Tijuana Airport Bridge (San Diego, Monterey, Orland: 2013, home, transfer to)

[PacoMartin]

The binational airport bridge is under construction. It will allow people to park on the US side, pay a fee, and cross the bridge directly into the airport. Passage is available only to people holding plan tickets. Right now the Tijuana airport services 10,000 people per day (roughly 22% of the load at San Diego airport). Estimates are 1/4 to 1/3 of the passengers live in the USA and cross the border.

Given San Diego airport's single runway, it has long looked at Tijuana airport which is right next to the international border. Ambitious plans to go through security on the US side, or to build a parallel runway straddling the border have been abandoned. The bridge will not be secure.

Tijuana airport serves 28 domestic destinations, and two Asian ones. Flights start in Mexico City, stop in Tijuana and fly to Shanghai and Tokyo. San Diego Airport has a new Tokyo flight, but it is still hoped that some Americans would come to Tijuana to fly to Shanghai rather than change planes in LAX or SFO.

1) The bridge will first of all bring more Americans looking to get to Asia. Crossing a Mexican border before flying to Asia should not be a deterrent. As Mexicana is going to purchase a large fleet of Dreamliners, it is probably hoping to expand destinations in Asia.

2) The next most likely goal will be to add nonstop flights from Tijuana to Mexican resort cities. It seems natural that people would walk across the border to fly to Cancun. Mexican flights from San Diego go to Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. While it is almost certain that Tijuana will probably steal the passengers going to Puerto Vallarta, they may not compete at Cabo. But Mazatlan, La Paz, and Ixtapa will almost certainly be targeted.

3) Volaris flies from SAN to Mexico city. Volaris already has a hub in Tijuana, so it may discontinue the SAN flight.

4) Flights to Central America should end up on the list, although connections from Tijuana through Mexico City are already an option.

5) Europe is also a possibility. But rather than compete with British Air on San Diego to London, I would expect Mexicana to aim for Paris or Madrid.

6) Lastly, and strangely enough they may begin flying from Tijuana to the USA. There are no nonstops from San Diego to Florida or Puerto Rico. Orlando (naturally) is the biggest destination for San Diegans where there is no nonstop. It remains to be seen if US citizens will cross an international border to fly to Orlando and go through customs in Florida, San Juan may be a more likely destination.

The goal is to give San Diegans better flight options, but no one believes that it will make a difference in overcrowding at SAN airport. The probability of many people driving to the border, going through customs to pay a fee to cross the border just to go through customs on US side again is fairly small. But more advanced electronic passport control may make it a possibility. Personally, I would like to see TIJ go from 10K to 15K per day, but I expect to see SAN remain at 50K.

Finally, I am of the opinion that it should be open to people without a plane ticket. My feeling is that the fee will deter most people. Also once you are at the airport you pretty much have to take a taxi. But it will go a long way to improving relationships as Taxi drivers will have a supply of well heeled Americans who are crossing the border. I think that a couple could pay $10 apiece to cross the border, $20 for a taxi, and will still come out ahead on the restaurant bill (for an expensive meal). Only the more adventurous gringos will go to Tijuana for fine dining, as it takes so much time to cross the border.

Javier Plascencia is the dining emperor in Tijuana; his parents opened a pizzeria here in 1969 and he now owns Caesar’s and half a dozen fine dining spots in the city.

[malcorub16]

I use TIJ Airport at least once a year and this all sounds great and has been talked about for years. But I was in Otay on the SD side a few weeks ago in the area adjacent to the TIJ airport (behind Border Patrol's Office) on Britania Road and all I saw was an empty field with absolutely no construction. Since it’s been hearsay for so long, I will believe it when construction starts.


The cartels are more efficient with their sophisticated tunnels than our governments are with more ports of entry.

[sdjimbob]

How old is this information? Mexicana folded years ago.

American flies nonstop to Miami, and Alaska nonstop to Orlando already. I'd be surprised if an airline risked San Juan (at 7+ hours flight time from Tijuana).

Far better to layover @ LAX or SFO in my opinion when going to Asia, since you can count on at least daily flights from multiple carriers (not twice a week from one carrier like in Tijuana). More importantly, you can be protected on another carrier if something goes wrong with the flight.

Yeah, so in other words, I won't likely use it. Their best bet is to attract SD tourists to beach resorts probably, but I think package deals to Mexico from SAN are so low that when you throw in the fee to use this bridge plus whatever departure/facility/etc taxes TIJ throws on passengers, the savings will be minimal.

[sdurbanite]

As sdjimbob said, there are already nonstop flights from SAN to Orlando and Miami. What will be nice are the nonstop destinations within Mexico. I've always wanted to visit Oaxaca, Puebla and Monterrey. Wasn't there also a flight to Havana at one time?

