John Wayne Airport (SNA) is a commercial airport in Orange County, California and the only airport in Orange County. It is one of the busier airports in the greater Los Angeles area, handling mostly domestic flights within the US, with a few additional flying internationally within North America.
The first airstrip built on the airport dates back to 1923 back when the airport was a flying school. The County of Orange acquired the land in 1939 and by 1942, the area was turned into an Army Air Base, which was used during World War II. After the war, the airport was used for different uses in aviation.
In 1979, the airport was renamed the John Wayne Airport, after previously being known as the Orange County Airport. In the 1990s, the Eddie Martin Terminal was demolished and replaced with a new passenger terminal — the Thomas F. Riley Terminal, which is the terminal that exists today.
John Wayne Airport is located in Orange County, near the cities of Irvine, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Depending on traffic, the airport is around a 10–30-minute drive away from the main parts of Orange County, a 30–85-minute drive away from Disneyland Resort and a 45–140-minute drive away from downtown LA.
The airport has an award-winning concessions program, featuring more than 300 commercial venues to meet all passenger’s shopping, dining and service needs.
John Wayne Airport has two runways - a major runway and a minor runway.
The major runway 2L/20R is 1,738 m x 46 m, which makes it one of the shortest major runways at any major airport in the US.
The minor runway 2R/20L is 880 m x 23 m. Due to its relatively small runways, John Wayne Airport cannot facilitate any aircraft larger than the Boeing 757. This means that only narrowbody planes (or smaller ones) can fly to/from the airport.
John Wayne Airport technically only has one main passenger terminal building named the Thomas F. Riley Terminal. However, this terminal is split into three separate terminal areas, titled A–C.
Terminal A was built in 1990 and, along with Terminal B, replaced the Eddie Martin Terminal, which was closed when the Thomas F. Riley terminal was built. Terminal A has the ticket counters for American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and WestJet. Terminal A also features the American Airlines Admirals Club lounge.
Terminal B opened at the same time as Terminal B when the two terminals replaced the previous Eddie Martin Terminal. Terminal B has the ticket counters for Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, as well as the United Airlines United Club lounge.
Terminal C opened in 2011 and has a variety of shops and restaurants that are exclusive to the terminal. Terminal C also has the ticket counters for Frontier and Southwest but doesn't have any airport/airline lounges.
Only JetSuite uses John Wayne Airport as its hub. However, Southwest does use it as a focus city. John Wayne Airport is served by several major airlines including:
John Wayne Airport can be driven to from the San Diego (I-405) Freeway, the Costa Mesa (SR-55) Freeway and the Corona Del Mar Free Way/San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Toll Road (SR-73).
Rental cars are available at the airport. Rental car companies are based at on the arrival level, which is located on the lower level of the airport between Terminals A and B. Rental cars must be returned to the lower level of Parking A2 and B2, which can be accessed from the Ground Transportation Center.
As a rough guide, a taxi from Disneyland to John Wayne Airport will cost roughly $40 USD. It might be difficult to flag a taxi down unless you're travelling from the Hollywood and Downtown LA area. Therefore, it's advised that you pre-book a taxi before, which, the person(s) in charge of your accommodation should be happy to help with.
There are also many taxi apps available in the city, with Lyft, Uber and Wingz permitted to drive to John Wayne Airport.
John Wayne Airport doesn't have its own train station. The nearest train stations are in Irvine, Santa Ana and Tustin, which are all around 10 miles away from the airport.
iShuttle provides a shuttle bus from Tustin Metrolink Station to the airport on Route A. But, with other stations, you'd need to find an alternative way of getting to the airport.
There is an express bus that travels between Disneyland and John Wayne airport.
Other than that, Orange Country Transportation Authority, shortened to OCTA, drive to John Wayne Airport on Route 76.
The iShuttle Route A also drives to the airport.
If you or a passenger on your booking require a special service to make the journey easier (such as wheelchair assistance or special medical equipment), we're here to help. Contact us today to discuss adding special services to your booking.
We’re super proud of our Trustpilot rating, but don’t just take it from us. See why millions of others love booking their flights through Alternative Airlines
