# Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM)

> San Diego, US · IATA: SDM · ICAO: KSDM · Medium Airport

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `SDM` |
| ICAO | `KSDM` |
| City | San Diego |
| Country | US |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 160 m |
| Cargo | ❌ |
| GPS | 32.57264, -116.98002 |

## Description

A USD 100 million first phase is rebuilding a general aviation field that handles no scheduled freight at all: Brown Field Municipal Airport (IATA: SDM, ICAO: KSDM) serves as the FAA-designated reliever for San Diego International, its main runway 8L/26R measuring 2,430 m (7,972 ft). The airport sits on Otay Mesa some 21 km south-east of downtown San Diego, within sight of the Mexican border, and is a port of entry from Mexico, though Customs and Border Protection staffs it only when an arriving pilot requests it in advance. No dedicated air cargo terminal and no freighter operations exist here; air freight for the region moves as belly cargo through San Diego (SAN), through Tijuana (TIJ) on the Mexican side, or through Los Angeles (LAX). Surface freight dominates: the Otay Mesa commercial truck crossing a few kilometres west is California's largest, feeding road feeder services into the San Diego and Los Angeles cargo terminals. Ground was broken in June 2024 on the four-phase San Diego Airpark redevelopment, which adds a new FBO with a general aviation customs inspection facility. San Diego's city council approved the accompanying master plan in September 2025, with the twenty-year build-out projected at USD 1.5 billion in economic impact and 2,500 jobs. The airport remains fully operational.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/brown-field-municipal-airport-sdm](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/brown-field-municipal-airport-sdm)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/brown-field-municipal-airport-sdm](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/brown-field-municipal-airport-sdm)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/brown-field-municipal-airport-sdm/llm-summary*