Wednesday, Apr. 1, 2026
Fact Brief: Is San Jose Mineta International the only Bay Area airport with a curfew?
Of the three major international airports in the Bay Area – San Francisco International, Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport and San Jose Mineta International Airport – San Jose is the only airport with a noise curfew curtailing when flights can arrive and depart.
San Jose International closes flight operations between 11:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. Some flights are allowed to take off and land after the noise curfew, but only planes below 89 decibels. If a plane violates the curfew, operators can be fined $2,500 per violation.
Oakland San Francisco Bay and San Francisco International operate on a 24-hour basis, and both airports have preferred nighttime procedures that help keep late-night flights away from sleeping residential neighborhoods.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport Noise Resources
- San Francisco International Airport Flight Patterns and Operation
- San Jose Mineta International Airport SJC Curfew Information
About fact briefs
Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.
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