For 80 years, Oakland International Airport has been handling both cargo and passengers. Today, more than 13 million passengers and nearly 700,000 tons of air cargo move through the airport every year on more than 290 daily flights. OAK sits on 2500 acres. It has four runways, two terminals, and 29 boarding gates. The airport is served by 11 airlines.
Oakland International Airport is in the midst of a $500 million Terminal Improvement Program designed to renovate Terminal 2, which is home to Southwest Airlines. Renovations include new gates and a new parking garage. Construction is expected to be completed in 2008.
Valet service and frequent shuttles make parking a snap at Oakland International Airport, where there are 7,000 parking spaces available.
Hourly and daily parking lots are situated to the east of the terminals. For short-term parking, the hourly lot is the best bet: closest to the airport terminals and reasonably priced. The hourly rate is $2 per 30 minutes up to five hours with a maximum day rate of $32. The adjacent daily lot is a bit further away from the terminals, but still within walking distance; free shuttles also are available. Rates are $2 per 30 minutes up to five hours, with a maximum day rate of $22.
For very short-term parking, there also is a Park & Call waiting area. This is a free lot, but drivers must stay with their cars, and you can park here only for 30 minutes or less. The Park & Call lot is located along Airport Drive just west of the Economy Lot.
Long Term Parking - There are two long-term parking areas at OAK. The ValuPark lot is located north of the short-term lots. Most of the spaces are within walking distance of the terminals, and there also is free shuttle service as well. Rates are $2 per 30 minutes with a day rate of $19.
Discount Airport Parking - Located further east is the Economy Lot. This is the least expensive parking option, but it is also furthest away from the terminals. Free shuttle service delivers passengers to the terminal buildings. Rates at the Economy Lot are $2 per 30 minutes up to a maximum day rate of $15.
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Oakland International Airport (IATA: OAK, ICAO: KOAK, FAA LID: OAK), also known as Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, is a public airport located ten miles (15 km) south of the central business district of Oakland, a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is owned by the Port of Oakland.[1]
One of three international airports in the San Francisco Bay Area, airlines serving Oakland International provide service to numerous destinations in the United States, as well as Mexico and El Salvador. It has proven a popular alternative to San Francisco International, thanks largely to a heavy Southwest Airlines presence. Despite Southwest Airlines resuming service at SFO, Oakland International still has the highest Southwest traffic of all the Bay Area airports. In 2006, 14.4 million passengers used the airport.[3]
Oakland International is popular with low cost airlines and in recent years has been one of the nation's fastest growing airports. Currently, Oakland International Airport serves as a focus city for low cost carrier JetBlue Airways. A $1.4 billion dollar expansion project currently underway is expected to be completed by 2009. The project includes the addition of five gates to Terminal 2, which were made available for flights starting in the fall of 2006; the last one opened in the spring of 2007. Eventually, terminal 1 will be renovated and expanded by seven gates.
In addition to airline operations, Oakland International is a large general aviation airport. Airline operations use the South Field (runway 11/29), while general aviation uses the North Field (runways 9R/27L, 9L/27R, and 15/33). In 2004, OAK had 339,163 aircraft movements (take-offs or landings), and was the 30th busiest airport in the United States. It used to serve as one of Alaska Airlines maintenance facilities until it closed in 2004 when the carrier cut jobs.
Construction of the airport began in 1927, and the airport was dedicated by Charles Lindbergh that September. In its early days, Oakland was the departing point of several historic flights, including Charles Kingsford Smith's historic US-Australia flight in 1928, and Amelia Earhart's final flight in 1937.
Boeing Air Transport (a predecessor of United Airlines) began scheduled flights to Oakland in December 1927. It was joined by Trans World Airlines in 1932.
In 1943, the U.S. Armed Forces took over Oakland Airport and transformed it into an airlift base for military flights to the Pacific islands, ordering all scheduled service to move to San Francisco International Airport. After the war, airlines slowly returned to Oakland: Western Airlines began flights in 1946, and was followed by American Airlines, TWA, and PSA.
The airport's first jet-age airline terminal (now Terminal 1) was opened in 1962, part of a $20 million expansion and renovation project. The 16-gate facility featured the airport's first jetways. During the Vietnam War, World Airways shuttled thousands of military passengers through Oakland to their bases in Southeast Asia, and an International Arrivals facility was built, allowing the airport to handle scheduled flights outside the United States for the first time.
