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DFW redirects here. For the cities, see Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, and is the busiest airport in Texas. In terms of aircraft movements, it is the third busiest airport in the world. In terms of passenger traffic, it is the sixth busiest airport in the world transporting 59,064,360 passengers in 2005. In terms of land area, it is the largest airport in Texas, the second largest in the United States, and fourth largest in the world with a ground area larger than the island of Manhattan. It is the nation's tenth busiest international gateway, behind Honolulu International Airport.The airport was recently named as "The Best Cargo Airport in the World" according to the second edition of a survey. [http://www.aircargoworld.com/features/0306_2.htm

The airport serves 129 domestic destinations and 36 international, and is the largest and main hub for American Airlines (800 daily departures), the world's largest airline, and also the largest hub for American Eagle, the world's largest regional airline. Eighty four percent of all flights at Dallas/Fort Worth are operated by American Airlines. Delta Air Lines closed its Dallas/Fort Worth hub in February 2005 in an effort to cut costs. The airline shrank operations from 256 daily nonstop flights to 21.

The airport is often referred to by its IATA airport code, "DFW." It is operated in many ways like a small city. It has its own post office and its own ZIP Code. The members of the airport's Board of Directors are appointed by the "owner cities" of Dallas and Fort Worth. However, the airport is inside the city limits of four other suburban cities, a situation that has led to legal battles over jurisdiction (see below). To help ensure future harmony with its neighbors, the DFW Airport Board includes a non-voting member — a representative chosen from the airport's neighbors (Irving, Euless, Grapevine, and Coppell) on a rotating basis.

DFW is connected by shuttle bus to a commuter rail station just south of the airport. The Trinity Railway Express line serves both downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth.

DFW has public Wi-Fi available provided by T-Mobile.

History

As early as 1927, before the area had an airport, Dallas proposed a joint airport with Fort Worth. Fort Worth declined the offer, and thus the two cities opened their own airports, Love Field and Meacham Field. Airlines offered service at both airports.

In 1940, the Civil Aeronautics Administration earmarked $1.9 million for the construction of a Dallas-Fort Worth regional airport. American Airlines and Braniff Airways struck a deal with the city of Arlington to build an airport there, but the governments of Dallas and Fort Worth disagreed over its construction, and the project was abandoned in 1943. After World War II, Fort Worth annexed the site and developed it into Amon Carter Field with the help of American Airlines. Fort Worth transferred its commercial flights from Meacham Field to the new airport in 1953, which was now just 12 miles from Dallas Love Field. In 1960, Fort Worth purchased Amon Carter Field and renamed it Greater Southwest International Airport (GSW) in an attempt to compete with Dallas' more successful airport. However, GSW's traffic continued to decline relative to Love Field: by the mid-1960s, Fort Worth was getting 1% of Texas air traffic while Dallas was getting 49%, which led to the virtual abandonment of GSW.

The joint airport proposal was revisited in 1961 after the FAA refused to invest any more money in separate Dallas and Fort Worth airports. Although the Fort Worth airport was eventually abandoned, Dallas Love Field became congested and had no more room to expand. Following an order from the federal government in 1964, officials from the two cities finally agreed on a location for a new regional airport that was north of the abandoned GSW and almost perfectly equidistant from the two city centers. The land was purchased by both cities in 1966, and construction began in 1969.

The first landing of a supersonic Concorde in the United States occurred at DFW Airport in 1973 to commemorate the airport's completion. The Concorde later served DFW in a cooperative agreement between Braniff Airways, British Airways, and Air France, before the demise of Braniff ended the service.

DFW Airport opened for commercial service on January 13, 1974. At the time, it was the largest and costliest airport in the world. Following the Wright Amendment of 1979, which banned long-distance flights from Love Field, DFW became the only airport in the metropolitan area to offer long-haul commercial air passenger service on aircraft with more than 56 passenger seats. Also in 1979, American Airlines moved its headquarters from New York to Fort Worth (adjacent to DFW on the former site of GSW). American began its first hub at DFW in 1981, started flights to London in 1982, and started flights to Tokyo in 1987. Delta Air Lines built up a domestic hub at DFW during the same period, but announced its closure in 2004 in a restructuring of the airline to avoid bankruptcy. Today, Delta only flies from DFW to their three hubs plus Orlando and New York-LaGuardia.

After the closing of Delta's hub, DFW Airport offered incentives to Southwest Airlines to relocate its hub to DFW from Love Field. Southwest, as in the past, declined the offer, opting to remain at Love Field (DFW, in turn, opposes all efforts to expand Love Field operations). Additionally, the airport offered incentives to at least three other airlines to locate at DFW Airport, all of whom declined as well.

