Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
San Bernardino International Airport (KSBD) lies on the southern edge of the city of San Bernardino, California, on the site of the former Norton Air Force Base. Today it is a Class D airport handling passenger, cargo and firefighting tanker operations from a single very long runway, making it a useful and distinctive stop for the VFR pilot in the Inland Empire.
San Bernardino International Airport occupies the former Norton Air Force Base site two miles southeast of downtown San Bernardino, California. It is operated by the San Bernardino International Airport Authority (SBIAA) and today combines scheduled passenger service, a large air cargo operation, an executive FBO, and a US Forest Service firefighting tanker base, all set around a single exceptionally long runway that can accept aircraft as large as the Airbus A380 or Boeing 747. For a simulator pilot it offers the contrast of light general aviation and tanker traffic operating alongside a runway built to handle the heaviest jets.
KSBD sits within controlled Class Delta airspace, which ends adjacent to the Class Charlie airspace of Ontario International Airport, so pilots transiting the area need to be aware of the boundary between the two. The airport is about two miles east of downtown San Bernardino and fourteen miles northeast of Riverside, six miles northwest of Redlands, on the outskirts of Highland. It is readily identified from the air by its position relative to the San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10), the Barstow Freeway (Interstate 215) and the Foothill Freeway (SR 210), all of which pass close by.
KSBD has one physical runway, 06/24, oriented northeast-southwest. It is 9,980 feet long, hard-surfaced and lit, with an ILS serving runway 06. This single very long runway is capable of accepting the largest aircraft in commercial service.
San Bernardino Tower operates on 119.45 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF. Ground control works on 121.8 MHz, and the field ATIS broadcasts on 124.175 MHz. A UNICOM/CTAF frequency of 122.975 MHz is also listed. A separate frequency of 123.975 MHz is designated for the Tanker Base supporting firefighting operations. Surrounding SOCAL Approach sectors are on 127 MHz to the north/northeast, 134 MHz to the northeast/south, and 135.4 MHz to the south/southwest. The field has an ILS approach to runway 06.
KSBD lies within Class Delta airspace under the control of San Bernardino Tower on 119.45 MHz, so two-way radio contact must be established before entering the airspace. Pilots should be alert to the proximity of Ontario's Class Charlie airspace immediately adjacent to the San Bernardino Class D, and should expect to coordinate circuit joining and any transitions with the tower accordingly.
The airport can be located from the air relative to downtown San Bernardino, lying about two miles to the southeast, with Redlands some six miles to the southeast and Highland immediately adjacent. The Interstate 10, Interstate 215 and SR 210 freeways converging in the vicinity provide useful visual references for pilots inbound to the field.
The airport occupies the site of the former San Bernardino Municipal Airport, which was converted during the Second World War into the San Bernardino Air Depot in 1942 and subsequently redesignated Norton Air Force Base. Norton opened shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and remained an active Air Force installation until it was placed on the Department of Defense base closure list in 1989, with the base ultimately decommissioned following the end of the Cold War. Redevelopment as San Bernardino International Airport largely followed the 2008 Regional Transportation Plan produced by the Southern California Association of Governments, with most facilities completed by 2011, although a customs facility was still under construction at that point. The airport's development was not without controversy: a 2011 grand jury audit found evidence of potential mismanagement and financial irregularities, and the FBI raided airport offices and the home of developer Scot Spencer that September as part of a corruption investigation, leading to the resignation of the Airport Authority's director later that month. Scheduled commercial passenger service did not begin until August 2022, when Breeze Airways became the first airline to operate flights from the airport's previously unused domestic terminal. The airport was also used as a filming location for the 1996 film Executive Decision.
San Bernardino International Airport today combines commercial, general aviation and cargo operations. Breeze Airways operates scheduled passenger flights to San Francisco and Provo, Utah, from the domestic terminal, while an international terminal includes a US Customs and Border Protection processing facility. The airport-owned Luxivair SBD serves as the executive fixed-base operator for general aviation and business traffic. On the cargo side, the field serves as a base for three of the largest air cargo carriers in the United States, UPS, FedEx and Amazon Air. The airport is also used as a base for United States Forest Service aircraft engaged in wildfire suppression, reflected in the dedicated Tanker Base frequency. Runway 06 is equipped with an ILS approach.