Las Vegas airport

Quote: Pacomartin

San Diego is different than Las Vegas in that it has a single runway that is operational. They also had a considerably higher profile campaign where voters were asked to vote on a new airport. Unlike Las Vegas where the land has been purchased, the Airport authority hired PR firms to convince the voters that the only possible alternative was Miramar, the military base. The voters were supposed to approve the plan, and armed with a positive vote, the Airport Authority planned to lobby Washington to force the military to move some operations to another base, and make room for a shared military/civilian airport. The voters widely perceived the plan as flawed and an usurpation of the rights of the military and voted it down.

San Diego airport is up to 24 MAP in 2018. The breakdown is roughly 10 million going to domestic destinations 500 miles away or less, 13 million going to domestic destinations over 500 miles away, and 1 million international destinations.

Tijuana airport disembarks about 75,000 people per week, and Tijuana's Cross Border Express bridge has roughly 30,000 passengers weekly entering the USA directly from the terminal (you must be on a flight to use the bridge). Roughly 28% more people use the bridge in the Mexico-USA direction since it greatly speeds up the border crossing. The thrifty still get to the airport by the regular crossing and bus or taxi to the airport because it is cheaper.




The TJ airport is now up to 7.8 million passengers in 2018, of which 40%-50% come from San Diego county. Volaris flies nonstop to 35 destinations in Mexico (10 of which are beach towns), but the bulk of the people coming from the USA are still Mexican Americans. Although at first glance it seems insane to drive 5 miles from Las Vegas to use the TJ airport, it could probably save you significant money for three people, and you could often save time even with the drive over a connecting flight.

Flights to San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta are still being offered at SAN airport, but other destinations like MEX, GDL, MTY or Cancun, Acapulco and 8 other beach towns require you to go to Tijuana if you want a nonstop flight.

But at 24 million passengers in 2018, the total is basically at the HIGH prediction made in 2004. All discussion of relocating the airport has almost come to a halt, while plans are being made to replace a terminal at a cost of $3 billion.