SFO looking to dust off old international terminal San Francisco Business Times - February 16, 2007 by Eric Young SFO's plans to reopen a long-shuttered terminal might finally take = flight. San Francisco International Airport's Terminal 2, which used to be = the = international terminal, was closed in 2000 when the airport completed = its $2.85 billion international wing. Airport officials wanted to = reopen = Terminal 2 as a domestic terminal by 2002. But those plans were = scrapped = after the 2001 terrorist attacks and an economic slump combined to = slow = down the airline industry. Now SFO's traffic is on the rebound, prompting airport executives to = think about reopening the terminal. The airport hired four groups of = contractors to assess the wing's security, baggage handling = infrastructure, seismic strength and other factors. They will turn = over = their findings to SFO in about six months, which will help airport = officials decide if they will reopen the area. SFO estimates it will cost up to $200 million to renovate the = terminal. = That figure could go much higher if SFO has to completely rebuild the = wing, originally constructed in the 1950s. "We're trying to figure out at what point do we make that commitment = to = sustain that investment?" said airport spokesman Mike McCarron. If the terminal is renovated, it could take up to three years to = complete. Terminal 2 is 610,000 square feet, the smallest of the = airport's four wings. It can accommodate 14 gates. Airline traffic at SFO has been increasing, an encouraging sign for = an = airport that was one of the hardest hit after the 2001 downturn. = Passenger traffic peaked at slightly more than 41 million people in = 2000. Since falling to about 29 million passengers in 2001, traffic = has = reached 33.5 million passengers in the 12 months ending November = 2006, = up 0.6 percent from the previous 12 month period. SFO recently announced some new flights from domestic, low-fare = airlines. Southwest Airlines Co., which stopped flying out of SFO six = years ago, said it will resume flights this fall. Jetblue Airways = Corp. = said it will begin SFO service in May. The best slide auction on the net: http://www.auctiontransportation.com/sites/psa188/