Busy Summer Expected At San Francisco International Airport
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – San Francisco International Airport is gearing up for a busy travel season, as passenger numbers are trending higher than last year.
The long weekend at the end of this month marks the kickoff to the summer air travel season.
"Normally, that is what we consider summer travel (season), but we don't see a really big jump until the middle of June, when most of the schools let out," said San Francisco International Airport spokesman Mike McCarron. "It peaks in about mid-August and then it starts tapering off until Labor Day."
KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:
Reflecting an improving economy, international air traffic is up seven percent from last year. And all other passenger traffic is trending higher by 2.5-3 percent.
The Airbus A380 super jumbo jet, equipped with 538 seats, will support the travel season, as Lufthansa is already offering service to Frankfurt. And Air France will begin operating ten weekly flights to Paris.
McCarron said accommodating these planes took a lot of long-term planning.
"The building was planned in 1992-93. Those planes were just in on the drawing board," he said. "We were talking to the manufacturers about what they saw as their biggest aircraft 20 years from now."
Even though passenger numbers are on the rise, domestic travel totals still haven't reached pre-recession levels.
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