International travel through the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has reached 97% of what it was in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed's office release a statement Monday saying the city's recovery efforts are showing significant growth for international travel into San Francisco as service continues to expand.
"By the end of the year, with return of key Chinese carriers and the expansion of new carriers elsewhere, San Francisco will exceed the number of international flights pre-pandemic," the statement said.
Breed's office said the city's international travel recovery has been driven by visitors from the United Kingdom, Europe and India, while Mexico and Canada remain the city's largest international visitor source markets.
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"For example, SFO has more flights to India than all other major west coast cities combined with 17 nonstops to India per week, and an 18th flight coming soon," Breed's office said. "While China has been slower to recover when it comes to international travel, key flights are returning this month to SFO."
Breed's office said that during the pandemic, SFO successfully introduced seven new airlines for travelers: Air Transat, Breeze, Flair, ITA, Qatar, Vietnam, and ZIPAIR have already launched flights at SFO.
With the anticipated return in November of Chinese carriers, which include Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern, SFO will be back to 43 total international flights, fully back to pre-pandemic levels.
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It also said San Francisco has two more international airlines on the way, with Starlux and Porter planned for December and January launch dates respectively.
Last week, the first airline based in China returned to SFO after an absence of more than 3 years. Air China, the flag carrier of China, restored nonstop flights to Beijing. On Saturday, China Southern will resume nonstop flights to Wuhan, followed by China Eastern to Shanghai on November 29.
Breed's office said nearly two million international visitors--a key segment of San Francisco's tourism industry due to their longer length of stay and higher spending--are projected to spend $4.2 billion this year in the city, and international overnight visitation is expected to grow 14.6% compared to 2022.
