed at the west end of the runway to catch any aircraft overruns, but its 350' length vs. a standard 600' EMAS can only for certain stop aircraft up to 350,000 lb (160,000 kg) in weight. The east end of the runway does not have such a system as its use would reduce the runway length by at least 400', further impacting the runway's capability.

Noise curfew

SAN is located in a highly populated area. To appease the airport's neighbors' concerns over noise and the associated lawsuit, a curfew was put in place in 1979. Departures are allowed between 6:30 AM and 11:30 PM. Outside those hours, departures are subject to a large fine. Arrivals are permitted 24 hours per day. Several flights are scheduled with departure times before 6:15 AM. These times, however, are pushback times. First takeoff roll is at 6:30 AM.

Current status

As of June 2007, San Diego International Airport is served by 19 airlines which fly to 55 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The busiest route from SAN is to LAX in terms of daily operations. However, most of the passengers traveling to LAX are connecting to International Flights. The SAN-LAX route comprises approximately 8% of passenger traffic and over 16% of the flight operations, due to the use of small aircraft. However, the distribution of these flights across an 18 hour day results in very little impact to the peak operational capacity of the airport, a period of time from 11:30 AM to 1:30 pm daily. With 514 flight operations per week, the SAN-LAX route is the third busiest in the United States, trailing only Honolulu-Kahului (639 weekly flight operations) and Las Vegas-Los Angeles (553 weekly flight operations).[3]

The last intercontinental service was a San Diego-London Heathrow route served by British Airways. The route was canceled in 2003. Although the number of passengers passing through SAN has increased dramatically since then, no airline had filed for intercontinental service until December 2007 when Zoom Airlines Limited announced non-stop service to London Gatwick. It was believed that airlines refrained from offering intercontinental service due to the weight penalties imposed by the rising terrain both east and west of the airport. These penalties severely impacted the economic viability of long-haul international service.

USCG operations

See also: Coast Guard Air Station San Diego

An interesting feature of the airport is the existence of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) air station in the south-east corner of the airfield. The air station is physically separated from the rest of the airfield, such that USCG fixed-wing aircraft must cross a busy, 6-lane city street to reach the runway; street light activation opens the locked gates to the airfield and the air station, and also stops traffic while aircraft are transversing the street.

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. In June 2006, SDCRAA board members selected Marine Corps Air Station Miramar as its preferred site for a replacement airport, despite military objections. On November 7, 2006, San Diego County residents defeated an advisory relocation which included a joint use proposal measure.[4] This presents an interesting twist on San Diego's aviation future. Industry experts agree that Lindbergh Field will in fact run out of capacity, although when can be debated. The airport is operating with 70% of its total gate capacity of 64 gates and will soon add 10 more gates taking the airport to 86% of its total gate capacity. There has also been some thought given to the creation of a supplemental airport (possibly a smaller Miramar or Camp Pendleton airport at some point in the future with close parallel runways) because of the level of investment that will now be required to maximize Lindbergh Field's efficiency going forward until it is effectively "out of capacity" driving demand for a new airport. Lindbergh might be used in the same way Midway, Hobby and Love Field are with the new airport being used by the major carriers and cargo carriers.

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 and shipping lanes. Furthermore, such an addition would not properly address projected capacity demands. The adjacent military land remains in active use and is not currently available, over 60% of the land has structures of historical significance that will preclude demolition. Using residential land, although possible through eminent domain, is publicly and politically unpopular.

Twenty-two studies have been conducted on where to place an airport dating back to 1923. The first study developed the site location plan for Lindbergh field. Eighteen studies were conducted by private groups, most in the early days by those who were opposed to Lindbergh being built instead of on land set aside at what is now Montgomery Field. One was a revisitation of a study done in the 80's by the City in a "pre-BRAC" push in 1994 when Miramar closed and was then transferred to a Marine Base. Another was by the City of San Diego in 1984 and another that started in 1996 and sat dormant with SANDAG until the Airport Authority was formed in 2001. This study is the first study ever done to look for a new site by an agency that actually had jurisdiction over the issue, and the first non-site specific comprehensive study of the entire region.

Airlines and destinations

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

File:KSAN Domestic Route Map.png
Domestic destinations served from
San Diego International Airport
(as of May 2008)
International destinations served from
San Diego International Airport
(as of June 2008)

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 has 19 Gates: 1 - 19

Note: International Arrivals are handled in Terminal 2.

  • Air Canada (Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver)
  • Alaska Airlines (Portland (OR), Los Cabos, Seattle/Tacoma)
  • Southwest Airlines (Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Chicago-Midway, Denver [begins April 4], El Paso, Houston-Hobby, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, Oakland, Phoenix, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City [begins March 8], San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Tucson)
  • United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Honolulu [seasonal], San Francisco, Washington-Dulles)

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 has 22 Gates: 20 - 41

Note: Terminal 2 handles all international arrivals at Lindbergh (excluding airports with border preclearance), as well as the following departing flights:

Commuter Terminal

The Commuter Terminal has 4 Gates: 1 - 4

Cargo airlines

Charter airlines

Alternate airport

Tijuana International Airport is considered an alternate airport. Currently San Diego airport is congested and has little room for expansion. Tijuana airport serves most areas in Mexico not served by this airport. Due to the lack of flights from San Diego, the Tijuana airport offers passengers from San Diego and vincinity intercontinental nonstop flights to Tokyo-Narita[7] and Shanghai (starts April 8, 2008[8]).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b FAA Airport Form 5010 for SAN PDF, effective 2007-10-25
  2. ^ San Diego International Airport (official site)
  3. ^ http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32938542_ITM
  4. ^ Kucher, Karen (2006-06-05). "Despite military protests, Airport Authority endorses Miramar for new airport site". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2006-06-06. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Application of Philippine Airlines, Inc. for an Exemption" (PDF). 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Zoom Airlines Will Begin Non-Stop Flights From San Diego to London". XETV-TV. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Narita (NRT) Service," Aeroméxico
  8. ^ "Shanghai (PVG) Service," Aeroméxico
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