Orange County Airport Guide: Short Runway, Steep Climbs
Orange County Airport, better known as John Wayne, packs over 11 million passengers onto one short runway. Read about its curfew, airlines and routes.
By The Aviation Hub
6 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
John Wayne Airport serves Orange County, the wealthy coastal sprawl between Los Angeles and San Diego. Its original name lives on, and Orange County Airport remains the simplest way to describe a field that punches far above its size. It carried about 11.4 million passengers in 2025 on a single airline runway just 1,737 m long. A strict curfew, a passenger cap and dramatic noise abatement departures make it one of the most unusual commercial airports in the United States.
Orange County Airport at a Glance
The IATA code is SNA and the ICAO code is KSNA. The airport lies in unincorporated Orange County, bordered by Santa Ana, Irvine, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Downtown Santa Ana is about 5 miles (8 km) to the north, and downtown Los Angeles is roughly 35 miles (56 km) away. Elevation is 56 ft (17 m).
There is one airline runway, a short parallel strip for light aircraft and one terminal building with three connected areas. Traffic reached around 11.4 million passengers in 2025, up 2.5 per cent. Southwest is the largest airline, followed by American, United, Alaska and Delta. The County of Orange owns and runs the airport. Parking, curfew rules and flight times are on the airport’s official website.
A Short History of John Wayne
Flying began here in 1923, when Eddie Martin leased land from James Irvine to run a flying school. In 1935 Howard Hughes set a world speed record flying from Martin’s field. The county acquired the site in a 1939 land swap, and Orange County Airport opened alongside it around 1941.
The Second World War brought the Santa Ana Army Air Base, and the federal government returned the field to the county afterwards. From 1950 to 1959 the runway hosted Sunday drag racing, credited as the world’s first commercial drag strip.
The county renamed the airport in 1979 after the actor John Wayne, who lived in Newport Beach and died that year. A bronze statue followed in 1982. The Thomas F. Riley Terminal opened in 1990, and a 543 million dollar expansion completed in 2011 added Terminal C and six gates. In 2020 activists called for a return to the original name.
Runways at Orange County Airport
All airline traffic uses Runway 02L/20R, asphalt surfaced, 1,737 m (5,700 ft) long and 46 m wide. It has an instrument landing system. That length is short for a commercial airport as busy as Orange County Airport, and it rules out scheduled wide body passenger service. The Boeing 737 MAX 8, Airbus A321neo and similar narrow bodies set the limit.
The parallel strip, 02R/20L, is only around 880 m (2,900 ft) long and serves the busy general aviation community. The Pacific sea breeze means Runway 20R is in use most days, with departures heading south towards Newport Beach.
Those departures are famous. To protect the homes below, pilots fly a steep climb with a power reduction, tracking down Upper Newport Bay towards the ocean. Passengers often find the sudden change in engine noise unnerving. A 1993 business jet crash, caused by wake turbulence from a Boeing 757, led the FAA to tighten spacing rules behind that type.
Terminals and Airlines
The Thomas F. Riley Terminal has three areas. Terminal A has gates 1 to 8, Terminal B gates 9 to 15 and Terminal C gates 16 to 22, and passengers can walk between them airside. Terminal C houses the customs facility for international arrivals. The private jet operator JSX flies from the separate ACI Jet building.
Southwest carried about 27.5 per cent of passengers at Orange County Airport in the year to June 2025. American, a oneworld member, followed at around 17.6 per cent. United, from the Star Alliance, had about 15.4 per cent, Alaska roughly 11.1 per cent and Delta, a SkyTeam member, close to 10 per cent. Air Canada and WestJet provide the Canadian links, while Frontier adds low cost capacity on a handful of routes.
Routes and Destinations
Phoenix was the busiest route from Orange County Airport in 2025 with about 542,000 passengers. Denver followed at around 475,000, then Seattle Tacoma and Las Vegas, each about 453,000, and San Francisco at roughly 426,000. Short and medium haul western routes dominate, but hub flights reach Atlanta, Dallas Fort Worth, Chicago and Houston.
International service is modest. Air Canada flies to Vancouver and WestJet to Calgary. Southwest serves Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo in Mexico, which has made this the shortest runway in the United States handling scheduled international flights.
Demand is steady year round, helped by business travel in Irvine and leisure traffic to the beach towns. Cargo is limited to express carriers and belly freight.
Getting to and from Orange County Airport
The airport sits at the junction of Interstate 405 and MacArthur Boulevard, with State Route 55 and State Route 73 close by. Driving to Irvine or Newport Beach takes 10 to 15 minutes. Downtown Los Angeles is at least an hour in normal traffic.
Taxis and shuttles leave from the Ground Transportation Center, while ride share pickups are limited to designated areas in the garages. A ride to Irvine or Newport Beach usually costs 25 to 40 dollars (about £20 to £30). Four garages serve the terminal, and an off airport lot in Irvine offers cheaper parking with a shuttle.
Public transport is thin. OCTA bus route 76 runs on weekdays only, between about 6am and 6pm, and is the cheapest sensible option. There is no rail link, though Metrolink stations in Tustin and Irvine are a short taxi ride away.
Spotting and Photography
Orange County Airport is a rewarding place for enthusiasts. The steep noise abatement departures make for dramatic shots, especially from the parks and trails around Upper Newport Bay. The upper levels of the terminal garages give views across the airfield, and the busy general aviation scene adds variety.
Light is best in the afternoon from the western side of the field. The marine layer can bring grey mornings in late spring and early summer, a pattern locals call May Gray and June Gloom.
Keep to public spaces, never stop on the freeway shoulders and respect any instruction from the sheriff’s deputies who police the airport. Drones are prohibited nearby.
What Comes Next
The settlement agreement that governs the airport sets the pace. The annual passenger cap was raised to 11.8 million for 2021 and could rise to between 12.2 and 12.5 million through 2030 if demand stays high. The curfew bars commercial departures between 10pm and 7am, 8am on Sundays.
A new airport at the former El Toro air station was defeated by local voters years ago, so there is no relief valve. Growth must come from bigger aircraft, better load factors and careful slot use.
Orange County Airport is heading for slow, managed growth inside tight political limits. Compare it with Los Angeles and Long Beach on the Airports of the World map.
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