San Diego Airport gets $110 million to improve Terminal 1

The FAA has submitted a Letter of Intent to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to award funding for San Diego International Airport (SAN) in the amount of up to $110 million.

SAN authorities said in a statement that the total amount of US$110 million in funds will be made available to the airport authority.

Granted by the FAA over ten years, it will be used to improve airports as part of the new Terminal 1 program.

San Diego Airport is currently constructing a new T1 Terminal that will replace the existing Terminal 1 with a modern,

efficient facility that will improve the airport experience and complete the transformation of San Diego’s air transportation gateway.

The new building is expected to be fully ready by 2028,

and the first phase of the new project is scheduled for completion in 2025.

The grant will help pay for a series of improvements at the airports,

including new redesigned taxi lanes and additional parking spaces for aircraft,

Which will help reduce aircraft transit times and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

New T1 building

Earlier last year, the FAA awarded SAN $24 million in discretionary grants as part of a bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

This amount is used to continue building T1 as well.

Construction of the new Terminal 1 at San Diego International began on November 1, 2021.

The project has a budget of $3.4 billion to replace the existing T1, which dates back to 1967.

and airlines such as Southwest Airlines (the flagship operator of SAN), Alaska.

United Airlines, Spirit, Lufthansa and British Airways, among others, will benefit from the new terminal.

The new T1 has three main components: terminals and roads, airside improvements, a new administration building,

Which will be the first building to be completed, with an expected opening date of late this year 2023.

The T1 Parking Plaza is scheduled to open in late 2024.

The terminal and road component will also be completed in phases.

The first phase will include 19 gates, an elevated departure way,

external check-in suites, a dedicated airport access road, and a five-storey car park.

San Diego expects to open the first phase by mid-2025, and the second phase will add 11 gates for a total of 30 gates.

The earliest opening of the second phase is in late 2027.

San Diego in 2022

As of July 2022, San Diego Airport handled 12.2 million passengers, an increase of 60.5% compared to 2021.

But it’s still 15.8% lower than the traffic numbers for 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southwest Airlines remains the number one carrier at the airport,

with a seat share of 39.9%, followed by Alaska (15.5%), United (11.3%), and Delta (10.7%).

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