San Francisco International Airport in the context of "International airport"

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⭐ Core Definition: San Francisco International Airport

San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO, FAA LID: SFO) is the primary international airport for the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. Owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, the airport has a San Francisco mailing address and ZIP Code, although it is situated in an unincorporated area of neighboring San Mateo County, approximately 12 miles (19 km; 10 nmi) southeast of San Francisco.

SFO is the largest airport in the Bay Area and the second-busiest in the US State of California, following Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In 2024, it ranked as the 13th-busiest airport in the United States and the 36th-busiest in the world by passenger traffic. It is a hub for United Airlines, acting as the airline's primary transpacific gateway, and as a major maintenance facility. Additionally, SFO functions as a hub for Alaska Airlines.

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👉 San Francisco International Airport in the context of International airport

An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities, enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have facilities to accommodate heavier aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380 commonly used for international and intercontinental travel. International airports often host domestic flights, which helps feed both passengers and cargo into international ones (and vice versa).

Buildings, operations, and management have become increasingly sophisticated since the mid-20th century, when international airports began to provide infrastructure for international civilian flights. Detailed technical standards have been developed to ensure safety and common coding systems implemented to provide global consistency. The physical structures that serve millions of individual passengers and flights are among the most complex and interconnected in the world. By the second decade of the 21st century, over 1,200 international airports existed with around 3.8 billion international passengers as of January 2023 along with 50 million metric tonnes of cargo passing through them annually.

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San Francisco International Airport in the context of United Airlines Flight 93

United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijackers planned to crash the plane into a federal government building in the national capital of Washington, D.C. The mission failed when the passengers fought back, forcing the terrorists to crash the plane in Shanksville in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, preventing them from reaching al-Qaeda's intended target, but killing everyone aboard the flight. The airliner involved, a Boeing 757-200 with 44 passengers and crew, was flying United Airlines' daily scheduled morning flight from Newark International Airport in New Jersey to San Francisco International Airport in California, making it the only plane hijacked that day not to be a Los Angeles–bound flight.

Forty-six minutes into the flight, the hijackers killed one passenger, stormed the cockpit, and struggled with the pilots as controllers on the ground listened in. Ziad Jarrah, who had trained as a pilot, took control of the aircraft and diverted it back toward the East Coast, in the direction of D.C.

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San Francisco International Airport in the context of Shanksville, Pennsylvania

Shanksville is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. It has a population of 199 as of the 2020 U.S. census. It is part of the Somerset, Pennsylvania Micropolitan Statistical Area and is located 78 miles (126 km) southeast of Pittsburgh and 226 miles (364 km) west of Philadelphia.

Shanksville garnered global attention during the September 11 attacks when United Airlines Flight 93, bound from Newark, New Jersey, for San Francisco, crashed in adjacent Stonycreek Township after its passengers rebelled against the flight's al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers. It was the only one of the four hijacked planes that failed to reach the terrorists' intended target.

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San Francisco International Airport in the context of San Francisco Police Department

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the City and County of San Francisco, as well as San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County. In 2000, the SFPD was the 11th largest police department in the United States.

The SFPD (along with the San Francisco Fire Department and the San Francisco Sheriff's Department) serves an estimated population of 1.2 million, including the daytime-commuter population and thousands of other tourists and visitors.

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San Francisco International Airport in the context of San Francisco Peninsula

The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos and Sunnyvale, in Santa Clara County. Most of the Peninsula is occupied by San Mateo County, which is between San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, and the Peninsula includes the cities and towns of Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, El Granada, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, La Honda, Loma Mar, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Mountain View, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Pescadero, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco, Sunnyvale, West Menlo Park and Woodside.

Whereas the term peninsula in a geographical sense technically refers to the entire San Francisco Peninsula, in local jargon, "The Peninsula" does not include the city of San Francisco.

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San Francisco International Airport in the context of South San Francisco hillside sign

The South San Francisco Hillside Sign is a historic sign on a hillside overlooking the city of South San Francisco in San Mateo County, California. It was created in the 1920s and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The sign is the main feature of Sign Hill Park, a city park which provides 30 acres (12 ha) of open space, almost 2 miles (3.2 km) of hiking trails, and access to the letters of the sign itself.

The sign spells out "SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO THE INDUSTRIAL CITY" in white-painted concrete letters and is visible to drivers on northbound U.S. 101 and flights to San Francisco International Airport.

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San Francisco International Airport in the context of Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania

Stonycreek Township is a township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The township takes its name from the stony creek, which flows through it and represents its western boundary. The stream takes its name from the rocky bed over which it flows for a great part of its course. Its Indian name was Sinne-Hanne or Achsin-Hanne. Hanne means a stream and especially a swift mountain stream. The population was 2,087 at the 2020 census.

Stonycreek Township garnered global attention during the September 11 attacks when United Airlines Flight 93, intended to strike the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., crashed into a field near downtown after civilian passengers on the flight from Newark, New Jersey to San Francisco International Airport rebelled against the flight's al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers.

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