Also in 1989, the airport authority announced plans to rebuild the existing terminals and construct two new runways. After an environmental impact study was released the following year, the cities of Irving, Euless, and Grapevine sued the airport over its expansion plans, a battle that was finally decided (in favor of the airport) by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1994. The seventh runway opened in 1996.

The four primary North-South runways (those closest to the terminals) were all lengthened from 11,388 ft (3471 m) to their current length of 13,400 ft (4084 m). The first of these, 17R/35L, was extended in 1996 (at the same time the new runway was constructed), and the other three (17C/35C, 18L/36R, and 18R/36L) were extended in 2005. DFW is now the only airport in the world with four serviceable paved runways longer than 4000 m.

A new international terminal (Terminal D) opened in July 2005.

A new people mover system, named Skylink, opened in Spring of 2005 and is the world's largest high-speed airport train system. Totally automated, Skylink travels at speeds approaching 50 mph, and is also bi-directional. The Skylink system was acquired from Bombardier Transportation and has been well-received by passengers. Skylink replaced the original Airtrans system (part of which was later allocated to American Airlines' TrAAin system), which was notoriously slow and uni-directional (though it was a state-of-the-art automated system when the airport opened).

Disasters at DFW

Disasters involving DFW

Terminals

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has five terminals. The airport is designed to be expandable and can theoretically accommodate up to thirteen terminals totalling 260 gates, although this level of expansion is unlikely to be reached in the foreseeable future.

The terminals at DFW are semicircular (except for the newest terminal, Terminal D, though it is a "square U" shape) and built around the airport's central north-south arterial road, Texas Highway 97, also known as "International Parkway." Until the late 1990s, they were designated by a number (2 being northernmost, 4 being southernmost) and a letter suffix ("E" for East, "W" for West). This system was later scrapped, and the terminals are now lettered from A to E. Terminals A, C, and E (from north to south) are on the east side of the airport, while Terminals B and D (from north to south) are on the west side.

DFW's terminals are designed to minimize the distance between a passenger's car and airplane as well as reduce traffic around terminals. A consequence of this layout is that connecting passengers have to walk extremely long distances between gates (in order to walk from one end of the semicircular gate to the other, one must walk the entire length, there are no shortcuts between the ends). Since DFW is American Airlines' largest hub, this has caused problems. The original people mover train (opened with the airport, but notoriously slow and uni-directional) was replaced by "Skylink" in April 2005, which serves all five terminals at a considerably higher speed and is bi-directional. It is also the world's largest high-speed airport train system.

The following destinations are not fully accurate. Please visit the airport website or the airline carrier website for the most accurate details of flights at Dallas/Fort Worth. Seasonal and future non-stop destinations are noted in parentheses.

Terminal A (former Terminal 2E)

American Airlines and its regional affiliate American Eagle have a large presence at Dallas/Fort Worth. The world's largest airline, in terms of passengers transported, operates its largest hub at DFW. The two airlines operate at four of the five terminals at the airport. Terminal A is fully occupied by American Airlines and American Eagle for domestic flights.

  • American Airlines (Albuquerque, Anchorage (seasonal), Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Baton Rouge (seasonal), Birmingham (AL), Boston, Burbank, Charlotte, Chicago-Midway (ends 9/30/06), Chicago-O'Hare, Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Fayetteville (AR), Fresno, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Gunnison (seasonal), Hartford, Hayden-Steamboat Springs (seasonal), Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Jackson Hole (seasonal), Jacksonville, Kahului, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, McAllen, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Mobile, Montrose (seasonal), Nashville, Newark, New Orleans, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Norfolk, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ontario, Orange County, Orlando, Palm Springs, Pensacola, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Raleigh/Durham, Reno/Tahoe, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Santa Ana, Seattle/Tacoma, St. Louis, Tampa, Tucson, Tulsa, Vail (seasonal), Washington-Dulles, Washington-Reagan, West Palm Beach, Wichita)
    • American Eagle (Abilene, Amarillo, Baton Rouge, Buffalo (ends 9/6/06), Cedar Rapids, Champaign, Charleston (SC), Charlotte, Chattanooga, Chicago-Midway (ends 9/30/06), Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, College Station, Columbia (SC), Columbus, Corpus Christi, Dayton, Des Moines, Detroit, Evansville, Fayetteville (AR), Fort Smith, Fort Walton Beach, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Greenville (SC), Gulfport/Biloxi, Harrisburg (starts September 6, 2006), Houston-Hobby, Houston-Intercontinental, Jackson, Killeen, Knoxville, Lafayette, Laredo, Lawton, Lexington, Little Rock, Longview, Louisville, Lubbock, Madison, Memphis, Midland-Odessa, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Mission, Moline, Monroe (LA), Oklahoma City, Peoria, Pittsburgh, Rochester (NY), San Angelo, Santa Barbara, Savannah, Shreveport, Springfield (MO), Syracuse, Texarkana, Traverse City, Tulsa, Tyler, Waco, Wichita, Wichita Falls)

