Airport Site Selection Program | San Diego Regional Airport Authority, California
The airport now known as San Diego International Airport was dedicated by Charles Lindbergh and opened on August 16, 1928, and has served the commercial air transportation needs of the San Diego region ever since. It is the primary airport serving the region and has been vitally important to maintaining regional prosperity and linking San Diego to the rest of the United States and the world. In 1949, the airport was reported to have the longest runway on the U.S. West Coast at 8,750 feet, compared with San Francisco International Airport’s 7,750-foot runway. However, by the 1950s, civic leaders began wondering if the airport, as configured, was capable of serving the region’s long-term aviation needs. In the early 1990s, a major effort to relocate the airport was initiated by civic leaders concerned about the operational constraints inherent in remaining at the current site. With only 661 acres, a single runway, and significant physical constraints, it was clear to civic leaders and the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority that the airport was quickly approaching capacity constraints that would make it incapable of meeting the region’s long-term aviation needs. In addition, over the last decade, the area surrounding that airport has been heavily developed with residential highrises and mixed-use developments. In 2004, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority engaged Ricondo & Associates to assist in determining the best long-term solution for the San Diego region’s air transportation needs. The Airport Site Selection Program represented the culmination of an extensive multiyear process to find the best solution.
Since 2004, Ricondo & Associates has worked closely with the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority on a range of airport issues, including passenger demand allocation for a multi-airport system, operational requirements, facility requirements, airspace capacity, environmental assessments, and financial feasibility. R&A is proud to have recently been selected by the Authority to provide ongoing airport planning services through 2010.