San Diego International Airport (IATA: SAN, ICAO: KSAN, FAA LID: SAN), formerly known as Lindbergh Field, is an international airport 3 mi (4.8 km) northwest of Downtown San Diego, California, United States. It is owned and operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. San Diego International Airport covers 663 acres (268 ha) of land. Opened in august 16, 1928, was San Diego Municipal Airport – Lindbergh Field ( because Charles Lindbergh flight tested the Spirit of St. Louis before his historic 1927 transatlantic flight ). A major defense contractor and contributor to World War II "Consolidated Aircraft" later "Convair" had their headquarters on the border of Lindbergh Field, and built many of their military aircraft there. Convair used the airport for test and delivery flights from 1935 to 1995.
In 2015, traffic at San Diego International exceeded 20 million passengers, serving more than 500 scheduled operations carrying about 50,000 passengers each day. While primarily serving domestic traffic, San Diego has nonstop international flights to Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
San Diego is the largest metropolitan area in the United States that is not an airline hub or secondary hub; however, San Diego is a focus city for Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The top five carriers in San Diego during 2015, by seat capacity, were Southwest Airlines (42.7%), American Airlines (14.0%), United Airlines (11.2%), Alaska Airlines (10.1%), and Delta Air Lines (9.9%).
San Diego International is the busiest single runway airport in the United States and third-busiest single runway in the world, behind Mumbai and London Gatwick. The airport's landing approach is well known for its close proximity to the skyscrapers of Downtown San Diego, and can sometimes prove difficult to pilots due to the relatively short usable landing area, steep descent angle over the crest of Banker's Hill, and shifting wind currents just before touchdown. San Diego International operates in controlled airspace served by the Southern California TRACON, which is some of the busiest airspace in the world.
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2012 • Planespotting | Pictures by Stéphane Christeler