San Diego airport’s Terminal 1 welcomes first flights

by Lori Weisberg, Nelvin Cepeda

As the San Diego airport prepared for Terminal 1’s first full day of operations on Tuesday, the new 19-gate facility on Monday night welcomed the first of 15 flights, arriving from across the country, from San Jose and Austin to Honolulu and Denver.

The nighttime arrivals mark the official opening of the first phase of the new Terminal 1, which replaces the 1960s-era existing facility that has grown cramped and outdated. Its last flight was to take off shortly after the arrival of the new terminal’s first flight.

Deborah McCarthy, left, and Aileen Dwyer are passengers on board Southwest Airlines flight 4298, which was among the first group of flights to arrive at the new Terminal 1 of San Diego International Airport. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Ashley Jancsek, on board the flight from San Jose into San Diego, didn’t realize she was going to be among the first passengers to use the new terminal. “It’s exciting. I didn’t know we were (arriving at the new terminal). We had just driven by it last week and it was still, we thought, under construction.”

Demolition of the 336,000 square-foot building is expected to begin within about seven to 10 days and should take about three months before construction begins on the remainder of the new terminal. The full 30-gate building will be completed by early 2028. While it will eventually house eight airlines, Southwest Airlines will be the single-largest tenant.

Passengers arriving in the new Terminal 1 will enter a far more spacious facility — almost three times the size of its predecessor — where they might make a pit spot at one of the new luxe restrooms before retrieving their luggage at the seven-carousel, high-tech baggage claim system.

A Southwest Airlines flight from Honolulu is the first to arrive at the new Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport on Monday night. The terminal opens for its first full day of service on Tuesday. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Along their path to the exit they’ll be treated to an array of new public art, including brightly colored, mosaic-clad columns meant to represent the progression from sunrise to sunset, as well as a striking sculpture of Torrey Pines fashioned from hundreds of gold-mirrored stainless-steel panels suspended from the ceiling.

Departing passengers will navigate a roomier security screening area with 13 lanes, three more than at the old terminal. Anticipating no meal service on their flights, they might grab some al pastor tacos at The Taco Stand or a cocktail at Cutwater Sprits, just two of several local restaurant brands showcasing their San Diego menus at new Terminal 1. Early risers will be able to purchase coffee at Better Buzz to accompany the macarons and quiche sold at Parfait Paris.

The new terminal is part of a $3.8 billion project that started construction four years ago and includes a new parking garage, a three-lane on-airport roadway that bypasses North Harbor Drive, and a second taxiway that will relieve congestion on the airfield of what is the country’s largest single-runway airport.