San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is celebrating an all-time record for passenger traffic in 2012, with 44.5 million passengers traveling through the award-winning airport in 2012. This is an impressive 8.5% increase in traffic (3.5 million more passengers) in just one year.
Why would you not want to travel through SFO? It won many awards last year including:
- "Best Overall Concession Program- Large Airports" ARN
- "Top Seven Airports in the World"- Fodors
- "Best Service Staff in North America", "3rd Best Airport in the World"- SkyTrax
- "Best Single Social Media Promotion"- Travel + Leisure
- "Best Airport in the Americas"- Frequent Business Traveler
- Airports Going Green Awards for SFO Employee Wellness Program
- Airports Council International "Best Food & Beverage Program"
SFO is also continually improving and making progress. In 2012 alone:
- SFO opened a Yoga Room (the first of its kind at an airport)
- Construction began on a new state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control tower
- SFO opened a Marine Emergency Response Facility to enhance safety
- SFO held the first ever "airport Hack-a-Thon" with THack to improve travel websites
San Francisco International Travelers enjoy a great variety of travel options with 30 international carriers serving 31 international destinations. Traveling domestic? 15 airlines offer nonstop service to 74 cities in the U.S.!
In the Bay Area, travelers have several choices for airports. However, SFO accounts for two-thirds of all domestic activity and continues to be the international gateway of choice. San Francisco boasts a 66% Bay Area market share of domestic flights and 97% international flights. United Airlines holds 46% of airline market share at SFO.
For the local economy, SFO is a vital source for job creation and a significant contributor to local and state economies. 29,555 employees are directly employed by SFO and $1.7 billion in personal income was generated. The state of California and local economies were supported with $469 million in state and local taxes. Additional jobs were created with the construction projects launched in 2012.
The San Francisco Airport also saw the launch of new routes in 2012. Both United Airlines and Virgin America began service to Reagan National Airport (DCA) from SFO, United Airlines also began flying SFO-Raleigh-Durham (RDU), and an additional service to Paris (CDG) was iniated by XL Airways- France.
San Francisco International Travelers are fortunate to call San Francisco International Airport "home" and will continue to benefit from the innovative thinking SFO management has demonstrated in their efforts in 2012.
Congratulations SFO on a fantastic 2012!
