some fights landed Monday night<\/a>, but the new terminal was fully functional starting Tuesday.<\/p>\n\u201cSo big, so open and so clean,\u201d said Linda Vranich, a retired registered nurse who was flying back to her home in Chico after visiting her son and grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Downstairs, in baggage claim, Kim Mangus noticed how easily she could roll two suitcases and a small dog in its pet carrier along the smooth new terrazzo floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe floors are better,\u201d Mangus told her husband. He agreed. They had just landed from San Antonio for a two-week visit.<\/p>\n
What message does the new terminal convey to tourists landing in San Diego?<\/p>\n
\u201cSan Diego\u2019s growing up,\u201d Mangus answered. The old T1, which she had flown out of a few weeks earlier, didn\u2019t offer the best welcome, she said. \u201cIt was crowded and it felt like it was, just, old.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the typical traveler, the main selling point of the new terminal is simply added space, said Gil Cabrera, board chair of the airport authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to feel like you can move around and you\u2019re not going to feel crowded or clustered with people,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ll have room to move around, you can eat in peace and you can eat a wide variety of food, but space is going to be the biggest thing that people will notice.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s more room to take in sights, from picture windows to the unique post-security terrace, which traveler Alyssa Campos, a college student returning to see family, said is a great way for visitors to get introduced to San Diego\u2019s legendary weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you\u2019re just on a layover, you still get to see the views, the palm trees,\u201d she said as she relaxed on a rocking chair on the terrace.<\/p>\n
Also outside, the new design has more room for cars. The expansion includes a new three-lane roadway that bypasses North Harbor Drive and delivers drivers to Terminals 1 and 2 as well as parking garages.<\/p>\n
Airport officials expect the new design will remove about 45,000 cars a day from North Harbor Drive.<\/p>\n
Mike Patel drove to San Diego from his home in El Centro for a flight on Southwest Airlines to Dallas and was relieved to see traffic moving quickly on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore, it used to be congested,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you tried to get someone from the airport, you had to wait so long in the line. I came two days ago to pick up someone and hit traffic. Now I came in and it\u2019s just flowing.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is more room for pets, too. The new Terminal 1 also has a spacious rest area for pets traveling with their owners, located near the gates.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a plus that Eric Rupe and Kelly Bree took advantage of on Tuesday. Their mixed-breed rescue dog, Jax, accompanied them and their two children on their flight from Houston.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe travel with him all the time,\u201d Rupe said. \u201cHe\u2019s been on at least a hundred flights with us over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we do a cross-country flight, so a pet relief area is always nice when you get off the plane,\u201d Bree said.<\/p>\n
A few travelers planned their trips specifically so they could take a first-hand look at the new terminal, including 17-year-old Alex Gong, who came to San Diego from Phoenix for a few hours.<\/p>\n
At the old T1, \u201cwe were laying in the bathroom to find an outlet to plug our phones in, so if you can imagine the contrast of having a piano in the new terminal, it\u2019s miles better,\u201d Gong said from the terrace, as notes from a pianist wafted through the air.<\/p>\n
His only criticism: \u201cNo moving walkways. \u2026 If you are struggling with mobility, it may be a slight challenge to get all the way from security, all the way to the end of the terminal. Other than that, there\u2019s no complaints whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ethan Weiner, 16, an aviation photography buff, also flew from Phoenix to check out the new terminal. Of the roughly 35 U.S. airports he\u2019s passed through, Weiner called the San Diego makeover exceptional.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a \u201c10 out of 10. They did a fabulous job, from the outdoor patio to the spacious walls, to the furniture, to the outlets, the design, the food hall \u2014 everything is absolutely amazing. I really don\u2019t have anything bad to say about it,\u201d he said. \u201cFor a single-runway airport, this is mind blowing.\u201d The technology and design make it \u201cstand out from every other airport that\u2019s trying to do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Airport workers were excited, too.<\/p>\n
Edith Benitez, 20, was one of the more than 37,500 people hired to work at the new terminal, whether during construction or now that it\u2019s opened, according to figures shared by the airport authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my first week here,\u201d Benitez said from behind the counter of Parfait Paris, an award-winning San Diego bakery. \u201cI think it\u2019s good. It\u2019s a new environment. Very different, very nice people.\u201d<\/p>\n
She got to work at 4 a.m., and the bakery opened at 5 a.m. Pastries were almost sold out by mid-morning. Popular items: veggie quiche and croissants.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, a lot of coffee,\u201d Benitez said.<\/p>\n
On the terrace, retired United pilot Scott Becker had plans to fly twice: round trip to Phoenix, then round trip to Las Vegas, all on Tuesday. It was an action-packed day designed to celebrate a big moment at his hometown airport.<\/p>\n
From a pilot\u2019s perspective, he appreciates how the new terminal\u2019s layout and added space for taxiing can help ease congestion and help prevent delays, such as in case of thunderstorms.<\/p>\n
As a flyer, he loves how calming the new space is.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s spacious, it\u2019s quiet. The vibe is really chill,\u201d he said. \u201cSome airports, there\u2019s such a crush of people, you almost feel like your anxieties \u2014 if you\u2019re anxiety prone \u2014 are going to be raised because of it. But here, everything is so low key. I\u2019m sure during peak periods, it\u2019s going to be a little more crowded, but there\u2019s still so much room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally Published: September 23, 2025 at 5:54 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By all indications, the first full day at the San Diego International Airport\u2019s new Terminal 1 went without…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":250360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,64,1582,276,3549,86577,7264,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-250359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-international-airport-terminal-1","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-top-stories-sdut","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115256702005234026","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}