Border securityTijuana airport’s bridge-connected terminals straddle U.S.-Mexico border

Published 10 December 2015

The Tijuana airport is only the second airport in the world straddling an international border, with terminals on each side of the U.S.-Mexico border. Before the bridge opened, travelers had to drive a rental car or be driven in shuttle buses for about fifteen minutes to a crowded land crossing, where they often had to wait several hours to enter San Diego by car or on foot. On the new airport bridge, it takes passengers five minutes to walk to a U.S. border inspector.

Arrow points to border-crossing walkway // Source: commons.wikimedia.org

The Tijuana airport is only the second airport in the world straddling an international border, with terminals on each side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The L.A. Daily News reports that on Wednesday the first arrivals came on an Aeromexico flight from Mexico City to the aging Tijuana international airport – but they were welcomed by a new addition to the airport: a 390ft bridge to a new, $120m terminal in San Diego.

The airport authorities said that even before the cross-border bridge opened, about 60 percent of travelers to Tijuana airport – or about 2.6 million in 2014 – do so in order to cross into the United States, so making such crossing easier only made sense.

Before the bridge opened, these travelers had to drive a rental car or be driven in shuttle buses for about fifteen minutes to a crowded land crossing, where they often had to wait several hours to enter San Diego by car or on foot. On the new airport bridge, it takes passengers five minutes to walk to a U.S. border inspector.

The other border-straddling airport is on the outskirts of Basel, Switzerland, and it straddles the Swiss-French border.

The Daily News notes that using the bridge at the airport is not free, however. Cross Border Xpress, one of the largest privately operated U.S. air terminals, charges $18 each way for ticketed passengers. Much of that will go to pay the salaries of U.S border inspectors.

The building of the bridge was funded by a group of U.S. and Mexican investors which includes the Chicago billionaire Sam Zell. The investors expect to make money on a duty-free shop, rental car companies, restaurants, and other amenities and concessions. The terminal occupies less than half of the 55-acre parcel the investors bought, and the city of San Diego has approved a 340-room hotel, shopping center, and gas station to be built on the other half of the parcel.