San Diego

SAN · KSAN

San Diego International Airport

32.73°, -117.19°CA, United States

Passengers a year

26.8M

#24 busiest in the U.S.

91

nonstop destinations

43

airlines

300

departures a day

73.8%

arrivals on time

1.1%

flights cancelled

82.5%

load factor

The ten busiest routes from SAN, by passengers: DEN, SFO, PHX, LAS, SEA, SMF, DFW, ORD, SJC, ATLSANSFOSJCSMFSEALASDENORDPHXATLDFW
Nonstop routes — the ten busiest. Filed traffic, August 2025 – July 2026.

Airlines

Southwest Airlines is the largest carrier at San Diego, with 35% of all passengers. 43 airlines fly from here.

Share of passengers · each carrier as a slice of the whole airport

Southwest Airlines holds 35% of the airport — the 23rd most concentrated of 30 large hubs. The nearest comparison is PHX at 41%.

AirlineSharePassengersSeats YoY
WN
Southwest80% full
35.0%9.4M+16.1%
AS
Alaska81% fullOperated by SkyWest, Horizon
21.8%5.9M+30.6%
UA
United84% fullUnited Express · operated by SkyWest
11.9%3.2M+0.7%
DL
Delta83% fullDelta Connection · operated by SkyWest
11.6%3.1M-1%
AA
American84% full
10.7%2.9M-2.7%
+Other airlines
9.0%2.4M—

Share, passengers and destinations count each airline’s own flights plus the regional flying sold under its brand. On-time covers the airline's own aircraft only — regional affiliates report to the government separately. Seats year on year compares the latest twelve months against the twelve before them.

Destinations

80 domestic and 11 international nonstop destinations from San Diego, across 8 countries.

96% domestic · 4% international · by departing passengers

Top domestic destinations

  • Denver (DEN)

    820.2K departing · 80% full

    United Airlines · Southwest Airlines · Frontier Airlines · Alaska Airlines

  • San Francisco (SFO)

    810.1K departing · 81% full

    United Airlines · Southwest Airlines · Alaska Airlines · Frontier Airlines

  • Phoenix (PHX)

    710.8K departing · 72% full

    Southwest Airlines · American Airlines · Alaska Airlines · Frontier Airlines

  • Las Vegas (LAS)

    640.8K departing · 74% full

    Southwest Airlines · Alaska Airlines · Frontier Airlines · Delta Air Lines · Spirit Airlines

  • Seattle (SEA)

    620.1K departing · 83% full

    Alaska Airlines · Delta Air Lines · Southwest Airlines

  • Sacramento (SMF)

    583.8K departing · 79% full

    Southwest Airlines · Alaska Airlines

  • Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)

    581.2K departing · 86% full

    American Airlines · Frontier Airlines · Alaska Airlines

  • Chicago (ORD)

    557.2K departing · 82% full

    United Airlines · American Airlines · Alaska Airlines

  • San Jose (SJC)

    547.8K departing · 75% full

    Southwest Airlines · Alaska Airlines

  • Atlanta (ATL)

    402.9K departing · 88% full

    Delta Air Lines · Alaska Airlines

Top international destinations

  • London, United Kingdom (LHR)

    118.3K departing · 236.1K both ways

    British Airways

  • San José del Cabo, Mexico (SJD)

    88.6K departing · 174.4K both ways

    Alaska Airlines · Southwest Airlines

  • Munich, Germany (MUC)

    68.7K departing · 136.8K both ways

    Lufthansa

  • Vancouver, Canada (YVR)

    53.7K departing · 107.4K both ways

    Air Canada · WestJet

  • Narita, Japan (NRT)

    47.5K departing · 94K both ways

    Japan Airlines

  • Toronto, Canada (YYZ)

    41.2K departing · 83K both ways

    Air Canada · Air Canada Rouge

  • Calgary, Canada (YYC)

    35.4K departing · 70.3K both ways

    WestJet

  • Tocumen, Panama (PTY)

    26.4K departing · 53.2K both ways

    Copa Airlines

  • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (PVR)

    25.9K departing · 51.4K both ways

    Alaska Airlines

  • Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)

    24.4K departing · 46.4K both ways

    KLM

All nonstop destinations

91 nonstop · 20 airlines · 80 domestic / 11 intl

Aircraft

By share of departures at San Diego.

