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A growing Alaska Airlines to move all its flights to San Diego airport’s Terminal 2

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As Alaska Airlines continues to expand the number of flights it offers in and out of San Diego, it will be consolidating all of its operations in the airport’s Terminal 2 by Jan. 29.

Alaska, which currently uses seven gates in the older Terminal 1, will now be flying in and out of seven gates, exclusively in Terminal 2, the San Diego International Airport announced Monday.

The change will require Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Airlines and Sun Country Airlines, all smaller carriers with more limited operations, to move from their current Terminal 2 base to Terminal 1.

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The change-up in terminal operations will make for a smoother passenger experience for those flying Alaska, the airport says.

“The major driver for this change is to support getting all of the operations for Alaska in one location and also allowing them to grow because there will be more gate availability in that Terminal 2 location,” said airport spokeswoman Rebecca Bloomfield. “It’s not an optimal passenger experience having some operations in Terminal 1 and some in Terminal 2.”

Alaska saw a 37 percent increase in inbound and outbound flights last year, compared with 2017, Bloomfield said. That’s due in part to Alaska’s acquisition last year of Virgin America but also the airline’s decision to grow its presence in San Diego.

While Southwest Airlines remains the dominant air carrier out of Lindbergh Field, Alaska continues to introduce new destinations, like the nonstop flight to El Paso, Texas, that it will be debuting next month.

Alaska operates more than 45 daily departures out of San Diego while Spirit Airlines has just five daily flights, Sun Country has only one, and Allegiant operates two weekly flights.

“We’ve already been doing some build-out of offices to accommodate the relocation, and we’ve expanded a security checkpoint in Terminal 2,” Bloomfield said.

But come Jan. 28, there will be an overnight transition to complete the entire relocation by the following morning.

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lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg