Airport Experience® News -Customer Service Issue 2026

DIRECTOR’S CHAIR

SFO’S GROWTH PATH Director Mike Nakornkhet Lays Groundwork For Expansion, Passenger Gains

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ditor’s Note: Nearly two years ago, Mike Nakornkhet took the helm at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), rejoining the airport after several years at Denver International Airport (DEN). Prior to his stint at DEN, Nakornkhet spent 13 years at SFO, focusing mainly on finance. Now, as director, Nakornkhet has responsibility for guiding the airport into the future. Plans include aggressive passenger growth supported by expanded infrastructure. He recently connected with AXN’s Carol Ward to discuss his vision for growth, the concessions program and other amenities that are enhancing the traveler experience at SFO. E

WARD: It’s been nearly two years since you became director. What’s the overall state of play at SFO? NAKORNKHET: We are on our way to exceeding pre-pandemic passenger levels very soon, and then also charting a course to reach the 78 million passenger mark, which is our projected maximum airfield capacity, within the next 10 to 15 years. Based on our forecast, we feel that we can get there. In charting that course, it’s very important to establish a very clear vision for this airport on how we’re going to get there, and it’s a combination of finishing what we’ve started, continuing to maintain our assets and delivering the capacity that will get us to the 78 million passenger mark. In terms of finishing what we started, we’ve set very clear timelines and expectations for the delivery of the Terminal 3 West project that we started before I got here. We [also] embarked on a runway repaving project in March, and it was completed on time and on budget [in September]. [In terms of] adding infrastructure, the airport development plan is public. It received environmental approval, and we’ve posted the plan on our website. We’re actually looking at what is it that we will have to do to continue to add capacity at the airport, and we’re working with our collaboratively with our airlines to engage

in dialog and meaningful discussion [about] prioritization of future projects. So whether it’s new international gates in a project that we have named Boarding Area H, or it’s increasing the roadway capacity in a project that we call Central Garage, or it’s electrifying our campus with a project called the Electric Central Utility Plant, those are all important projects for our future. WARD: You clearly have a lot going on. I want to circle back because you said you’re working toward the 78 million passengers. What’s your current passenger level and what are you expecting for this year? NAKORNKHET: We finished last year at 54.5 million and we’re expecting moderate growth – about 2% growth this year. Through July of this year, we saw a 1.8% year-over-year increase, and we see continual schedule increases through the remainder of the year. That should get us close to the pre-pandemic passenger mark. WARD: Has international traffic bounced back yet? NAKORNKHET: Overall, we’re about 10% above pre-pandemic levels on international, and that’s thanks to the recovery that we’ve seen in in many regions around the world. Europe had strong growth. Asia had strong growth, with the exception of China because of

Above: Mike Nakornkhet, director, San Francisco International Airport

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AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2026