NEWS
June 29, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Michael C. McCarron
Director, Bureau of Community Affairs
(650) 821-4000
SF-05-30
SUMMER TRAVEL HEATS UP AT SFO
New Airlines Beat Projections, International Travel Exceeds Pre-9/11 Peak
SAN FRANCISCO -- Summer travel heats up at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) with existing and
new airlines offering 428,121 seats on 3,113 flights per week for domestic and international travel beginning
July 1, to meet growing passenger demand.
“New domestic and international airlines that began SFO service as late as last month are already exceeding
their projections for summer travel bookings,” said John L. Martin, Director of San Francisco International
Airport.
Independence Air launched non-stop service May 1 between SFO and its hub at Washington D.C.’s Dulles
International Airport (IAD), with fares as low as $109.
“Since launching our SFO-IAD service, we have achieved our highest load factors in the one-year history of
the airline,” said Rick DeLisi, Director of Corporate Communications for Independence Air. “May's load
factor was 72.9 percent and both June and July are expected to surpass that figure. Demand to and from SFO
is significantly outpacing the system average.”
Summer travel bookings for Icelandair's San Francisco-Europe service, which began May 18, are exceeding
the airline's projections.
“Even before our first flight landed at SFO, we had surpassed our U.S. passenger sales targets for May through
October, our entire period of operation,” said Gunnar Eklund, Icelandair General Manager - The Americas.
“Our overall load factor for incoming and outgoing flights in July already exceeds 96 percent.”
International Travel Exceeds Pre-September 11
th
Peak
SFO’s international service – non-stop links with more than 29 international points on 25 international carriers
– continues to grow, with an 8.6% increase in passenger traffic in April 2005 over the previous year.
Total passenger traffic for the first ten months of the fiscal year increased 6.9% over the same period in FY
2003/4, and exceeds peak activity levels of FY 1999/2000 by 4.7%.
“Bay Area residents and visitors are booking more international flights from SFO today than they were just
before the attacks on September 11
th
,” said Airport Director Martin. “In addition, as one of the most popular
destinations in the world and the gateway to the Pacific Rim, we are seeing greater inbound international travel
than in the past five years.”
New, Expanded and Reinstated Service: Song Airlines SFO Service
SFO connects non-stop with 60+ cities in the United States on 20 domestic airlines, including more flights to
the New York area than all other Bay Area airports combined.
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SF-05-30
Song, Delta’s low fare carrier, begins daily non-stop service July 4 between SFO and New York’s John F.
Kennedy International Airport (JFK), the only low-cost carrier to service this route. Service will expand to
five daily, non-stop flights between SFO and JFK by September 1,
2005. Fares begin at $192 each way.
Song will further expand its SFO service September 6
th
with the introduction of twice-daily service to Boston’s
Logan International Airport (BOS). Fares begin at $194 each way.
During the last 18 months a plethora of airlines have begun domestic and international service from SFO,
increased existing service or reinstated service to popular destinations. This includes:
• Air New Zealand: SFO-Auckland (AKL) non-stop, thrice weekly service (Wed, Fri and Sun) with
Star Alliance partners began June 2004. Service expanded to six days per week in November 2005; daily
service planned beginning January 2006.
• AirTran: SFO-Atlanta (ATL) second daily flight added in May 2004
• American: SFO-Kahului/Maui (OGG) daily service offered all year since December 2004
• Belair: SFO-Zurich (ZRH) non-stop, seasonal service begins June 2005 (operating Thursdays only,
June 30-September 1, 2005)
• Icelandair: SFO-Reykjavik (REK) twice weekly, non-stop service began May 2005; increased to
four times per week in June 2005
• Independence Air: SFO-Washington Dulles (IAD) non-stop, thrice daily service began May 2005
• Northwest: SFO-Honolulu (HNL) non-stop, daily service reinstated December 2004
• Song: SFO-New York (JFK) non-stop, twice-daily service begins July 2005, increasing to five daily
flights by September 2005. Non-stop service to Boston (BOS) beginning September 2005.
• Sun Country: SFO-Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) non-stop, seasonal service expanded to 12-month
service in September 2004
• Ted: SFO non-stop service to Phoenix (PHX) and Las Vegas (LAS) began February 2004. Puerto
Vallarta (PVR) and San Jose del Cabo (SJD) daily service began December 2004. Two daily flights to
Ontario, California, (ONT) beginning September 2005.
• United Airlines: SFO-Beijing (PEK), non-stop, daily service reinstated June 2004. New SFO-Ho
Chi Minh City (SGN) service began December 2004; Nagoya (NGO), March 2005.
• United Express: SFO-Colorado Springs (COS) non-stop, twice daily service began February 2005.
Albuquerque (ABQ) twice daily service began May 2005; San Antonio (SAT), April 2005.
