Denver (DEN) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 1,372 km
- 853 mi · 741 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 23 min / 2 h 21 min
- Average gate to gate: DEN → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 172 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (102 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,660,071
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +9.2%
- Flights / week
- 230
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 81%
- 2,060,119 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 5
- UA, WN, F9
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DEN
- 239°
- Heading from SAN
- 51°
- Halfway point
- 36.46, -111.22
- Great-circle km
- 1,371 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DEN → SAN
- 1 h 59 min
- In the air SAN → DEN
- 1 h 51 min
- Clocks
- San Diego is 1 h behind Denver
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h 25 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 134,666 |
| Sep 2025 | 124,122 |
| Oct 2025 | 145,235 |
| Nov 2025 | 132,988 |
| Dec 2025 | 136,272 |
| Jan 2026 | 126,601 |
| Feb 2026 | 127,566 |
| Mar 2026 | 157,194 |
| Apr 2026 | 140,283 |
| May 2026 | 137,699 |
| Jun 2026 | 145,959 |
| Jul 2026 | 151,486 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 866 |
| Sep 2025 | 817 |
| Oct 2025 | 1,055 |
| Nov 2025 | 1,036 |
| Dec 2025 | 1,064 |
| Jan 2026 | 992 |
| Feb 2026 | 921 |
| Mar 2026 | 1,064 |
| Apr 2026 | 1,012 |
| May 2026 | 1,027 |
| Jun 2026 | 1,042 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,073 |
Airlines flying DEN–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 79 | 39% |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 91 | 38% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 27 | 15% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 19 | 6% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 14 | 2% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 2,232 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 2,168 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 1,978 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 1,576 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 1,469 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 890 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 736 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 674 flights
Also carried: 262 tonnes of freight and 133 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 77.3%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 14 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.8%
- Flights counted
- 12,068
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 70.6% | 17 min |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 82.8% | 11 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 81.2% | 14 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 84.5% | 10 min |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 73% | 14 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 25% · aircraft arriving late 45% · air traffic system 28% · weather 2% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $169
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $171
- Q3 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 36% of passengers · $164
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 12% of passengers · $110
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q3 2025 $179 · Q4 2025 $164 · Q1 2026 $169).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 1,371 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Denver and San Diego
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Denver airports