Airport Falls From 5th to 10th-Busiest Nationwide
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
After taking a double hit from the technology bust and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, San Francisco International Airport saw a 15.7% drop in traffic last year and fell from the fifth to 10th-busiest nationwide, according to Geneva-based Airports Council International.
International travel fell 6.4% despite the December 2000 opening of the airport’s $1-billion international terminal.
Most of that overseas travel went to Los Angeles International because airlines relied more on Southern California’s larger population to fill seats, said Tom Parsons, chief executive of the online travel agency Bestfares.com.
LAX maintained its third-place ranking nationally in traffic, but still lost 8.3% of its passengers from 2000 to 2001.