John Wayne Orange County International Airport

John Wayne Orange County International Airport is the sole commercial airport for Orange County, California — one of the wealthiest and most densely populated counties in the United States — and serves 32 airlines on 229 routes to 170 nonstop destinations. Named in 1979 for the actor and Newport Beach resident John Wayne, whose nine-foot bronze statue stands in the main terminal, SNA is located in Santa Ana at the boundary with Irvine and Newport Beach, with direct freeway access via Interstate 405 and State Route 55. The airport is world-famous among aviation enthusiasts for its noise abatement departure procedure, one of the most restrictive and operationally unusual at any commercial airport in the United States. Pilots departing Runway 20R are required to apply full takeoff thrust only briefly, then pull the thrust levers back to a near-idle setting at approximately 700 ft above ground level while executing a steep climb over the wealthy Newport Beach communities below, resuming normal thrust only after clearing the noise-sensitive area. The procedure is driven by a 1985 consent decree with surrounding neighborhoods and is the reason SNA predominantly operates narrow-body aircraft: Runway 20R/02L, at 5,700 ft (1,737 m), is one of the shortest commercial runways among major US airports. SNA served 11.3 million passengers in 2023 and hosts significant operations for Southwest, American, United, Delta, and Alaska, with international service to Canada and Mexico. The airport's single passenger complex — the Thomas F. Riley Terminal — houses Terminals A, B, and C under one roof, all connected airside so passengers can move freely between gates after clearing any of the three security checkpoints. A second 2,886 ft (880 m) general aviation runway (02R/20L) handles light aircraft. SNA's passenger cap per the settlement agreement has been periodically renegotiated, with the most recent extension running through 2035.