Oakland Airport or OAK is located in California and owned by the Port of Oakland. It was built in 1927 and started a succession of flights in the same year. Its first airline company was Boeing Air Transport (United Airlines). Now, the most flights taken at this airport are by South West Airlines (SWA).
The Oakland Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. It is also one of the most historical. In 1943, the airport was taken over by the U.S Armed Forces in order to conduct military flights to Asia and other countries by the Pacific. This was during the war. When the war finally ended, commercial airlines started coming back to Oakland. In 1946, commercial airlines started their business once again. By the year 1962, it was decided to open up a terminal to better service the passengers and to create organization. And when the Vietnam War was commenced, so was the International Arrivals team. They took note of every scheduled flight that came out and came in the airport. In 1988, FedEx was allowed to keep a cargo facility within the airports premises. Now, Oakland Airport is not only one of the busiest commercial aviation airports. It is also one of the busiest cargo freight terminals.
The Oakland Airport has two terminals; Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Terminal 1 has 17 gates and deals with all international flights. Terminal 2 is a recent addition and already has 13 gates. The best thing about this airport is that it has 7,000 parking spaces available. The parking spaces are located at the east side of Terminal 1. The hourly rate for parking is $2.00 for every 30 minutes. The daily rate is $22.00 per day. For the valet service, it’s charged at $13.00 per hour and $39.00 per day.
In case of any emergencies and you need to stay the night by the airport, there are a few hotels to choose from. There is the Hilton – Oakland Airport. The Hilton is located about 1 mile from the airport and is very luxurious. One highlight is that they have a free shuttle service. This would come in handy if you regularly need to return to the airport. Another hotel is the Days Hotel. The Days hotel is a little farther from the airport than the Hilton. It is two miles from the Oakland Airport and is well equipped with most amenities you would need.
Oakland Airport is one of the few airports that can boast of a low delayed flight percentage. It is also a low cost airport which is why it is one of the busiest. What most people don’t know or have failed to remember, this is also the airport Amelia Earhart last took flight.