Body class · share of departures

When San Diego is busiest

Departures by month over the trailing year. Bars scale to the busiest month.

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Departures a month · peak July 2026

Annual passengers since 1990

Total passengers, arriving and departing, in every year on record.

Passengers a year

Every year
1990
10,940,274
1991
11,186,275
1992
11,762,708
1993
11,887,807
1994
12,858,946
1995
13,076,404
1996
13,566,103
1997
14,028,820
1998
14,484,511
1999
15,097,349
2000
15,749,212
2001
14,942,503
2002
14,743,142
2003
15,348,098
2004
16,539,963
2005
17,590,936
2006
17,693,907
2007
18,694,574
2008
18,442,693
2009
17,335,562
2010
17,234,545
2011
17,364,440
2012
17,750,452
2013
18,148,460
2014
19,054,828
2015
20,346,261
2016
20,998,074
2017
22,525,790
2018
24,547,006
2019
25,480,934
2020
9,414,061
2021
15,762,494
2022
22,436,161
2023
24,400,977
2024
25,490,302
2025
25,476,846
2026
15,857,212 so far

Arriving on time

Of every 100 flights landing at San Diego, 74 touch down within 15 minutes of schedule, 25 arrive late, and 1 is cancelled.

See live FAA delays

Every 100 arrivals

On time 74Late 25Cancelled 1

16 min

average delay

1,132

flights cancelled

98.7K

arrivals measured

What holds flights up

Share of delay minutes

Most reliable here

JetBlue Airways 84.6%

Least reliable here

Southwest Airlines 69.2%

Among US airports

#24

On time, month by month

Darker is better · 65.2%–79.6%

The weak spot is July 2026, when 65.2% of arrivals landed on time — 8.6 points below the year. The strongest was February 2026 at 79.6%.

Frequently asked

How busy is San Diego International Airport (SAN)?

San Diego International Airport handled about 26.8M passengers over the trailing 12 months, ranking #24 among U.S. airports by passengers, with roughly 300 departures a day.

Which airline is the largest at San Diego International Airport (SAN)?

Southwest Airlines is the largest carrier at San Diego (SAN), flying about 35% of its passengers. 43 airlines serve San Diego in total.

How many places can you fly nonstop from San Diego International Airport (SAN)?

San Diego (SAN) has 91 nonstop destinations — 80 domestic and 11 international across 8 countries.

How often do flights arrive on time at San Diego International Airport (SAN)?

About 73.8% of flights arriving at San Diego (SAN) touch down within 15 minutes of schedule, per US DOT figures. About 1.1% are cancelled.

What aircraft flies most from San Diego International Airport (SAN)?

The Embraer E175 flew the largest share of departures from San Diego (SAN), about 19% of the total.

Trip reports on YouTube

Fliers post trip reports from flights through San Diego (SAN) to YouTube. These three were matched automatically from public YouTube listings — The Frequent Flier does not host, review, or endorse them.

  • QFS Aviation

    Southwest Airlines - 737 700 - Oakland (OAK) to San Diego (SAN) | TRIP REPORT

    12:45 · Oct 2020

    Watch on YouTube

  • Genki's Travels

    jetBlue | A321-200 | Mint Suite | San Diego (SAN) to New York (JFK) | Trip Report

    25:00 · Feb 2023

    Watch on YouTube

  • MileHigh Aviation

    TRIP REPORT | Southwest 737 | SAN- DEN | Economy

    17:25 · Jun 2018

    Watch on YouTube

Source: YouTube. Titles, thumbnails, and channel names come from YouTube. Playing a video loads the YouTube player, and using it means you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service; the Google Privacy Policy applies.

Departing counts passengers leaving San Diego; international destinations also show both directions. Data: traffic August 2025 – July 2026, on-time August 2025 – July 2026. Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics (T-100 Segment, On-Time Performance).