SF Bay Area, CA Part 1: OAK/SJC Airports

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Entry posted by thecitiescenter · July 28, 2014

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Welcome back everyone! Before we begin on our next region, just a quick note... I've edited some of the previous entries with bonus pictures of both Portland and Seattle.

With that said...

Welcome to the San Francisco Bay Area!

The SF Bay Area is home to 7.45 million people. It is the largest metropolitan area in Northern California, and the second largest metropolitan area in the State of California.

It's three largest cities are:

San Jose (population: 1,000,536)

San Francisco (population: 837,442)

Oakland (population: 400,740)

The area is named after the San Francisco Bay, a large waterway that pretty much runs through the center of the metropolitan area.

Quick note on Freeway Terminology: In the Bay Area, Sims usually refer to freeways by their route numbers only. For example, Interstate 680 is generally referred to as "680". State Route 92 is referred to as "92", etc., etc. I'll be using the local terminology throughout.

AIR ARRIVALS

The Bay Area is served by three major airports with commercial passenger service: San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Oakland International Airport (OAK) and San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC). There are many other airports in the area that focus on military uses, executive and/or general aviation. For our tour, we'll be visiting the 3 major airports with commercial passenger service. We may see some of the other airports in passing, though, depending on time.

The largest airport w/commercial service in the Bay Area is San Francisco International Airport (SFO). SFO, with 104 passenger gates, is quite big... so I thought that it would warrant its own entry. Therefore, SFO will be shown in the upcoming (second) entry for the Bay Area. I hope to get that one out soon.

For now, let's visit Oakland International Airport (OAK) and San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC).

Oakland International Airport

Oakland International Airport (OAK) is located 5 miles south of downtown Oakland. The airport is owned and operated by the Port of Oakland. It is the closest airport in terms of distance to downtown Oakland and downtown San Francisco. The airport serves primarily as a reliever airport for the much larger SFO.

OAK has passenger service to cities throughout the United States, and has one scheduled daily non-stop flight to Mexico. It serves approximately 9 million passengers annually. The airport is a focus city for Southwest Airlines and a hub for FedEx.

OAK features 22 passenger gates, most of which have jetways. There are 3 passenger concourses, all of which are located in the same building. The airport is served by three runways.

Short term parking is available across the main roadway from the terminal building in an open-air, surface parking lot. Long term parking is available as well, with shuttle buses running to/from the long term parking lots and the main terminal building.

OAK also features several cargo centers. The cargo centers serve United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx. OAK is the primary cargo airport for domestic freight in the Bay Area. OAK is currently a hub for FedEx.

OAK also has general aviation facilities, with general aviation accounting for approximately 45% of the airport's operations.

In addition, the airport is served by the Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) "AirBart", a shuttle service that provides connections between the airport and the nearby Coliseum BART station. BART is a subway/elevated train system that serves the greater Bay Area.

Freeway access to/from the airport is provided by Interstate 880, via the Hegenberger Road and 98th Avenue exits.

Gates 14 through 22 are currently used by Southwest Airlines. In addition, there are food, retail and passenger service facilities in this section of the airport.

Gates 3 through 13 are currently used by Alaska Airlines, Horizon Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines and US Airways Express. There are also food, retail and passenger service facilities in this section of the airport.

Gates 1 and 2 are currently used by Volaris and Hawaiian Airlines. Volaris operates a daily, non-stop flight between Oakland and Guadalajara, Mexico. Hawaiian Airlines operates a daily, non-stop flight between Oakland and Honolulu, Hawaii. Passengers arriving on Volaris are directed to US Customs & Immigration, located in the main section of the terminal building.

The FedEx facility is located north of the main passenger terminal building along Ron Cowan Parkway.

FedEx currently operates MD-11F and A300F aircraft to and from Oakland. FedEx freight destinations from Oakland include Anchorage, Fresno, Fort Worth/Alliance, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Newark, Ontario, Osaka-Kansai, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Reno/Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma, Tokyo-Narita and Vancouver (BC).

San Jose Norman Y. Mineta International Airport

San Jose's Norman Y. Mineta International Airport (SJC) is located 2 miles north of downtown San Jose and approximately 50 miles south of downtown San Francisco. The airport is owned and operated by the City of San Jose. The airport primarily serves the South Bay Area, Santa Clara County and the greater Silicon Valley area. It also serves as a reliever airport for the much larger San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The airport is named after former San Jose mayor and US Secretary of Transportation, Norman Y. Mineta.

SJC has passenger service to cities throughout the United States. It also has scheduled non-stop international flights to Mexico and to Tokyo-Narita Airport in Japan. It serves approximately 8.75 million passengers annually.

SJC has two runways, Runway 36L/19R and Runway 36R/19L. SJC features 27 passenger gates, 24 of which feature jetways. Passenger gates are located in two terminals: Terminal A and Terminal B.

Terminal A is located on the north side of the airport, and Terminal B is located on the south side of the airport. Both terminals are physically connected to each other, however, access between the terminals is restricted to passengers w/tickets and airport staff only, as there is no non-secured connection between the two terminals. Non-ticketed visitors to the airport can either walk between the terminals outside (not recommended) or take the free shuttle bus operating between the two terminals and the long term parking lots.

Each terminal features its own ticket counter/check-in area, and baggage claim carousels. Both terminals also have their own parking garages, located across the airport's main roadway. The Terminal A parking garage is for short term parking. The Terminal B parking garage has short term parking on the 1st floor, while the upper floors house the airport's Rental Car Center. Below is a photo of the Terminal B parking garage and Rental Car Center.

Terminal A was completed in the early 1990s and is the older of the two terminals. Its ticketing area and security checkpoints were recently renovated. It currently serves All Nippon Airways (ANA), American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, United Airlines, US Airways and Volaris.

Terminal A is home to the International Arrivals area, a section of the airport dedicated to serving flights arriving from Mexico and from Japan. Passengers arriving on these flights proceed directly to US Customs & Immigration. Once they have cleared the passport and customs inspection, they can exit the airport to the curbside International Arrivals pick-up area. Passengers arriving on these flights can also transfer to domestic flights by proceeding to the TSA security checkpoint after clearing the passport and customs inspection. This section of the airport is also home to a first class/business class and frequent flier lounge.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) serves SJC with its Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" aircraft. ANA has one daily flight connecting SJC with Tokyo/Narita Airport in Japan.

Terminal B was completed in 2010. SJC Airport is unique in that the majority of the seats in the gate areas have their own electric outlet, so passengers don't have to spend any time walking around the airport trying to find the one, lone, obscure outlet in the entire airport to plug their electronics into (usually hidden behind a trash can).

Terminal B is used by Alaska Airlines, Horizon Airlines and Southwest Airlines.