SAN DIEGO – February 8, 2022 – San Diego International Airport (SAN) served 15.6 million passengers in 2021, a 69 percent increase over 2020’s passenger number of 9.2 million. The airport added 18 new routes to both domestic and international destinations and one new carrier.
“The aviation industry continued to be impacted by COVID-19, but we saw improvement in passenger numbers once vaccines were available and people felt more comfortable traveling by air again,” said Kimberly Becker, President & CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. “Airlines added new destinations from SAN and flights to most international destinations were resumed once regulations and restrictions were eased. Throughout the pandemic, our airport has remained open providing services to those traveling and maintaining our high standards of cleaning for the health and safety of passengers.”
Southwest Airlines continued to be the number one carrier at SAN in 2021 at 33 percent seat share. Southwest Airlines expanded its presence with service to three additional Hawaiian destinations and six new routes overall.
Alaska Airlines maintained the number two spot with 19 percent of total seats, growing five percent from their total seat share in 2019 and adding new service to five cities.
Allegiant Air had the greatest capacity growth out of all the carriers serving the airport. Allegiant Air grew by 77 percent, adding five new routes to its summer seasonal service.
Swoop, a Canadian-based carrier, began service at SAN providing nonstop service to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Despite the growth year over year, passenger traffic in 2021 was down 38 percent over 2019’s record-breaking year of 25.2 million total passengers. Detailed reports of SAN air traffic statistics are available at san.org/News/Air-Traffic-Reports.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (SAN)
Owned and operated by San Diego County Regional Airport Authority (Airport Authority), San Diego International Airport (SAN) is one of the busiest single-runway commercial service airports in the world and the third-busiest airport in California. SAN contributes nearly $12 billion in economic activity for the region by connecting the world to San Diego and San Diego to the world. In November 2021, the Airport Authority began construction on the New T1 which includes the replacement of a new Terminal 1, improvements to the airfield, improved transportation connectivity to the airport, and a new administration building. The New T1 program’s total project budget is $3.4 billion and is estimated to create between 15,000 to 20,000 construction-related jobs. For more information about the New T1 please visit newt1.com. For more information about SAN please visit san.org.
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