I’m back with KSFO.
Fun facts about San Francisco:
- Most popular destination from San Francisco is Los Angeles
- United handles over 45% of all departures from KSFO
- In 2018 Skytrax nominated San Francisco airport staff as the best/friendliest in North America
- Before the airport became public, the city bought land from a farmer to use as an Air Force base just as WWI began
- SFO is a hub for 2 airlines, United and Alaska
- When looking SE on a map, San Francisco’s passenger terminals resemble the shape of a snowflake
Passenger Terminals:
KSFO has four terminals, only one used for international flights.
(International Flights)
Concourse A:
- AeroMexico
- AirFrance
- Avianca
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- China Airlines
- China Eastern
- China Southern
- Emerites
- Copa Airlines
- Finnair
- Frenchbee
- Hawaiian
- Hong Kong Airlines
- Iberia
- Icelandair
- Interjet
- JAL
- jetBlue
- KLM
- Korean
- Philippians
- Qantas
- SAS
- Sun Country
- Volaris
- Virgin Atlantic
- West Jet
- WOW
- XL France
Concourse G:
- Aer Lingus
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air India
- Air NewZealand
- ANA
- Asiana
- EVAair
- FIJI
- Lufthansa
- SAS
- Singapore
- Swiss
- Thomas Cook
- Turkish
- United ( International Only )
(Domestic Flights)
Concourse B:
- Frontier
- Southwest
Concourse C: - Delta
Concourse D: - Alaska
-American
Concourse E & F: - United
Cargo Terminal:
- Cargo is directly east of the passenger terminals, you can’t miss it on the map. KSFO serves as the second largest cargo carrier in the San Francisco Bay area, just behind the FEDex hub at Oakland
Departing:
- Departing runways 1L/19R , 1R/19L , 28L/10R , 28R/10L
- For runways 1L/19R and 1R/19L , takeoff is from the 1L and 1R side. Depart straight out until you are north of KOAK.
- For departing runways 28L/10R and 28R/10L you may depart from either side. Pattern work is accepted depending on the situation.
- Never takeoff from 19R and 19L, mountains are in the way
- Expect a ton of immediate takeoffs
- Heavy aircraft never takeoff from runways 1L/19R and 1R/19L
Landing:
- Landing runways 1L/19R , 1R/19L , 28R/10L and 28L/10R
- For runways 28R/10L and 28L/10R , enter straight in
- Never land on the 10L and 10R side, as well as 1L and 1R
- For landing runways 19L and 19R, enter straight in. When on the ground exit runway to the right ASAP.
ATC:
- Expect lots of fog
- Don’t hesitate to request a few go-arounds. If a go around occurs, have that aircraft go around over the bay area, not land
- There are noise restriction laws north of the airport
- A good tip of reminder, small aircraft depart 1L 1R, heavy is 28R and 28L. (Runways 1L and 1R are used often)
- In some situations, a takeoff clearance on 1L or 1R comes 10 seconds before an aircraft lands on 28L or 28R, expect a lot of tight situations
That is SFO in a nutshell. Not everything may be totally accurate as most of my information was last edited in 2016. SFO has been notorious for aircraft crashes in the past decades, so fly safely. It may look like a bad situation about to unfold, but go with the process of ATC and everything will be fine.
Which airport should I do next? Comment down below please.
I am also continuing this series with a European series, which @Moonlit will be in charge of. @HiFlyer and I will focus on North American airports.
Thank you for your support!!