After the war, Oakland's traffic slumped, but airline deregulation prompted several low-fare carriers to begin regional flights into the airport. This rapid increase prompted the airport to build a $16.3 million second terminal, Lionel J. Wilson Terminal 2, with seven new gates for PSA and AirCal service.
FedEx opened a cargo base in Oakland in 1988, which is now one of the busiest air freight terminals in the United States. In the 1990s, Southwest Airlines opened a crew base in Oakland, and expanded its flights to become the airport's dominant passenger carrier. The airport does have international arrival facilities, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. However, international service beyond Mexico has been sporadic. In the past, Corsair served Orly Airport in Paris, France and Papeete, Tahiti and Martinair served Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
United Airlines vacated its 300,000-square-foot (30,000 m²) Oakland Maintenance Center in May 2003 and transferred work to its remaining maintenance hub at San Francisco International Airport. UPS has expressed an interest in this location.
Since 2006, Oakland International Airport has been undergoing renovations, including adding six gates in Terminal 2. The new gates, 27-32, opened in Summer 2006 and a new baggage claim in Terminal 2 opened. The former terminal 2 baggage claim has been replaced by a new security screening area. Roads going through Oakland Airport are currently undergoing improvements and are scheduled to be completed in 2008.
Ground Transportation
Public
Oakland International is not directly connected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, but AirBART shuttle buses and AC Transit's Lines 50 (final destination Bayfair Mall, not Fruitvale BART) and 805 buses take passengers between the terminal and the Coliseum/Oakland Airport station. AirBART has a layover in front of Terminal 1; Terminal 2 passengers are picked up afterwards. AC Transit has one quick stop with no layover between the entrances of the two terminals. AirBART generally comes more often than AC Transit buses. AirBART and Line 50 run during regular hours from about 5am to midnight, whereas Line 805 is a night bus that runs from midnight to 5am.
A people mover or monorail connection between BART and the terminal is in an advanced planning stage; while the mode of the connection has yet to be determined, it will be fully integrated into the BART fare system. The connection is due to be completed around 2011. May 16th, 2007 brought the announcement of help for the project by the Federal Transit Administration, including possible financing.[5]
[edit] Road
Oakland International is accessible from Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway) which is 2 miles (3 km) away. The airport can be reached by exiting Hegenberger Road or 98th Avenue heading west; both streets converge into Airport Road before looping around in front of the terminals.
On September 27, 2007, Oakland airport authorities ordered North American Airlines Flight 1777, carrying 200 U.S. Marines home from duty in Iraq, to park 400 yards (400 m) away from the airport terminal and refused to allow the troops to enter the terminal, although they were allowed off the aircraft to stretch their legs and use restrooms.[6] The airliner had stopped in Oakland to refuel and reprovision. Oakland authorities stated that their decision was based on the fact that, "The airport received information that the passengers were not screened by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at their originating airport and that weapons were on-board the aircraft."
The airplane's passengers, however, had been screened by TSA at John F. Kennedy International Airport and no further screening was necessary. Oakland Airport officials apologized for the mistake - "There was no disrespect that was intended," said Omar Benjamin, executive director of the Port of Oakland, which runs the airport. "There was confusion. There were mistakes that were made."[6] However, U.S. Representative John Mica stated that, "We believe this is not an isolated incident" and asked the United States Department of Transportation (DoT) to investigate.[7]
The DoT released the report of its investigation on January 30, 2008. The investigation concluded that the airport did not break any laws or regulations in the incident. The investigation found that the contract under which military chartered transport aircraft are serviced at the airport does not require access to the terminal facilities for military passengers. The report stated that airport management was concerned that they could not provide "an adequate level of escort and control of such a large group of military personnel in or around the terminal area". The airport personnel were also concerned over the proper safeguarding and securing of the weapons carried on the military transport.
The report further stated that a contributing factor was a lack of communication and coordination between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Homeland Security Department, especially with regard to security screenings of military personnel on the chartered flights. The report recommended that a task force be established with representatives from Homeland, Defense, and Transportation departments and airlines and airports to develop a uniform process for handling military personnel on all military chartered flights at U.S. airports. Commenting on the report, Mica stated, "The shocking thing is that there is no protocol for handling our returning troops, and at Oakland they got a very rude welcome. We just need to get some regular order of the process so we don't have a recurrence of what we saw happen here."[
