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John Wayne Airport (IATA:
SNA,
ICAO: KSNA,
FAA
LID: SNA) is an
airport in an
unincorporated area in
Orange County,
California, with its mailing address in the city of
Santa Ana, which is
also the county seat, hence the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code. The
main entrance to the airport is off of MacArthur Blvd in
Irvine, the city that
abuts the airport from the north and east.
Newport Beach and
Costa Mesa form the southern and
western boundaries, respectively, together with a small unincorporated
area along the Corona
del Mar (73) Freeway. Santa Ana lies just north, not actually
touching the airport directly. Originally named Orange County Airport,
the county
Board of Supervisors renamed it in 1979 to honor the actor
John Wayne, who resided in
neighboring Newport Beach and
died that year. It also became the first airport to be named after an
entertainer.
The main runway, at 5,701 feet (1,738 m), is one of the shortest of
any major airport in the United States, resulting in most passenger
aircraft operating from the airport to be no larger than the Boeing
757. However, some larger cargo
aircraft, such as the FedEx A310/300,
fly from SNA. Some gates are built to handle planes up to the size of a
Boeing 767, which can operate with
payload/fuel load restrictions. No
wide-body passenger aircraft
are currently in scheduled service at the airport.
John Wayne Airport Runways
John Wayne Airport is the sole commercial airport within Orange County.
General aviation operations outnumber commercial operations and several
facilities at the airport serve the general aviation and corporate
aviation community. The other general aviation airport within the county
is Fullerton
Municipal Airport. Other commercial airports within close proximity
are Long Beach Airport,
followed by Los
Angeles International Airport and
LA/Ontario
International Airport. In 2008, John Wayne Airport was the second
busiest airport in the area (by passenger count) with almost 9 million
total passengers.
The largest airlines at John Wayne Airport are
Southwest Airlines,
United Airlines,
American Airlines, and
Alaska Airlines.
John Wayne Airport is 14 miles (23 km) from Orange County's signature
attraction - the Disneyland
Resort. By contrast,
Los Angeles
International Airport is 35 miles (56 km) from Disneyland.
A statue of the airport's namesake welcomes passengers passing
through the arrivals area on the lower level.
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