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

What will be nice are the nonstop destinations within Mexico. I've always wanted to visit Oaxaca, Puebla and Monterrey.

I thought Monterey was up in Nor Cal.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

I thought Monterey was up in Nor Cal.

There is a Monterrey in Mexico, too. While it doesn't really have a good rep, Cancun is another place I'd like to check out.

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

There is a Monterrey in Mexico, too. While it doesn't really have a good rep, Cancun is another place I'd like to check out.

I was being facetious, I know Monterrey Mex well. In my home town of San Antonio TX (Monterrey’s sister city) there is an affluent neighborhood called Sonterra that people have dubbed “Sonterrey” due to the number of wealthy Mexican families that inhabit the area mainly from the city of Monterrey.

It’s kind of like what happened here in SD with the wealthy people of TJ moving to Eastlake.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/24/nation/la-na-sonterrey-20130324

Monterrey is an important business hub and despite being plagued by violence recently, in many ways is more relevant than its Texas counterpart north of the border, San Antonio.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

I was being facetious, I know Monterrey Mex well. In my home town of San Antonio TX (Monterrey’s sister city) there is an affluent neighborhood called Sonterra that people have dubbed “Sonterrey” due to the number of wealthy Mexican families that inhabit the area mainly from the city of Monterrey.

It’s kind of like what happened here in SD with the wealthy people of TJ moving to Eastlake.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/24/nation/la-na-sonterrey-20130324

Monterrey is an important business hub and despite being plagued by violence recently, in many ways is more relevant than its Texas counterpart north of the border, San Antonio.

Sorry, I'm a little slow today And I just noticed that you also live in Playas which makes me feel even dumber

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by sdjimbob

How old is this information? Mexicana folded years ago.

American flies nonstop to Miami, and Alaska nonstop to Orlando already. I'd be surprised if an airline risked San Juan (at 7+ hours flight time from Tijuana).

Far better to layover @ LAX or SFO in my opinion when going to Asia, since you can count on at least daily flights from multiple carriers (not twice a week from one carrier like in Tijuana). More importantly, you can be protected on another carrier if something goes wrong with the flight.

Yeah, so in other words, I won't likely use it. Their best bet is to attract SD tourists to beach resorts probably, but I think package deals to Mexico from SAN are so low that when you throw in the fee to use this bridge plus whatever departure/facility/etc taxes TIJ throws on passengers, the savings will be minimal.

Mea Culpa. I meant to say Aeromexico acquired Dreamliners. Also, I didn't realize that flights had been added to Florida.

You are correct that Tijuana will probably never have more than one flight per day to an Asian city. Right now LAX has three different airlines that fly to Shanghai (one jet apiece). But I hear this argument a lot. I am familiar with shuttle flights never taking off (say SAN-SFO) and you have to try and get on a later flight, but I would assume that a transoceanic flight cancellation is rare.

The people that already use TIJ airport that live in San Diego may not be overly impressed with the bridge. The taxi fare is $15-$20 and that is for multiple people. If they end up charging $10-$15 per person to cross the bridge, and more for parking than the border lots, then a family of four may not find it worth it.

Also keep in mind that transportation to the crossing is a big expense. You can already ride the trolley, and there is not likely to be public transportation to the land bridge.

I do think that limiting the crossing to ticket holders is a big mistake. If a group flies from Mexico City to have a meeting in the USA, then any colleagues from Tijuana cannot walk across the bridge with them. They have to seek separate transportation.

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

What will be nice are the nonstop destinations within Mexico. I've always wanted to visit Oaxaca, Puebla and Monterrey. Wasn't there also a flight to Havana at one time?

I have taken a nonstop from TJ to Oaxaca. There is such extensive bus service from Mexico City Airport to Puebla that it is not worth flying to the tiny Puebla airport. Monterrey is a major hub, and there are many flights to there from Mexican and American cities. You don't need to wait for the pedestrian bridge.

Right now there are no flights from TJ to Cabo San Lucas, Guaymas, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa, or Cancun. There were flights to Acapulco, but they are at inconvenient times (after midnight).

[kettlepot]

Southwestern College is right across the border from the Rodriguez Airport so the is actually public transit to where the bridge would be located. You would take the Blue Line to the Iris Avenue Trolley Stop and then transfer to the 905 Bus which operates on a 15 minute schedule from 5am to 8pm. While the current bus route would require a 1/2 mile walk to the border, if this thing really panned out, it wouldn't take much to adjust the bus route to include bridge entry point. With the inclusion of a moving sidewalk and baggage belt, you could reasonably transport people and luggage from the entry point, across the border, and into the terminal.