Cross Border Xpress

Cross Border Xpress (CBX), historically also called the Tijuana Cross-border Terminal and the Puerta de las Californias, is an airport terminal located in the Otay Mesa area of southern San Diego, California, United States, with an access bridge connecting it to the Tijuana International Airport in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. It opened on December 9, 2015. It makes Tijuana Airport a geographically binational airport. Unlike the binational airports serving the Swiss cities of Basel (entirely on French territory) and Geneva (entirely on Swiss territory), the CBX terminal is physically located in the United States but serves an airport whose main terminal and runways are in Mexico. A pedestrian bridge spans the United States–Mexico border and Via de la Juventud Oriente in Tijuana, connecting passenger terminals between the two countries. It was the creation of Ralph Nieders, who introduced the concept and infrastructure design in Mexico City in 1989 and San Diego in 1990. The structural scheme allows passengers originating in, and destined to the United States direct access to the Tijuana airport and equally gives Mexican and international carriers operating from the Tijuana airport direct access to the U.S. passenger market.

The terminal, in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, allows passengers to check in on the U.S. side of the U.S.–Mexico border, cross a 120-meter (390 ft) pedestrian/passenger bridge across the border, clear Mexican immigration and customs, and board flights at the Tijuana International Airport. Passengers arriving in Tijuana are equally able to cross the pedestrian/passenger bridge into the Otay Mesa passenger terminal, clear U.S. passport controls and U.S. Customs, and exit on the U.S. side.