View of the interior of MCO, showing the on-site hotel rooms

FAA diagram of Orlando International Airport

Orlando International Airport is an airport located in Orlando, Florida. Its IATA Airport Code is MCO. It is one of the busiest airports in Florida, owing to Orlando's popularity as a tourist destination and its enormous residential and commercial growth. The airport serves as a hub for Delta Connection carrier Chautauqua Airlines and a focus city for US Airways, Southwest Airlines, and AirTran.

History

Before 1974, the land the airport now sits on was largely owned by the United States Air Force who operated an airbase there. The base was known as McCoy Air Force Base and the civilian airport was known as the Orlando Jetport at McCoy. Commercial service to the Jetport began in 1962 as flights were migrated from the old Herndon Airport, now the Orlando Executive Airport. The airport was under control of the city of Orlando for just one year, and in 1975 the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) was founded. Their mission was to manage and build the Orlando International Airport and the Orlando Executive Airport. The airport gained its current name and international airport status a year later in 1976, but kept its old IATA airport code MCO and ICAO airport code KMCO.

In 1978, MCO handled 5 million passengers. By 2000, that number had soared to 30 million. Today, MCO covers 23 square miles (60 km²), and is the third-largest airport in the United States by area (after Denver and Dallas). MCO also has North America's tallest control tower.

Eastern Airlines used Orlando as a hub during the 1970s and early 1980s, and became "the official airline of Walt Disney World." Following Eastern's demise, Delta Air Lines assumed this role, although it later pulled most of its large aircraft operations from Orlando and focused its service there on jet feederliner flights.

In 2004, Hurricane Charley caused some damage to the airport when it struck on the evening of August 13.

The Florida High Speed Rail Authority plans to make MCO the first multimodal airport in Florida by connecting it to Lakeland, Tampa, and St. Petersburg via high speed rail by 2009. [1] (http://www.floridahighspeedrail.org/2c_phases.jsp)

Structure and function

Orlando International Airport has a single main terminal connected by people mover to four airside terminals. Airsides 1 and 2 use baggage claim "A", while airsides 3 and 4 use baggage claim "B."

Airside 1 (gates 1-29)

• Aer Lingus (Dublin, Shannon)
• Air Jamaica (Kingston, Montego Bay)
• Air Transat (Montreal, Toronto)
• Alaska Airlines (Seattle)
• America West Airlines (Las Vegas, Phoenix)
• American Airlines (Boston, Cancun, Caracas, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York LaGuardia, Ontario, Phoenix, San Juan, St. Louis, St. Maarten)
• American Eagle (Raleigh/Durham)
• American Trans Air (Chicago Midway, Indianapolis San Juan)
• Bahamasair (Nassau)
• Canjet (Halifax, Hamilton)
• Champion Air
• Chautauqua Airlines dba American Connection (St. Louis)
• Continental Airlines (Cleveland, Houston Bush, Newark)
• Continental Express (Houston)
• Copa Airlines (Lima Peru, Panama City)
• Executive Air dba American Eagle (Nassau)
• Falcon Air Express
• Gulfstream International Airlines dba Continental Connection (Key West, Miami)
• Kelowna Flightcraft
• LTU (Dusseldorf)
• Martinair (Amsterdam, San Jose C.R.)
• Miami International Airlines
• Omni Air International
• Pace Airlines
• Planet Airways
• Ryan International Airlines (Atlanta)
• Skyservice (Toronto Pearson)
• Sunworld International Airlines
• WestJet (Calgary, Toronto)
• Zoom Airlines

Airside 2 (gates 100-129)

• AirTran (Akron/Canton, Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Bloomington, Dallas/Fort Worth, Dayton, Flint, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Moline, Newport News, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rochester)
• JetBlue (Boston, Burlington, New York JFK)
• Southwest Airlines (Albany, Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham, Buffalo, Chicago Midway, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Houston Hobby, Indianapolis, Islip, Jackson, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Manchester, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, St. Louis, Tulsa)

Airside 3 (gates 30-59)

• Air Canada (Montreal, Toronto)
• Air Midwest dba US Airways Express (Fort Walton Beach, Panama City)
• Independence Air (Charleston, Columbia, Greensboro, Greenville, Huntsville, Knoxville, Washington Dulles)
• Northwest Airlines (Baltimore, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Seattle)
• Spirit Airlines (Atlantic City, Chicago O'Hare, Detroit, New York LaGuardia, San Juan)
• Ted (Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Phoenix, Washington Dulles)
• United Airlines (Los Angeles, San Francisco)
• US Airways (Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare, Columbus, Frankfurt, Harrisburg, Hartford, Las Vegas, Munich, New York La Guardia, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Syracuse, Washington Reagan)

Airside 4 (gates 60-99)

• Aeroméxico (Mexico City)
• British Airways (London Gatwick)
• Chautauqua Airlines/Comair dba Delta Connection (Birmingham, Charleston, Cincinnati, Columbia, Columbus, Dayton, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Huntsville/Decatur, Key West, Knoxville,Lexington, Little Rock, Louisville, Miami, Mobile, Nashville, Nassau, New Orleans, Panama City, Pensacola, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Savannah, Tallahassee, Tri-Cities)
• Condor (Frankfurt am Main, San Jose C.R.)
• Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas, New York LaGuardia, Salt Lake City)
• Frontier Airlines (Denver)
• Icelandair (Keflavik)
• Miami Air
• Midwest Airlines (Milwaukee)
• Song (Boston, Hartford, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Newark, New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Newark, San Juan)
• Sun Country Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
• Virgin Atlantic (London Gatwick, Manchester)

External links

• Orlando Airports homepage (http://www.orlandoairports.net/)