New York (EWR) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 3,903 km
- 2,425 mi · 2,107 nm
- Flight time
- 5 h 54 min / 5 h 14 min
- Average gate to gate: EWR → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 456 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (270 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 463,663
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +3.6%
- Flights / week
- 58
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 88%
- 527,629 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 2
- UA, AS
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 EWR
- 271°
- Heading from SAN
- 64°
- Halfway point
- 38.72, -96.85
- Great-circle km
- 3,895 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air EWR → SAN
- 5 h 21 min
- In the air SAN → EWR
- 4 h 40 min
- Clocks
- San Diego is 3 h behind New York
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 25 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 45,585 |
| Sep 2025 | 39,138 |
| Oct 2025 | 42,702 |
| Nov 2025 | 34,058 |
| Dec 2025 | 37,600 |
| Jan 2026 | 29,983 |
| Feb 2026 | 28,011 |
| Mar 2026 | 38,544 |
| Apr 2026 | 37,511 |
| May 2026 | 40,540 |
| Jun 2026 | 44,850 |
| Jul 2026 | 45,141 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 305 |
| Sep 2025 | 276 |
| Oct 2025 | 285 |
| Nov 2025 | 229 |
| Dec 2025 | 241 |
| Jan 2026 | 188 |
| Feb 2026 | 184 |
| Mar 2026 | 247 |
| Apr 2026 | 239 |
| May 2026 | 266 |
| Jun 2026 | 284 |
| Jul 2026 | 280 |
Airlines flying EWR–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 46 | 79% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 12 | 21% |
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
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 1,258 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 821 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 634 flights
- Boeing 757-200 · 221 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 90 flights
Also carried: 146 tonnes of freight and 67 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 81.2%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 14 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 2.1%
- Flights counted
- 3,120
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 81.5% | 14 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 80.1% | 15 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 24% · aircraft arriving late 26% · air traffic system 40% · weather 10% · 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
- $357
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $345
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 81% of passengers · $369
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 14% of passengers · $283
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $345 · Q3 2025 $323 · Q4 2025 $357 · Q1 2026 $357).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $365, likely $315–$416
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 81% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 5.4%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q3, typically 3% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
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: 3,895 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 New York and San Diego
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All New York airports
More routes from EWR
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| EWR → MCO | 1,508 km | 1,946,092 |
| EWR → LAX | 3,950 km | 1,791,699 |
| EWR → SFO | 4,128 km | 1,752,123 |
| EWR → ATL | 1,200 km | 1,749,835 |
| EWR → ORD | 1,157 km | 1,731,402 |
| EWR → FLL | 1,713 km | 1,376,885 |
| EWR → MIA | 1,746 km | 1,160,582 |
| EWR → IAH | 2,252 km | 1,135,261 |
| EWR → DEN | 2,583 km | 1,059,062 |
| EWR → DFW | 2,208 km | 984,248 |