Flying Into South Bend International Airport is the Winning Choice for Game Day

The entire vibe of the surrounding community changes starting with the home opener and lasts well into November – and hopefully December and January too. There is a buzz that can be felt around town. The leaves start to change, the air turns crisp, and flight after flight descends on South Bend International Airport (SBN).

Notre Dame is undeniably a national brand and with that comes a national following. The legacy airlines of Delta, United, and American add flights that are not regularly scheduled to get fans to and from some of the biggest NCAA football games of the season, including Notre Dame home football games and big away matchups. For more than a decade, the airlines have added special event flights into South Bend around the Fighting Irish football schedule.

This year is no different with more seats than ever being added. To accommodate the demand, the airlines upgrade existing routes with additional frequencies and/or larger airplanes on the existing daily flights from seven hubs – American from Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare, and Dallas/Fort Worth; Delta from Atlanta, Detroit, and Minneapolis; and United from Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles. With large Notre Dame fan bases in New York City and Washington D.C., American and Delta add flights for each home matchup from LaGuardia and Reagan National Airport while United adds flights from its New York City hub in Newark. Flights from Houston, San Francisco, Miami, and Boston will also be added for the appropriate home games.

Following is a complete list of the additional flights that have been added to SBN on Fridays with departures on Sundays for the 2026 home season:


Notre Dame vs. Rice
-American from LGA and DCA
-Delta from LGA and DCA
-United from EWR and IAH

Notre Dame vs. Michigan State
-American from LGA and DCA
-Delta from LGA and DCA
-United from EWR

Notre Dame vs. Stanford
-American from LGA and DCA
-Delta from LGA and DCA
-United from EWR and SFO

Notre Dame vs. Miami
-American from MIA, LGA and DCA
-Delta from MIA, LGA and DCA
-Newark from EWR

Notre Dame vs. Boston College
-American from BOS, LGA and DCA
-Delta from BOS, LGA and DCA
-United from EWR

Notre Dame vs. SMU
-American from LGA and DCA
-Delta from LGA and DCA
-United from EWR

When fans land at SBN, there is no question they have entered Fighting Irish territory. Fans are greeted with a public address announcement from Coach Marcus Freeman. Photo opportunities abound in baggage claim with Visit South Bend Mishawaka’s classic arch that has drawn photos from famous passengers like legendary ESPN college basketball analyst, Dick Vitale. (Click the arrow to the end on his post to see the photo!)

If the luck of the Irish is on your side, you might be surprised with giveaways like a co-branded SBN + Notre Dame luggage tag or experience The Strolling Piano. Designed to surprise and delight, the motorized piano rolls through baggage claim playing up-beat sing-along songs, fan favorites like the “Notre Dame Victory March”, and even a few custom songs about flying into SBN. If you are a fan of the opposing team, be sure to ask the musician to play your team’s fight song. No guarantees and it helps to be in your game day gear.

For those familiar with a football weekend in South Bend, you know that not only is commercial aviation big but so is private flying, also known as general aviation. Our operations team goes into special Game Day Operations as early as Wednesday prior to a home game to ensure a smooth landing for all. The operations team determines when additional surfaces need to close and coordinates the airfield activity 24/7. SBN gets so busy that we must close pavement surfaces to traditional use to accommodate all the private airplanes that land on a game weekend. Taxiways and runways become parking areas for these aircraft. Two FBOs (fixed base operators), also known as airport gas stations, handle private arrivals and departures on the north side of the airfield.

Not all aircraft stay. Some drop and go while others will remain parked until the end of the fourth quarter. Because of this, our team counts the number of aircraft on the ground at kick-off each game. The FBOs have a good idea of how many aircraft they will handle in advance, but this count gives us an apples-to-apples comparison from game to game. The record is 270 aircraft on the ground at kick-off at the USC game in 2005. Fans will remember this as the infamous “Bush Push” game.

Whether this season will mark your first time to South Bend or your fiftieth, don’t forget to set your alarm for plenty of time to get back to SBN. After a memorable game day soaking up the iconic experiences on Notre Dame’s campus, we encourage fans to arrive two hours prior to their Sunday departure as lines get long due to all the additional flights and seats that have been added.

It’s time to Bend Your Rules and book that trip to South Bend and experience a game day like no other! Search for flights at https://flymyairport.com/to/SBN and Go Irish, Go!