John Wayne Airport is a commercial and general aviation airport that serves Orange County, California, and the Greater Los Angeles area. The airport is located in an unincorporated area of Orange County surrounded by the cities of Irvine, Newport Beach, and Costa Mesa, and is owned and operated by the county.

Originally named Orange County Airport, the Orange County Board of Supervisors renamed the airport in 1979 in honor of actor John Wayne, who lived in neighboring Newport Beach and died that year. A statue of John Wayne was installed at the airline terminal in 1982.

John Wayne Airport is the sole commercial airport in Orange County. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings per year.

Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 4,584,147 enplanements in calendar year 2014, an increase from 4,450,628 in 2013. In 2014, John Wayne Airport was the second busiest airport in the Greater Los Angeles area with over 9 million total passengers. John Wayne Airport is 14 miles (23 km) from the Disneyland Resort.

John Wayne Airport has been rated as one of the nation's scariest airports. In order to compensate for a short runway, and to comply with local noise restrictions, pilots frequently take off at an angle of 20 to 25 degrees, compared to 10 to 15 degrees at other airports.

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