Over the last few years I have flown in and out of Oakland more times than I can recall.  It has been my transit point for the majority of my travels.  A recent return brought me a new experience there though.  The airport is in two halves.  There is a main runway alongside the bay which is used by the airliners and is often the departure runway for the bizjets.  Then there are two further runways that are over near the old airport infrastructure.  These are used by light aircraft and for the arrival of bizjets.  (There is another intersecting runway but that doesn’t factor in this story.)

The normal approach brings you across the shoreline and over the water on the approach.  The other runways are on a different alignment and the approach comes over the local towns. I was looking out of the window and filming a hyperlapse.  I was a bit confused as I was seeing bits of San Leandro that I don’t normally see and we didn’t pass Hayward Airport.  We continued to descend over land and it was pretty clear we were not heading for the normal runway.  Sure enough we touched down on the old part of the airport prior to taxiing back and all the way across through the freight area back to the terminal.  I watched jets depart from the runway we had just landed on as well as from the normal runway so I have no idea what was going on.  I doubt I will experience this again anytime soon.