San Diego International Airport (SAN), also known as Lindbergh Field, is San Diego’s primary commercial and general aviation airport. It is located three miles from the center of San Diego and 15 miles from the United States’ border with Mexico. Dedicated on August 16, 1928, the airport was first named San Diego Municipal Airport – Lindbergh Field for Charles Lindbergh, who began his historic transatlantic flight in San Diego, and in honor of his “Spirit of St. Louis” which was built there. San Diego International Airport was the first certified airfield in the U.S. to serve all types of aircraft, chiefly due to the airport’s exclusive use by the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Improvements had been made so that Lindbergh Field could accommodate heavy bomber aircraft and this contributed to its readiness for the imminent popularity of jet passenger aircraft.
Montgomery Field Airport (MYF) is located about six miles north of downtown San Diego. When it opened in 1940, it was called Gibbs Field. Taken over by the U.S. Army Air Forces, the airport was expanded to three runways to support military flight training and storage of B-24 Liberator bombers that were being manufactured in San Diego. After the war, the airport was renamed for aviator John J. Montgomery who had flown the first controlled flight in a glider in 1883 from Otay Mesa. Montgomery Field Airport is one of the busiest airports in the nation for small aircraft.
Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM) is located in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, about 13 miles southeast of the business center of San Diego and 1.5 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border.