San Diego International Airport (SAN) was dedicated on August 16, 1928, as San Diego Municipal Airport - Lindbergh Field. The name honored Charles Lindbergh, whose Spirit of St. Louis was built and test-flown in San Diego before his 1927 solo transatlantic flight. Inspired by that achievement, the city passed a bond issue to fund the facility. It is one of those cases where the founding mythology and the physical place are genuinely inseparable.

The airport gained international status in 1934. During World War II, the US Army Air Corps took control of the field, extending the runway to accommodate long-range bombers and acquiring roughly 354 acres of additional land. That wartime expansion shaped the airport's footprint for decades. Jet service began in September 1960, and the original Terminal 1, still operating until 2025, opened in 1967. Terminal 2 followed in 1979. In 2003, the facility was officially renamed San Diego International Airport to reflect its growing international role.

Today, SAN sits on 663 acres just 3 miles northwest of downtown, operating a single runway, 09/27, measuring 9,401 feet, that handles over 25 million passengers annually. It is the busiest single-runway commercial airport in the United States. Alaska Airlines uses SAN as a hub, while Southwest Airlines accounts for the largest share of passenger volume. British Airways, KLM, Japan Airlines, and Copa Airlines are among the international carriers now serving the airport. A $3.8 billion Terminal 1 opened in September 2025, replacing the original 1967 structure. The final approach to Runway 27 passes directly over downtown rooftops, making it one of the most operationally constrained and visually striking approaches in American aviation.