SAN's Terminal 1 named to list of world's most beautiful airport buildings

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SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego International Airport leaders Thursday responded to the news of SAN's new Terminal 1 being named to the "World's Most Beautiful Airports" list 2026 by a French architectural and design program.

Prix Versailles is a prestigious international award program that recognizes outstanding contemporary architecture and design, and SAN was one of two United States airports named to this year's list.

"We are incredibly honored that our new Terminal 1 has received this prestigious international Prix Versailles recognition," said Atif Saeed, president and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. "The vision, creativity, and dedication of the New Terminal 1 team resulted in a terminal that reflects the spirit and character of San Diego. Our goal was to deliver an airport experience that authentically represents our region while providing exceptional service to travelers. This global recognition affirms that vision and helps showcase San Diego to the world."

San Francisco-based Gensler designed Terminal 1, which was completed in September 2025 and replaced the original 1960's terminal. According to the design team, it "draws its identity from San Diego's landscape of canyons, sea, and sky, expressed through commissioned art installations, angled ceiling forms, mosaic glass details, and an outdoor terrace offering sweeping views across the city."

"San Diego's new Terminal 1 represents something we care deeply about at Gensler; the idea that a great airport can genuinely transform a city's relationship with the world," said Terence Young, aviation leader and principal at Gensler. "San Diego is a complete reinvention: a new building that future-proofs the airport for a new generation of travelers while giving their communities something to be proud of. That ambition is exactly what the Prix Versailles recognizes, and we are honored to be on this list."

San Diego International's Terminal 1 joins six other airports recognized on the 2026 list: Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Terminal 3 in China, Frankfurt Airport Terminal 3 in Germany, Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport Terminal 2 in India, Navi Mumbai International Airport Terminal 1 in India, Techo International Airport in Cambodia and Pittsburgh International Airport in the U.S.

"Whether they have newly appeared on the horizon or undergone a major renovation, contemporary airports and airport terminals are innovative, inescapable hallmarks of their regions and their eras," said Jérome Gouadain, secretary general of the Prix Versailles. "They are innovative, because they resolve the apparent conflict between the increasing frequency of travel and the need for speed -- both central to an airport's purpose -- on the one hand and, on the other, the singularity of a form of tourism that aims to be accessible and that values people's time in places that, in this day and age, can no longer be described as mere "transfer" spaces.

"And they are inescapable, in that this infrastructure leaves a lasting environmental footprint on the land but also on the history of humanity: in the amalgamation of architecture that they display, airports are becoming attractive settings, emblems of economic, cultural and social dynamics that will continue to shape the societies of tomorrow, draw them together and unify them."

The awards from the Prix Versailles "aim to promote intelligent sustainability, in which culture serves and transcends the notion of the environment." The Prix Versailles was established in 2015 and is announced annually at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.