John Wayne Orange County International Airport

John Wayne Airport / Orange County (KSNA) is the principal commercial and general aviation airport for Orange County, sitting in Santa Ana 35 miles south of downtown LA. It serves the Newport Beach, Irvine, and South Coast Plaza corporate corridor, plus the Anaheim resort and Disneyland traffic. For private aviation, KSNA is the close-in alternative to KLAX or KVNY for charter flights into Orange County — vastly faster ground access to the OC corporate offices and beach communities than going through LAX.

Runway 20R/2L is 5,701 feet, which limits some heavy-jet operations on full-payload departures — ultra-long-range jets occasionally divert to KLGB or KSNA-specific weight planning is required. Atlantic and ACI Jet are the FBOs. KSNA is famous for its mandatory noise-abatement departure procedure — the steep climb and power reduction shortly after takeoff is one of the most challenging noise procedures in commercial aviation, and private operators flying jets out of KSNA need to brief crews thoroughly. The strict curfew (2200–0700 for jets) is taken seriously by the airport authority. Field elevation is 56 feet, no density-altitude concerns. Newport Beach is 15 minutes by car; Irvine 10 minutes; Anaheim/Disneyland 20 minutes; downtown LA 60–90 minutes in traffic.

John Wayne Airport is an international commercial and general aviation airport that serves Orange County and Greater Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California. The airport is located in an unincorporated area of Orange County, and it is owned and operated by Orange County. John Wayne Airport is surrounded by the cities of Irvine, Newport Beach, and Costa Mesa; however, its IATA airport code is registered to Santa Ana, the county seat. Originally named Orange County Airport, the Orange County Board of Supervisors renamed the airport in 1979 in honor of actor John Wayne, who lived in neighboring Newport Beach and died that year. A statue of John Wayne was installed at the airline terminal in 1982.