San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO, FAA LID: SFO) is the primary international airport serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It is located in San Mateo County.[4][5]
"SFO" redirects here. For other uses, see SFO (disambiguation).
San Francisco International Airport
Public
May 7, 1927
13 ft / 4 m
50,196,094
50,196,094
384,871
484,100
SFO is the largest airport in the San Francisco Bay Area and the second-busiest in California, after Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In 2023, it was the fourteenth-busiest airport in the United States and the 30th-busiest in the world by passenger count.[6] It is the fifth-largest hub for United Airlines, functioning as the airline's primary transpacific gateway, and is a major maintenance hub. It also serves as a hub for Alaska Airlines.
The airport is owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco and has a mailing address with a ZIP code assigned to San Francisco. Between 1999 and 2004, the San Francisco Airport Commission operated city-owned SFO Enterprises Inc to oversee its business purchases and operations of ventures.[7][8][9][10]
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Based aircraft and operations[edit]
In 2019, SFO had 458,496 aircraft operations, an average of 1,255 per day. This consisted of 86% scheduled commercial, 11% air taxi, 2% general aviation and <1% military. There were 14 aircraft based at SFO, 6 jets, 1 helicopter and 7 military aircraft.[2]
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The airport covers 5,207 acres (21.07 km2) at an elevation of 13.1 feet (4.0 m).[2][73] It has four asphalt runways, arranged in two intersecting sets of parallel runways:[74]
Runways are named for their magnetic heading, to the nearest ten degrees; hence the runways at 14°[75] from magnetic north are 01L/01R, and the runways at 284° are 28R/28L. The layout of the parallel runways (1L/1R and 28R/28L) was established in the 1950s, and have a separation (centerline to centerline) of only 750 feet (230 m).[74]
During normal operations (approximately 81% of the time), domestic departures use Runways 1L and 1R for departure while overseas international departures and all arrivals use Runways 28L and 28R, taking advantage of the prevailing west-northwesterly wind coming through the San Bruno Gap. During periods of heavy winds or if operations at Oakland International Airport conflict with SFO departures (approximately 15% of the time), Runways 1L and 1R cannot be used, and so all departures and all arrivals use Runways 28L and 28R. These configurations are known collectively as the West Plan, and accommodate arrivals at a rate of up to 60 aircraft per hour.[74][76] Under visual flight rules, aircraft may safely land side-by-side essentially simultaneously on 28L and 28R while maintaining visual separation.[74][77]
When the visual approach is compromised, the West Plan is maintained with a modification to allow aircraft landing on 28L to use Instrument Landing System (ILS) while the aircraft landing on 28R takes an offset course, monitored via high scan rate ground radar, to maintain a lateral spacing greater than 750 ft until the aircraft can maintain visual separation. Visual separation typically occurs once the aircraft has descended below the cloud deck at an altitude of 2,100 feet (640 m). This is known as the Precision Runway Monitor/Simultaneous Offset Instrument Approach and reduces the capacity to 36 arriving aircraft per hour. In poor visibility conditions, FAA instrument approach rules require aircraft to maintain lateral separation of 4,300 feet (1,300 m), meaning only one runway may be used, reducing the capacity of SFO to 25–30 arriving aircraft per hour.[74][77]
During rainstorms (approximately 4% of the time), the prevailing winds shift to a south-southeasterly direction, and departing aircraft use Runways 10L and 10R, and arriving aircraft use Runways 19L and 19R. This configuration is known as the Southeast Plan.[74][78]
On rare occasions (less than one day per year, on average), wind conditions dictate other runway configurations, including departures and landings on Runways 10L and 10R, departures and landings on Runways 1L and 1R, and departures on Runways 19L and 19R and landings on Runways 28L and 28R.
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