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| Home > City Guide - San Francisco - Getting There By Air | ||
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Getting There By Air San Francisco International Airport (SFO) Tel: (650) 821 4001. Fax: (650) 821 4004. Website: www.flysfo.com Situated 25km (15 miles) southeast of the city, off Routes 101 and 280, San Francisco International Airport is the fifth busiest in the USA and eighth busiest in the world, handling 1260 flights daily. In 2000, passengers numbered 41,040,995 to 112,441 daily. Major airlines: More than 50 major airlines operate in and out of San Francisco International, including US carriers United Airlines (tel: (800) 241 6522; website: www.ual.com) and American Airlines (tel: (800) 433 7300; website: www.aa.com). Other airlines include British Airways, China Airlines, Canadian Airlines International, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. Domestic airlines provide regular flights to the rest of the USA. They include Alaska Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and US Airways. Airport facilities: These include banks, ATMs, bureaux de change and numerous bars and restaurants, gift and speciality shopping, including duty-free outlets. Five public information booths and a Bureau of Consular Affairs are on site. An Air Train takes passengers to nine airport stations and to car hire operators, including Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National InterRent and Thrifty. Business facilities: A business centre, located in the Airport Travel Agency (tel: (650) 877 0422), provides fax services, airline tickets, lockers, luggage belts, shipping boxes and hotel reservations. A number of airline lounges are available for frequent flyer cardholders. Conference and business facilities are available at the Global Communications Centre and the AT&T International Calling Centre in the international terminal. Transport to the city: The Ground Transport Information Service (tel: (800) 736 2008) provides details of travel to and from the airport, free of charge. Shuttles, buses, taxis and limousines are all readily available. American Airporter Shuttle (tel: (415) 202 0733) provides a 24-hour, door-to-door service. The cost is US$12. SFO Airporter Inc (tel: (415) 641 3100, ext. 27) charges US$10 and provides a service Downtown, every 15-30 minutes (0615-2400). Taxis are metered and the fare to the downtown area is approximately US$30. San Mateo County Transit or SamTrans (tel: (800) 660 4287) runs bus services to the Transbay Terminal at Mission Street. Journey times vary between 25 minutes and 45 minutes, depending on traffic. Public transportation leaves from the blue zone on the airport’s lower level. Oakland International Airport (OAK): Tel: (510) 577 4000. Fax: (510) 636 1063. Website: www.oaklandairport.com Located across the Bay, 32km (20 miles) from Downtown San Francisco, Oakland receives mainly domestic but some international charter flights and may be a less expensive gateway to the Bay Area. Major airlines: Around a dozen airlines fly to and from OAK. The major US airline include United Airlines (tel: (800) 241 6522; website: www.ual.com) and American Airlines (tel: (800) 433 7300; website: www.aa.com). Other carriers include Alaska Airlines, Aloha Airlines, America West, Continental, Delta, JetBlue, Mexicana Airlines, Northwest, Southwest Airlines and US Airways. Airport facilities: Facilities include banks, ATMs, shoeshine, Internet access, travel insurance, lockers, duty-free shopping, currency exchange and food outlets. Car hire is available from Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz and National. Business facilities: Fax services are available at both terminals and a corporate jet centre claims to provide the only full-service private jet hire facilities on the West Coast. Aerzone has opened a number of private mini-offices close to departure gates housing personal computers, fax and Internet services. The airport provides details. Transport to the city: AC Transit (tel: (510) 817 1717; website: www.actransit.org) operates the TransBay Express, providing a 24-hour service between Oakland International and Mission Street and First Street in San Francisco, costing US$5. Buses depart at the front of both terminals. The service runs every 30 minutes (0500-2100) and hourly thereafter. AC Transit’s line 58 connects the airport to the Alameda/Oakland Ferry (tel: (510) 522 3300), which runs services to San Francisco’s ferry terminal and Pier 39, at Fisherman’s Wharf. Numerous shuttles include Bayporter Express (tel: (877) 467 1800 or (415) 467 1800; website: www.bayporter.com), which charges US$27 into San Francisco plus US$10 for each additional passenger. Journey times vary between 30 minutes and 60 minutes, depending on traffic. An AirBART shuttle, costing US$2, provides services between Oaklands International and the Bay Area Rapid Transit – BART (tel: (510) 577 4294 or (415) 989 2278; website: www.bart.gov) train station, for trips into San Francisco. Approximate flight times to San Francisco: From London is 11 hours; from New York is 6 hours; from Los Angeles is 1 hour; from Toronto is 5 hours and from Sydney is 13 hours. Arrival/departure tax: A tax of US$68.10 is added to the price of the ticket price. |
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