Norfolk International Airport is getting its first-ever nonstop flights to San Francisco, and the new route doubles as a gateway to Asia for Hampton Roads travelers. United Airlines will operate new roundtrip nonstop flights between Norfolk and San Francisco beginning in March 2027, running on Boeing 737 aircraft twice a week year-round.
The roundtrips will begin March 31, 2027, and will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays on a year-round basis, according to The Virginian-Pilot. This will be the first scheduled nonstop service from Norfolk International Airport to the San Francisco region, and it also marks the airport's first year-round flights to a city on the West Coast. Previously, Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas was Norfolk's closest year-round destination.
A Long-Sought Addition to the Route Map
Airport spokesperson Chris Jones described San Francisco as a major business and leisure market that Norfolk officials have been trying to land for years. “That's a huge business and leisure market and is a dot we've sought to add to our route map for a long, long time,” Jones said, per the same report.
The appeal goes beyond San Francisco itself. San Francisco International Airport is United's primary hub for flights across the Pacific, and Jones said the new route enables one-stop travel to Asian destinations with only a brief San Francisco layover. That means Norfolk-area travelers will be able to reach Hong Kong, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Taipei by connecting through the Bay Area, rather than routing through other East Coast hubs first.
Record Traffic Fuels the Expansion
The new route arrives as Norfolk International Airport rides a wave of record growth. The airport served 4.89 million passengers in 2025, surpassing its previous annual record of 4.86 million set the year before, according to WAVY. That tally marked the airport's fourth consecutive year of record passenger traffic, with overall traffic now up 23% compared with 2019.
The airport currently serves 45 nonstop domestic destinations through eight airlines, WAVY reports. Norfolk also notched its first international flight in nearly 25 years when Breeze Airways launched once-weekly nonstop service to Cancun, Mexico. To keep pace with the growth, the airport is planning a $1 billion capital improvement program that includes new concourse gates, a rental car facility and a new terminal building.
Part of a Broader United Expansion
Norfolk's new route is one piece of a larger build-out of United's San Francisco network for spring 2027. United plans to expand domestic service at San Francisco with three new or resumed routes scheduled from late March 2027, according to AeroRoutes. Those additions include four-weekly San Francisco-Charleston service on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, daily San Francisco-Hartford flights on a 737 MAX 9, and daily San Francisco-Oklahoma City service operated by SkyWest using Embraer E175 regional jets.
The Hartford route revives a connection last operated in 2018, while the Oklahoma City link had not been served since April 2020, per AeroRoutes. Travel industry coverage frames the push as part of a four-route expansion for United's 2027 network, with three of those four new routes originating from San Francisco International Airport, according to PennLive. The Charleston service will run as a summer-seasonal operation, with four weekly round trips scheduled from March 28 through November 29, 2027, as reported by Travel Market Report.
For Hampton Roads flyers, the Norfolk-San Francisco route stands out as the only one of the bunch offering twice-weekly nonstop service; San Francisco-Charleston will operate seasonally from March 28 through November 29, 2027. It gives local travelers a direct West Coast option for the first time, alongside a far shorter path to some of Asia's biggest cities.
