SAN FRANCISCO -- The new international terminal here is set to open
Sept. 26, according to airport director John Martin.
In August, a few charter flights will begin using the 2.5
million-square-foot building, which, with 24 gates along two
concourses, will be the largest airport terminal in the U.S.
During early September, more and more flights will be arriving
and departing at the terminal, until the official opening on the
26th, when all international flights will use the facility.
"When it is fully operational, we will be able to accommodate 24
wide-body jets at one time," said Martin of the new terminal. "It's
as big as all the existing terminals here combined."
The skylight-topped terminal dominates the airport's entrance,
with the two concourses expanding like wings to the north and south
of the main building. The facility is the centerpiece of the
airport's $2.4 billion improvement plan, the largest such
construction project under way in the U.S.
Martin said that the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station
linking the airport to downtown San Francisco and Oakland is
expected to open in December 2001. It is estimated that it will
take travelers 30 minutes to reach the airport from downtown San
Francisco by BART.
The light-rail system that will link the terminals also is on
schedule for a December 2001 opening. That rail system will stop at
the new, five-story rental car facility about a half mile from the
airport. The rental car facility opened in December 1998 and
currently is served by shuttle buses.
The new international terminal, which will house the airport
station for BART, will be able to handle 5,000 passengers an hour,
compared with the current facilitys 1,200-passenger-per-hour
limit.
When passengers disembark from the BART trains, they will be
less than 125 feet from the first row of ticket counters at the
international terminal.
If they are taking a domestic flight, they will either transfer
to the light-rail system, which will have trains stopping every 90
seconds, walk or take a shuttle bus. Until the BART/light-rail
system opens in 2001, travelers will have to walk or take shuttle
buses.
The main terminal facility is designed to reflect the character
of San Francisco, officials said. It will feature some well-known
names from San Francisco's restaurant scene: Harry Denton's, Harbor
Village and Ebisu Sushi, among them.
The terminal also will be home to several notable artworks, a
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art store, an aviation library and
museum and the world's largest installation of "sustainable
harvested" cherrywood paneling, which will line a wall in the
terminal building.
Two new parking garages, with a total of 3,400 spaces at the
entrance of the airport, are set to open later this year.
The current international terminal at SFO, the fifth- busiest
airport in the U.S., will be closed Sept. 26 for remodeling and
will reopen at a future date as part of SFO's expanded domestic
facility.
International traffic is expected to grow, not only to and from
Asia but to and from Europe and Latin America, officials said.
International arrivals account for 20% of travelers using the
airport but only 4% of the flights, because overseas flights use
larger aircraft, Martin said.
The airport has attracted more international flights in the past
year, with Alitalia's nonstop service to Milan starting last
summer.
Martin and San Franicsco airport officials are especially proud
that the facility was built without taxpayer dollars or federal
money and will have the sixth-lowest landing fees among top 10 U.S.
airports.
Concession revenue per passenger will be the second-highest
among U.S. airports, estimated to bring the airport $180 million
per year.
With the project nearing completion, airport officials have made
a top priority of the facility's most perplexing problem: its
runways. Because of the current configuration of the two runways,
fog and bad weather often force them to close, making SFO one of
the worst airports in the U.S. for flight delays.
Several runway projects are under consideration, but they face
challenges from enviroronmentalists opposed to more landfill in San
Francisco Bay. Martin said the airport is looking at technological
advances that will make possible more use of the current runways in
inclement weather.