Terminal B (former Terminal 2W)

Prior to the opening of Terminal D, Terminal B operated most of the international flights at the airport. American Eagle occupies 16 gates at Terminal B. Other major airlines are United Airlines, occupying 3 gates, and US Airways, occupying 4. Terminal B is the former Braniff Terminal.

Terminal C (former Terminal 3E)

American Airlines operates all the gates at Terminal C for only domestic flights.

International Terminal D

International Terminal D opened in July 2005. The new terminal is a two million sq. ft. (186,000 m²) facility capable of handling 32,000 passengers daily or 11.7 million passengers annually, with 28 gates and an integrated 298-room Hyatt Hotel. The terminal features 99 ticketing positions and a federal inspection facility capable of processing 2,800 passengers per hour. The concession areas consist of 100,000 sq. ft. (9,300 m²) and features upscale shopping and fine dining.

The new eight-level parking garage has over 8,100 parking spaces and uses a Smart Technology System that lets guests know which floors are full. Air-conditioned skybridges with moving walkways and elevators connect the garage to the terminal, and an arrivals canopy roof shields pedestrians from inclement weather as they enter and exit the terminal.

  • Air Canada (Toronto-Pearson)
  • American Airlines (Some domestic flights (see Terminal A), Acapulco (seasonal), Belize City, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Calgary, Cancún, Caracas, Cozumel, Frankfurt, Guadalajara, Guatemala City, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo (seasonal), León, Liberia (CR) (seasonal), Lima, London-Gatwick, Los Cabos, Mexico City, Montego Bay, Monterrey, Montréal-Trudeau, Nassau, Osaka-Kansai, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Puerto Vallarta, San José (CR), San Jose del Cabo, San Juan (PR), Santiago, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver, Zürich)
    • American Eagle (Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Guadalajara, León, Monterrey, Nassau, San Luis Potosí, Torreón)
  • British Airways (London-Gatwick)
  • Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
  • Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
  • Mexicana (Mexico City)
  • Sun Country Airlines (Cancún, Cozumel, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Puerto Vallarta)
  • TACA (San Salvador)

Terminal E (former Terminal 4E)

Terminal E remains partially empty after Delta Air Lines closed its Dallas/Fort Worth International Hub in February 2005 in an unsuccessful attempt to stave off bankruptcy. However, new airlines are beginning to slowly fill up the gates.

Service Highlights

Potential Destinations

Qantas, of Australia, wants to launch direct non-stop service between Australia and Dallas/Fort Worth because of the ties with American Airlines and passenger traffic to Australia that North Texas oversaw. Both airlines are members of the oneworld alliance.

Virgin America, a proposed airline to begin flights in 2006, has voiced an interest in flying from DFW to San Francisco and possibly one of the New York Metro airports.

Cargo

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport handles sixty percent of all air cargo in Texas. Asia and Europe account for over 75% of the cargo at the 25th busiest cargo airport in the world.

In a recent survey by Air Cargo World, Dallas/Fort Worth ranked as "The Best Cargo Airport in the World". Frankfurt International Airport came in second, while Hong Kong International Airport and the world's busiest cargo airport, Memphis International Airport, tied for third. *

Trade data

The following cargo carriers are not fully accurate. Please contact the airport or the cargo carrier website for the most accurate details of air cargo at Dallas/Fort Worth.

Cargo carriers

Trivia

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has the highest number of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 operations in the world. It is the home of American Airlines, who operates 361 MD-80s.

External links

Dallas, Texas | Fort Worth, Texas | Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex | Airports in Texas | Handbook of Texas citations

Flughafen Dallas-Fort Worth | Aeropuerto Internacional de Dallas-Fort Worth | Aéroport international de Dallas-Fort Worth | ダラス・フォートワース国際空港 | Port lotniczy Dallas-Fort Worth | Aeroporto Internacional de Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport".

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