San Diego International Airport: Difference between revisions

San Diego International Airport is the primary commercial airport for San Diego County. No airline maintains a hub there, and Southwest Airlines is the dominant carrier, followed closely by Alaska Airlines. The vast majority of scheduled flights are to points within North America including the Hawaiian Islands. In terms of international service, Air Canada Express, Air Canada Rouge, and WestJet operate to respective destinations that include Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary with Air Transat soon to be starting flights to Montreal. Swoop was supposed to begin service to Abbotsford and Edmonton, however, the grounding of the 737 MAX has affected previous plans to begin both flights in October 2019 so they have pushed back start-up to Summer 2020. Alaska, Southwest, and Sun Country (seasonally) operate the airport's only flights to Mexico: Puerto Vallarta (AS/WN) and San Jose Del Cabo (AS/SY/WN). British Airways, Japan Airlines, and Lufthansa provide intercontinental wide-body service with flights to London-Heathrow, Tokyo-Narita, and Frankfurt, respectively. Edelweiss provides seasonal wide-body service to Zurich during the summer.

The airport has only a single runway, 9/27, and normal operations call for arrivals and departures on runway 27. Runway 9 usage is uncommon. They will use runway 9 if the cloud ceilings are below 600 feet from airport elevation due to non-precision only approaches for runway 27 and if the visibility is reduced to less than 1 1/2 miles. In addition, easterly winds known as "Santa Ana" winds will force runway 9 operations if strong enough; and conditions are usually clear which is rare for reverse operations. Runway 9 has an operating ILS which can account for the lowered ceiling and visibility.  

32.728233,-117.165725~Ivy and Albatross;

*'''Air Canada Express (Jazz)''': CRJ-705, CRJ-900

*'''Air Canada Rouge''': A319-100, A321-200

*'''Air Transat''': 737-800, A321-200 (seasonal, begins June 15, 2020)

*'''Alaska Airlines''': 737-700, 737-800, 737-900, 737-900ER, A319-100, A320-200, A321neo (summer seasonal)

**'''Horizon Air''': ERJ-175LR

**'''SkyWest Airlines''': ERJ-175

*'''Allegiant Air''': A319-100

*'''American Airlines''': 737-800, 757-200, A319-100, A320-200, A321-200

**'''American Eagle (SkyWest Airlines)''': CRJ-200, CRJ-700

*'''British Airways''': 747-400

*'''Delta Air Lines''': 737-800, 737-900ER, 757-200, 757-300, A319-100, A320-200, A321-200

*'''Edelweiss Air''': A340-300 (summer season only)

*'''Frontier Airlines''': A319-100, A320-200, A320neo, A321-200

*'''Hawaiian Airlines''': A321neo, A330-200

*'''JetBlue Airways''': A320-200, A321-200

*'''Southwest Airlines''': 737-700, 737-800, 737 MAX 8 (Currently Grounded)

*'''Spirit Airlines''': A319-100, A320-200, A320neo

*'''United Airlines''': 737-700, 737-800, 737-900ER, 737 MAX 9 (Currently Grounded), 757-200, A319-100, A320-200

**'''United Express (SkyWest Airlines)''': CRJ-200, CRJ-700, ERJ-175

*'''WestJet''': 737-600, 737-700, 737-800

*'''Atlas AIr/DHL Cargo''': The 767-200s that are operated by Atlas Air are parked on the northside of the field have been nicknamed "the sleeping giant" by SAN spotters because they hardly ever seem to move.  Many of the 767-200s on this flight are painted in full DHL colors.  It typically arrives at approximately 7:00AM and departs to Phoenix, Arizona between 5:50PM and 7:00PM. Occasionally, this flight will be operated by a 767-300F.

*'''Ameriflight''': Ameriflight operates the Beech Airliner 99 and the Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner to SAN in the early evening, with arrival times from El Centro, California between 5:00PM and 7:00PM and are on the ground for less than 40 minutes usually before departure back to Ontario, California.  

*'''FedEx Express''': FedEx is the largest cargo carrier at SAN, with the longtime regular A300 and MD-10 flights largely replaced by the 757 and 767. Three flights usually arrive in the very early morning, before 6:00AM, and normally have all departed by 8:00AM. A second set of two flights typically arrives between 4:00PM and 6:30PM.  These usually depart again between 7:00PM and 8:30PM.  One of the Friday afternoon flights, typically arriving at approximately 5:00PM and departing after dark, and one of the Saturday morning flights, typically arriving at 5:30AM and departing between 7:00AM & 8:00PM, are usually operated by 767equipment. MD-11's are still somewhat rare, but made some appearances during the 2015 Christmas season. The 757 only operates at in the early morning and at night, so they are a bit hard to photograph.  

*'''United Parcel Service (UPS)''': UPS operates two weekday flights on a somewhat variable schedule, generally using 767s.  A morning flight usually arrives at approximately 5:00AM and departs around 6:30AM. A 767 arrives from the their mega hub in Louisville, Kentucky most weekday afternoons between 4:30PM and 5:30PM. Departures occur between 6:30AM and 7:30AM and in the evening between 7:30PM and 8:30PM. UPS does not operate on the weekends.