• WestJet: SFO-Calgary, Canada (YYC) non-stop, service expanded to five, weekly non-stops in
May 2005
S - F - O
About San Francisco International Airport
SFO (www.flysfo.com) connects non-stop with more than 60 cities in the United States on 20 domestic
airlines, including more than twice as many non-stop flights to the New York area than other Bay Area airports
combined. In addition, SFO offers non-stop links with more than 30 international points on 25 international
carriers, making SFO the Bay Area’s Airport of Choice.
Fabulous Fun Facts for the Fourth!
Passenger Travel –
• Between July 1 and July 5 it is estimated that approximately 592,000
passengers will travel in and out of the gates at SFO.
• This is an 8.7% increase over the same time in 2004.
• Arriving International passengers is up 8.62% year -to-date compared to 2004
and 4.2% compared to 2000.
International Enplaned/Deplaned Passengers
0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
January February March April May
2000
2004
2005
New Service –
• Song, Delta Airlines discount carrier will begin service on July 4 with daily
non-stop service between SFO and JFK. In September, it will expand its
SFO-JFK service to five flights a day and also add twice-a-day service to
Boston’s Logan Airport.
• In the last 18 months SFO has added the following new carriers:
o Air New Zealand with 3 flight flights a week to Auckland increasing to
6/week in November;
o AirTran has two daily flights to ATL;
o Belair will begin its weekly seasonal flights to ZUH this week;
o Icelandair began twice-a-week service to REK last month and is
expanding to 4-times a week this month;
o Independence Air started three flights a day between SFO and IAD in
May 2005;
o WestJet now has five non-stop flights per week to YYC.
• Existing carriers have also added the following service:
o In December 2004, American Airlines added daily direct service from
SFO to Maui;
o Also in December 2004, Northwest restarted its SFO-HNL service;
o Sun Country expanded its seasonal service between SFO and MSP in
September 2004;
o Ted, United Airlines discount service started SFO nonstop service to
Phoenix (PHX) and Las Vegas (LAS) began February 2004; Puerto
Vallarta (PVR) and San Jose del Cabo (SJD) daily service began
December 2004. Two daily flights to Ontario, California, (ONT)
beginning September 2005;
o United Airlines reinstated its SFO-PEK service in June 2004 and started
new service to Ho Chi Minh City in December 2004 and Nagoya in
March 2005;
o United Express expanded service to COS in February 2005, to SAT in
April 2005 and to ABQ in May 2005.
New Concessions and Food & Beverage Options –
• Last month SFO held its grand opening for its new food & beverage
operation “San Francisco Marketplace.”
• Designed to bring in locally owned and operated establishments that will
provide our passengers, tenants and employees with high quality food and
drink at a fair value, the program has been an overwhelming success.
o Initial customer comments have extremely positive.
o During the week of June 12 – 18, food and beverage sales exceeded $1.5
million.
o If this trend continues, revenue from food and beverage operations will
exceed the previous year’s total by 40%!
• New Concessions –
o Erwin Pearl, offering fashion jewelry, watches and accessories is open in
Terminal 3, Boarding Area “F” near gate 82;
o Wine Wisdom, providing retail wine sales, wine tasting and gourmet
food, is also located in Terminal 3, Boarding Area “F” near Gate 85;
o Trendsetters is now open in International Terminal Boarding Area G,
replacing the old Leather Report. Trendsetters sells "trendsetting
accessories" including designer handbags, sunglasses and watches.
Traffic, Transportation and Time in Lines –
• SFO has plenty of parking available for all of our travelers:
o Short term parking is available in the central Domestic Garage and either
of the International Garages;
o Long term parking is also available in the Long Term Parking at –$13 per
day for the first 6 days and $11 thereafter, including tax. When all spaces
in the Long Term Parking lot are filled, as is often the case on the
Independence Day holiday weekend, customers will be given a voucher
for terminal parking at the daily rate of $13 per day. Required voucher is
obtainable at the Long Term Parking lot.
• SFO has the best public access of any Airport in North America!
o BART provides direct service from San Francisco and the East Bay, with
an easy link to CalTrain at the Millbrae Station;
o AirTrain, SFO’s automated people mover, runs 24-hours a day to shuttle
passengers between the garages, the terminals, the Rental Car Center and
the BART station;
o Scheduled buses, door-to-door vans, limousines, and taxi cab companies
provide frequent, reliable and inexpensive transportation between SFO
and all parts of the Bay Area;
o SamTrans provides local and express bus service between SFO and
Peninsula communities, as well as downtown San Francisco 24 hours
every day, including holidays.
o Caltrain provides both weekday and weekend service to Millbrae with
connection via BART to SFO.
• Passengers traveling on domestic flights should arrive at least 90 minutes
prior to their scheduled departure times.
• Passengers on international flights should arrive at least two hours prior to
the scheduled departure times.
• The Transportation Security Administration states that travelers at SFO can
expect a 7 – 9 minute average wait time to pass through a security
checkpoint.
