First look at new Terminal 1: Join our SAN airport photo, video tour

“Don’t worry,” said our Terminal 1 guide. Those flying out of T1 at San Diego International Airport before Sept. 23 and returning on that date or later won’t be in a space-time warp. Just visiting the new concourse.

“We have people here that will remind them they’re OK, they’re not in a different city,” said Angela Shafer-Payne. “They’re in San Diego. They’ve come back to San Diego.”

Shafer-Payne, chief development officer at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, led a media tour Tuesday of phase one of the New Terminal 1 Project, opening with 19 gates — with 11 more to come.

The day new T1 opens, final gear gets cleaned out of old T1. A week later, asbestos abatement begins, followed by demolition — making way for the second phase of T1.

“So now’s your last chance if you need one more picture of that facility,” she told the media gaggle.

But don’t hold her to expectations the old T1 will be torn down by the end of the year.

“We can’t find the person that was around in ’67 to tell us that there’s no mysterious building underneath there,” Shafer-Payne said. “Of course, we don’t know what we don’t know, right?”

No mystery exists about the art-filled, natural-light-infused new concourse — between 1,800 and 1,900 feet long and about 1.16 million square feet (including 90,000 square feet of concession space).

Andy Huang, design director for T1 architect Gensler, crowed about wood veneer being used with its acoustical properties that “really dampen” background noise.

“It doesn’t have this loud reverberation, right?” he said. “It’s calming.”

Kris McCann, Gensler interior design director, told how air-conditioning would emanate from 9-foot-high columns. “What’s really smart about this design is that it saves energy and is eco-friendly. It conditions at the passenger height,” he said.

In fact, officials are seeking LEED-Gold certification — a high level of green building certification awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council that requires projects to meet strict sustainable building standards. (Only Platinum rating is higher.)

Curved glass, imported from overseas, will reduce glare at the $3.8 billion terminal built by Turner-Flatiron.

The basement will house four miles of baggage belts.

“So if you are asking … where does your bag go? It goes on quite a ride, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride,” said Disneyland alluding Shafer-Payne, “but the good news is the system monitors it with a tag … as you’ve checked in your luggage. We’ve been testing that system for quite some time, and probably gave [an official] a few gray hairs as we worked through that testing.”

They went through an 8,000-point checklist, and had an over 99% accuracy rate.

“I love the team that was working on it,” she said. “They kept sending videos. The system is smart enough to understand [destinations]. So it’s like that automated merge onto the freeway, right? Our luggage gets better treatment than we do.”

TSA also is “very excited” about the prospect of better efficiency —with more stations under a canopy and near Amy Ellington’s “A Day in the Sun” artwork (one of five pieces commissioned for the new terminal).

But baggage claim will start with a carousel labeled 2, not 1. (That will come later.)

For the able-bodied, the trek from one end of T1 to another won’t be aided by a moving walkway, however.

“It was a serious consideration,” Shafer-Payne said. “We just simply did not have the space” for walkways on either side. Installation of a moving walkway also would have required raising the concourse or digging deeper to accommodate machinery.

But, she said, “We will have golf carts in this building” for those who need a lift.

Besides traditional seating, other features include swivel chairs (high-backed bucket seats for watching planes) and sectional sofas. An outdoor patio with room for 296 — open to the public — has different styles of chairs include some that rock.

In 2024, more than 25 million people came through SAN, compared to 2.5 million when Terminal 1 opened in 1967. The airport estimates that in 2035, the number of annual travelers through both terminals will rise to 39 million.

Some 30 restaurants and stores are planned, with public art projects including a large jellyfish sculpture by Matthew Mazzotta. Shelves were beginning to be stocked Tuesday.

Terminal 1 food & beverage concessions

• Better Buzz
• Parfait Paris
• The Taco Stand
• Ambrosio 15
• Luna Grill
• McDonald’s
• Lofty Coffee
• Market Hall
• SIP Wine & Beer
• Novecientos Grados by Tony Hawk
• JT Bros. Handcrafted Sandwiches
• Cutwater Restaurant & Bar

Specialty shops

• Univision Travel Store
• The Arts District Market
• SAN Supply Co.
• No Boundaries
• Liberty Station Gifts

A public open house is set for 9 a.m. to noon Sunday, Sept. 14, for self-guided tours. No registration is needed, and parking is available in the T1 parking plaza — free for the first three hours with validation.

A 10-year lease and operating agreement with airlines is paying for the T1 project, as well as federal grants — $75 million so far — via the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Airport Terminals Program.

Work on T1 began Nov. 1, 2021, and a new administration building for San Diego County Regional Airport Authority employees opened in 2023. A five-story, 5,200-stall parking garage, called a plaza, opened in June.

Phase 1B is expected to be done in early 2028.

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