Washington (IAD) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 3,626 km
- 2,253 mi · 1,958 nm
- Flight time
- 5 h 28 min / 4 h 51 min
- Average gate to gate: IAD → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 455 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (269 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 417,666
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −15.4%
- Flights / week
- 53
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 85%
- 494,221 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 IAD
- 272°
- Heading from SAN
- 68°
- Halfway point
- 37.53, -98.13
- Great-circle km
- 3,618 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air IAD → SAN
- 4 h 58 min
- In the air SAN → IAD
- 4 h 20 min
- Clocks
- San Diego is 3 h behind Washington
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 5 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 37,249 |
| Sep 2025 | 32,772 |
| Oct 2025 | 34,722 |
| Nov 2025 | 33,235 |
| Dec 2025 | 35,619 |
| Jan 2026 | 29,097 |
| Feb 2026 | 28,515 |
| Mar 2026 | 35,672 |
| Apr 2026 | 35,146 |
| May 2026 | 36,038 |
| Jun 2026 | 39,899 |
| Jul 2026 | 39,702 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 245 |
| Sep 2025 | 233 |
| Oct 2025 | 235 |
| Nov 2025 | 230 |
| Dec 2025 | 242 |
| Jan 2026 | 215 |
| Feb 2026 | 199 |
| Mar 2026 | 229 |
| Apr 2026 | 221 |
| May 2026 | 239 |
| Jun 2026 | 243 |
| Jul 2026 | 247 |
Airlines flying IAD–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 40 | 77% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 14 | 23% |
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 · 1,314 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 1,299 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 102 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 59 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 2 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 1 flight
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 1 flight
Also carried: 26 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 86.3%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 10 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.6%
- Flights counted
- 2,804
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 88.2% | 9 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 80.9% | 11 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 32% · aircraft arriving late 23% · air traffic system 32% · weather 12% · 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
- $373
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $334
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 71% of passengers · $403
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 22% of passengers · $275
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $318 · Q3 2025 $317 · Q4 2025 $335 · Q1 2026 $373).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $381, likely $329–$434
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 76% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 8.4%). 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 5% 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: 3,618 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 Washington and San Diego
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Washington airports