San Francisco (SFO) – Santa Ana (SNA)
- Distance
- 598 km
- 372 mi · 323 nm
- Flight time
- 1 h 36 min / 1 h 35 min
- Average gate to gate: SFO → SNA / back
- Time difference
- none
- CO2 per passenger
- 75 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (44 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 745,961
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −11.8%
- Flights / week
- 179
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 82%
- 913,495 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- OO, UA, 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 SFO
- 136°
- Heading from SNA
- 318°
- Halfway point
- 35.67, -120.07
- Great-circle km
- 598 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air SFO → SNA
- 1 h 7 min
- In the air SNA → SFO
- 1 h 5 min
- Clocks
- Same time in both
The estimate for a route without real times is 1 h 30 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 72,894 |
| Sep 2025 | 64,431 |
| Oct 2025 | 68,708 |
| Nov 2025 | 64,548 |
| Dec 2025 | 62,498 |
| Jan 2026 | 54,519 |
| Feb 2026 | 50,412 |
| Mar 2026 | 57,145 |
| Apr 2026 | 62,840 |
| May 2026 | 63,854 |
| Jun 2026 | 59,685 |
| Jul 2026 | 64,427 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 844 |
| Sep 2025 | 871 |
| Oct 2025 | 893 |
| Nov 2025 | 861 |
| Dec 2025 | 768 |
| Jan 2026 | 740 |
| Feb 2026 | 635 |
| Mar 2026 | 686 |
| Apr 2026 | 724 |
| May 2026 | 783 |
| Jun 2026 | 737 |
| Jul 2026 | 769 |
Airlines flying SFO–SNA nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 133 | 58% |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 39 | 35% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 5.8 | 6% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 1.5 | 1% |
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
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 6,260 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 893 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 848 flights
- Canadair RJ-700 · 669 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 259 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 184 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 177 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 21 flights
Also carried: 2 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 73.4%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 18 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.4%
- Flights counted
- 9,493
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 73.6% | 18 min |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 74.3% | 17 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 64.9% | 32 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 64.9% | 21 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 17% · aircraft arriving late 31% · air traffic system 47% · weather 5% · 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
- $237
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $192
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 45% of passengers · $206
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 45% of passengers · $206
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $156 · Q3 2025 $181 · Q4 2025 $208 · Q1 2026 $237).
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: 598 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.