Oakland International Airport is one of the three large international airports in the area serving San Francisco. It is located 7 kilometres from the city of Oakland and caters for flights within the USA and also to Mexico. The airport has grown in popularity in the past decade and now handles around 11 million passengers a year. The reason given for its rise in popularity as an alternative to San Fransisco International is that it has a very high score in on-time arrivals. The Airport is popular with several airlines. Southwest Airlines uses it as a crew base. Most popular airlines to be found at Oakland Airport are Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, and Jetblue Airways. The ever increasing popularity of the low cost carrier has meant that Oakland Airport has become the fastest growing airport in the USA.
The airport has two terminals for passengers that are conveniently connected by a walkway. Terminal 1 is currently renovated in a massive $200 million upgrade. The terminal is still in use during this refurbishment and has 17 gates. Terminal 2 has recently been upgraded in a $300 million improvement and expansion and now has 13 gates which are all allocated to Southwest Airlines. These two terminals and gates cater for flights that then have four runways to use for take off and landings. The entire airport itself covers an area of 2,600 acres of land. As you would expect from an airport of this size, travellers are well catered for with plenty of retail outlets, bars, restaurants and other facilities to choose from while they are in the terminal buildings.