Saint Paul (MSP) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 2,466 km
- 1,532 mi · 1,331 nm
- Flight time
- 3 h 50 min / 3 h 36 min
- Average gate to gate: MSP → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 2 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 310 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (183 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 489,120
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −4.3%
- Flights / week
- 61
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 82%
- 592,937 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 2
- DL, SY
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 MSP
- 245°
- Heading from SAN
- 50°
- Halfway point
- 39.43, -106.24
- Great-circle km
- 2,463 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air MSP → SAN
- 3 h 25 min
- In the air SAN → MSP
- 3 h 7 min
- Clocks
- San Diego is 2 h behind Saint Paul
The estimate for a route without real times is 3 h 40 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 46,357 |
| Sep 2025 | 37,321 |
| Oct 2025 | 43,382 |
| Nov 2025 | 39,089 |
| Dec 2025 | 38,516 |
| Jan 2026 | 35,453 |
| Feb 2026 | 33,905 |
| Mar 2026 | 43,245 |
| Apr 2026 | 41,119 |
| May 2026 | 37,514 |
| Jun 2026 | 44,758 |
| Jul 2026 | 48,461 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 279 |
| Sep 2025 | 244 |
| Oct 2025 | 277 |
| Nov 2025 | 276 |
| Dec 2025 | 272 |
| Jan 2026 | 230 |
| Feb 2026 | 202 |
| Mar 2026 | 262 |
| Apr 2026 | 278 |
| May 2026 | 260 |
| Jun 2026 | 279 |
| Jul 2026 | 296 |
Airlines flying MSP–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 50 | 81% |
| SYSun Country Airlines | 11 | 19% |
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 A321Neoxlr · 2,260 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 575 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 237 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 78 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 2 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 1 flight
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 1 flight
- Boeing 767-300/300ER · 1 flight
Also carried: 137 tonnes of freight and 62 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 83.5%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 11 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.8%
- Flights counted
- 2,606
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
Delay minutes by cause: airline 40% · aircraft arriving late 29% · air traffic system 27% · weather 4% · 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
- $317
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $277
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Delta Air Lines
- 69% of passengers · $366
- Lowest-fare airline
- Sun Country Airlines
- 23% of passengers · $191
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $257 · Q3 2025 $250 · Q4 2025 $287 · Q1 2026 $317).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $324, likely $280–$369
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 8.5%). 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 6 (airline ticket sample, US domestic city pairs; each city here has this one airport). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 2,463 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.