Flight Operations
The vast majority of takeoffs and landings at SAN are from east to west.
Landing at the airport from the east (the most common approach) offers dramatic closeup views of skyscrapers, Petco Park (home of the San Diego Padres), and the Coronado Bridge from the left side of the aircraft. On the right, Balboa Park, site of the 1915–1916 Panama-California Exposition, can be seen, along with the San Diego Zoo and several freeways.
The approach from the east is steep, necessitated by terrain which drops from 266 ft (81 m) to sea level in less than one nautical mile. Aircraft normally descend at 318 feet per nautical mile (52.3 m/km), or 3.00 degrees. Recently, some obstructions have been removed and the glidepath has been lowered from 3.5 degrees to 3.14 degrees. San Diego's only runway is located at the base of a hill lined with several obstructions, including Interstate 5 and trees in Balboa Park. Contrary to local lore, the parking structure off the end of the runway was built long after previous obstructions built up east of I-5. The parking structure was then built up to this controlling limit.
Aircraft arriving from the east do not land at the end of the runway as at most airports, but land at what is called a displaced threshold, located 1,810 feet (550 m) from the runway end, effectively shortening the landing distance to 7,591 feet (2,314 m). Aircraft departing to the west use the east end of the runway as their departure point, but terrain west of the airport reduces the effective runway length to roughly 8,800-foot (2,700 m).
Read more about this topic: San Diego International Airport
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