The Reason SFO Sees Increase in Travelers

Two Bay Area airports saw increases in travel throughout the  summer despite the depressed economy.

About 12 million travelers passed through SFO from June to August this year, which was a more than 4  percent increase over the same period in 2009, according to officials.

 "We realize that during these tough economic times, when making  travel decisions, passengers always vote with their pocket books," airport  Director John Martin said in a statement.

Oakland International Airport has also seen an increase in travel  this summer.

"The largest growth in our numbers were Hawaii and Mexico  markets," airport spokesman Robert Bernardo said.

He said Hawaiian Airlines and Volaris Airlines, which travels to  Mexico, did "quite well" this year in ticket sales.

Aside from it being vacation season, SFO officials see two reasons  for increased travel this summer. The airport is expanding service provided  by low-cost carriers, including Virgin America, JetBlue and Southwest  Airlines.

 Additionally, a number of new services to Europe and Canada have  opened at the airport.

Airlines at SFO saw almost a 9 percent increase in international  ticket sales from last year, according to a statement.

Bernardo couldn't comment on why Oakland airport sales might be  up, but he said official numbers about the size of the increase should be  available in coming days.
Bay City News

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