John Wayne Airport Airport codesSNAKSNASNA is an airport in an unincorporated area in Orange County, California, with its mailing address in Santa Ana (Santa Ana, California), hence the International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code (International Air Transport Association airport code). The main entrance to the airport is off of Mac Arthur Blvd in Irvine (Irvine, California), the city that surrounds the southern and eastern part of the airport. Newport Beach is to the west of the airport and Costa Mesa and Santa Ana are to the north of the airport. Originally named Orange County Airport, the county Board of Supervisors (Orange County Board of Supervisors) renamed it in 1979 to honor the actor John Wayne, who resided in nearby Newport Beach and died that year. It also became the first airport to be named after an entertainer.

The main runway, at convert5701ftm, is one of the shortest of any major airport in the United States, resulting in most passenger aircraft operating from the airport to be no larger than the Boeing 757 (Boeing 757). However, some larger cargo aircraft, such as the FedEx A310 (Airbus A310)/300 (Airbus A300), fly from SNA. Some gates are built to handle planes up to the size of a Boeing 767, which can operate with payload/fuel load restrictions. No wide body passenger aircraft are currently in scheduled service at the airport.

John Wayne Airport is the sole commercial airport within Orange County (Orange County, California). General aviation operations outnumber commercial operations and several facilities at the airport serve the general aviation and corporate aviation community. The other general aviation airport within the county is Fullerton Municipal Airport. Other commercial airports within close proximity are Long Beach Airport, followed by Los Angeles International Airport and LA/Ontario International Airport. In 2008, John Wayne Airport was the second busiest airport in the area (by passenger count) with almost 9 million total passengers.

The most prominent airlines at John Wayne Airport are Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Alaska Airlines.

John Wayne Airport is convert14mikm from Orange Countys signature attraction - the Disneyland Resort. By contrast, Los Angeles International Airport is convert35mikm from Disneyland.

A statue of the airports namesake welcomes passengers passing through the arrivals area on the lower level.

The airport is served by OCTA (Orange County Transportation Authority) buses #76 and #212, as well as the Irvine Shuttle route A.