Oakland INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KOAK)
AIRPORT TRAVEL GUIDE
Overview
Oakland International Airport (KOAK), is located in Oakland, and is one of three commercial airports that serve the larger San Francisco Bay Area, the others being SFO and SJC. Oakland’s primary catchment area is the East Bay region of the Bay Area, but it is often considered an alternative airport with lower airfares that draw passengers from the entire Bay Area.
In 2019, OAK was ranked as the 39th overall busiest airport in the United States, and 9th busiest medium hub size airport, serving roughly 13.4 million passengers.
Airlines
10 airlines currently have service to Oakland, including legacy carrier Delta; low-cost carriers Alaska and Southwest; ultra-low cost carriers Allegiant and Spirit; and regional carriers Contour, Hawaiian, and JSX. Oakland has a couple international carriers in Azores Airlines and Volaris. Additionally, Frontier Airlines will begin service to Oakland in February 2021.
Southwest is the dominant carrier at OAK, owning over 75% of the market share.
Only one of the world’s three major airline alliances, SkyTeam, serves Oakland International Airport. However, with Alaska Airlines’ entrance into the oneworld alliance at the end of March 2021, will bring the presence of a second alliance to OAK.
Destinations
Oakland Airport’s destinations are mostly regional and on the West Coast and in Hawaii, however several airlines serve destinations in the Mountain West, Midwest, and South. Furthermore, some east coast destinations, such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando are also served with nonstop flights from Oakland.
Terminals
Operations at Oakland International Airport are split into two terminals, Terminal 1 and 2, each having their own curbside loading and drop off zones, baggage claims, ticketing, and TSA security screening checkpoints.
Terminal 2 is home to Southwest Airlines, and Terminal 1 hosts all other airlines that serve OAK.
Landside
The landside areas of Terminal 1 and 2 are not connected, but their adjacency to one another means there is only a 1/8 mile walk between the two along the drop-off/pickup curbsides.
The arrangement of both landside terminals is pretty straight forward – both are single story facilities with ticketing on the right, TSA Security Screening in the middle, and baggage claim on the left.
Airside
Post-security, passengers will go up to the 2nd floor airside. Oakland Airport’s airside terminals fit into a fairly compact U-shaped footprint, with each leg of the “U” being only about ¼ mile long. Gates between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 are connected by a sterile connector, so passengers are able to use either security checkpoint.
Oakland International Airport does not have a centralized food hall, but concessions are scattered across the terminal complex in both Terminals 1 and 2.
Rental Cars
Oakland International Airport has an off-site consolidated rental car (CONRAC) facility located about 2 miles from the terminal buildings. Passengers can access the facility by hopping onto a rental car center shuttle from the ground transportation curbside.
10 car rental agencies serve Oakland including national chains Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Thrifty. The airport is also served by smaller chains Fox Rent A Car and Payless.
Last Updated: January 2021