The airport sits at 30 meters above sea level on flat desert ground south of the town. Its single runway, designated 13/31, is built of asphalt and sized for small to medium general aviation aircraft. The apron covers 13,275 square meters and offers two parking positions for small aircraft, helipads, and additional general aviation stands. The passenger terminal is a single-story building with gates that allow passengers to walk directly to the aircraft — a layout scaled for small regional operations rather than major carriers. Hangars and general aviation facilities round out the infrastructure. The airport is operated by the state-owned Patronato para la Administración del Aeropuerto de San Felipe, which has managed it through the lean years since commercial service ended.

SeaPort Airlines was a small regional carrier that specialized in serving underserved markets — places where there was enough demand for air service to make a route viable, but not enough to attract major carriers. San Felipe fit the profile: a town of several thousand residents and a substantial tourist population of American visitors, separated from San Diego by a three-to-four hour drive. Between 2014 and 2016, SeaPort ran those cross-border flights, making San Felipe International live up to its name for a brief window. In January 2016, SeaPort discontinued the route along with several others as the airline struggled financially. It ceased operations entirely that same year. The airport returned to its quieter role.

What San Felipe Airport has — and what Mexicali, the nearest commercial hub, lacks — is atmosphere. Flying into San Felipe in a small aircraft means landing in a town where the Gulf of California begins a few hundred meters from the end of the runway. The sea glitters. The desert is immediate. The town offers fresh seafood and clear nights. For private pilots and flying clubs based in Southern California and Arizona, San Felipe is a classic weekend destination: short enough for a day trip, interesting enough to stay. The flight across Baja's northern desert, over the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, is itself a reward. The airport's general aviation orientation suits this crowd perfectly.

San Felipe became Mexico's newest municipality in 2022, which brought new administrative attention but did not immediately solve the airport's commercial connectivity problem. The 182-kilometer drive north to Mexicali International Airport remains the standard route for any San Felipe resident needing a scheduled flight. For a municipality asserting its independence and identity on the Gulf of California shore, the absence of commercial air service is both a practical inconvenience and a symbol of the work that remains. The infrastructure exists. The runway is there. What is missing, for now, is the airline willing to bet on San Felipe.