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SAN DIEGO — San Diego International Airport (SAN) logged its busiest year on record in 2025, handling 25.32 million passengers through Terminals 1 and 2—up 0.3% over 2024, which had been the previous high.
Airport CEO Kimberly Becker credited the milestone to expanding airline service and the opening of the new Terminal 1, calling 2025 a standout year for the airport’s growth trajectory.
Route development helped drive the increase, with airlines adding or resuming 14 nonstop routes across domestic and international markets. Highlights included KLM’s (KL) Amsterdam service and Copa Airlines’ (CM) Panama City, plus new domestic links from Alaska Airlines (AS), Southwest (WN), Frontier (F9), and others.
International Pax Numbers
The airport said international passenger volumes grew 8% year over year, supported by the new transatlantic and Latin America routes and expanded service from Lufthansa (LH) and Japan Airlines (JL).
Terminal 1’s ramp-up also showed immediate impact: during October–December 2025, passenger traffic rose more than 11% versus the same period in 2024 when the former Terminal 1 was still in use, helped by JetBlue (B6) and Breeze (MX) relocating into the new facility. For the full year, Terminal 1 handled 9.68 million passengers, and Terminal 2 handled 15.64 million, with SAN noting it now hosts 17 airlines serving 85+ destinations worldwide.
Our takeaway is that SAN’s record year is less about headline growth (0.3% is modest) and more about mix and momentum: international demand is rising faster than the overall market, and the new Terminal 1 is already reshaping capacity and airline allocation, setting the airport up for more meaningful growth as additional facilities and route opportunities come online.
Featured image: SAN
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