San Diego (SAN) – Sacramento (SMF)
- Distance
- 772 km
- 480 mi · 417 nm
- Flight time
- 1 h 37 min / 1 h 34 min
- Average gate to gate: SAN → SMF / back
- Time difference
- none
- CO2 per passenger
- 97 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (57 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,165,042
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +1.0%
- Flights / week
- 212
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 79%
- 1,480,911 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- WN, OO, QX
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 SAN
- 330°
- Heading from SMF
- 148°
- Halfway point
- 35.74, -119.31
- Great-circle km
- 773 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air SAN → SMF
- 1 h 13 min
- In the air SMF → SAN
- 1 h 12 min
- Clocks
- Same time in both
The estimate for a route without real times is 1 h 45 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 100,897 |
| Sep 2025 | 90,055 |
| Oct 2025 | 99,375 |
| Nov 2025 | 94,315 |
| Dec 2025 | 96,799 |
| Jan 2026 | 79,075 |
| Feb 2026 | 82,977 |
| Mar 2026 | 103,422 |
| Apr 2026 | 98,936 |
| May 2026 | 101,897 |
| Jun 2026 | 107,047 |
| Jul 2026 | 110,247 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 885 |
| Sep 2025 | 822 |
| Oct 2025 | 871 |
| Nov 2025 | 930 |
| Dec 2025 | 924 |
| Jan 2026 | 813 |
| Feb 2026 | 822 |
| Mar 2026 | 991 |
| Apr 2026 | 958 |
| May 2026 | 998 |
| Jun 2026 | 992 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,030 |
Airlines flying SAN–SMF nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 145 | 80% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 44 | 12% |
| QXHorizon Air | 15 | 4% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 8.1 | 3% |
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 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 4,174 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 3,059 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 2,105 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 1,380 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 166 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 152 flights
Also carried: 94 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 74%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 14 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.9%
- Flights counted
- 10,354
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 72.1% | 14 min |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 79% | 12 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 79.8% | 9 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 22% · aircraft arriving late 55% · air traffic system 21% · weather 1% · 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
- $167
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $160
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 77% of passengers · $170
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 21% of passengers · $150
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $161 · Q3 2025 $154 · Q4 2025 $160 · Q1 2026 $167).
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: 773 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.