San Diego Airport adds 11 gates

San Diego’s airport is showing the next piece of its biggest rebuild in decades. New renderings for Phase 1B of Terminal 1 landed this week, and they make the point pretty clearly — this is not just a cosmetic refresh. It’s the second half of a full terminal replacement, with 11 more gates, more passenger space, and the parts travelers actually notice when an airport works better. The bigger story is that San Diego already opened the first chunk of the new terminal in September 2025, so this phase is the part that completes the handoff from the old setup. (fox5sandiego.com) ### What got announced? The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority released updated renderings for Phase 1B on May 5, 2026. The images show the next buildout of the new Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport, including added gates, passenger lounges, a children’s play are(fox5sandiego.com)oving forward since late 2025. (fox5sandiego.com) ### Why does “11 gates” matter so much? Because gates are the hard limit on how many flights an airport can handle cleanly. Phase 1A opened with 19 gates. Phase 1B adds 11 more, bringing the new Terminal 1 to 30 gates total. That gives airlines more flexibility on scheduling, reduces some of the gate crunch that shows up as delays and awkward aircraft parking moves, and gives the airport more room to absorb growth. (san.org) ### What else changes besides gates? Quite a bit. The airport says Phase 1B includes new customer lounges, a kids’ play area, more dining and shopping, and outdoor patio space with views of the airfield, San Diego Bay, and downtown. There are also back-of-house upgrades that matter even if passengers never see them directly — (san.org 1)(san.org 2) ### Didn’t the new terminal already open? Partly, yes. The first phase of the new Terminal 1 officially opened on September 23, 2025, replacing a big piece of the airport’s old 1967-era Terminal 1. That opening brought the first 19 gates online, along with new security lanes, baggage claim space, concessions, and the parking p(san.org)eplacing the older sections around it. (san.org) ### Why do it in phases? Because San Diego can’t just shut down Terminal 1 for a few years and start over. The airport has one commercial airfield and a very constrained footprint, so the only workable move was to build the replacement in pieces while flights kept moving. Phase 1A created the first operational chunk of the new termina(san.org)leared out. (san.org) ### When is this supposed to be done? The current target for Phase 1B is early 2028. That date has shown up repeatedly in airport materials tied to the second phase. So the renderings are a look at where the project is headed, but travelers should think of the full 30-gate Terminal 1 as a 2028 story, not something arriving this summer. (san.org)de-utf-8)) ### So what’s the real takeaway? San Diego’s airport is past the promise stage. The first half of the new Terminal 1 is already open, and the newly released images show what the finished version is supposed to feel like once all 30 gates are in place. If Phase 1A was proof the replacement was real, Phase 1B is the part that turns a partial upgrade into a full terminal reset. (san.org)