Major Metros with more than one airport vs. Major Metros with one airports (bigger, ranking)
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Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whereiend
It's over an hour to get to IAD or DCA from Baltimore.. if I lived in Baltimore I certainly would not consider it convenient to fly out of those airports. And while we're at it, despite the name BWI isn't very convenient for DC, either. It's nice that you can get there via rail, I suppose, but it's still a PITA compared to DCA.
45 mins to DCA from Downtown Baltimore, and some suburbs are closer than that. It really all just depends on the airline you're choosing and what specific flights you need to want to fly there, but most people there choose BWI. Dulles is far from everywhere unless you live West of the DC Beltway in NOVA. I live East of DC in the suburbs and it takes me 55 mins to get to Dulles. It takes 35 mins tops to BWI, and it's much more easy come, easy go. Thankfully there's rail options to all three, but the Metro is the most used ahead of MARC/Amtrak.
My point to him was people use the airport closest to their home. In the case of his post he was obviously unaware that most people in the Maryland side DC suburbs use Baltimore Washington international Airport. People on the Virginia side of DC suburbs use Washington Dulles International Airport. And people in DC proper mainly use washington Reagan international Airport. The real question is, how would the region function if DC just had one airport? How much farther would people need to travel?
Pardon me, but I think the airport just across the Potomac from the National Mall is Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
And unless I'm mistaken, it's also "national" in that it does not handle international flights. I think Dulles and Thurgood Marshall BWI are the only two National Capital Region airports that do.
ISTR reading some time back that some piece of Congressional legislation prohibits Reagan National from handling flights that travel either overseas or to destinations further than a given distance from DCA. (Can you catch direct flights to LAX from DCA?)
10. Philadelphia: 0.6 million (Philadelphia's CSA only includes ACY and ILG, as NYC CSA gets TTN, but TTN isn't a busy airport anyways. ILG goes back and forth between having any commercial service)
I'm going to note here that the main reason I think Mercer County, NJ (Trenton) is in the New York CSA is because of the explosion of jobs in and around Princeton, which in turn has attracted commuters from neighboring Middlesex County, which is in the New York CSA.
Mercer County remains in Philadelphia's DMA (media market), and Philadelphia media outlets will report on local Trenton stories while New York ones will only cover New Jersey state government there.
Trenton Mercer Airport is closer to much of Bucks County than PHL is, but Trenton, as you accurately point out, has difficulty gaining traction as an alternate airport for the Philadelphia region; AC does better than the other two because it's also a destination of its own. Even though there's no natural barrier separating the Lehigh Valley (ABE) from the Delaware Valley, and even though it's difficult to tell when you've left the one and entered the other traveling up PA 309, the two metropolitan areas pretty much function as separate from one another, and about the only Greater Philadelphia residents who might think of flying out of Lehigh Valley International Airport first are those Upper Bucks residents who live in municipalities whose ZIP codes begin with 180 (which means their SCF is Allentown).
And, of course, if said residents are looking for more overseas flights, they'll probably drive to PHL or JFK.
Pardon me, but I think the airport just across the Potomac from the National Mall is Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
And unless I'm mistaken, it's also "national" in that it does not handle international flights. I think Dulles and Thurgood Marshall BWI are the only two National Capital Region airports that do.
ISTR reading some time back that some piece of Congressional legislation prohibits Reagan National from handling flights that travel either overseas or to destinations further than a given distance from DCA. (Can you catch direct flights to LAX from DCA?)
Correct. DCA is strictly national and there’s a 1250 mile flight radius limit.
IAD & BWI are the only international airports in the DC-Baltimore region. That being said, IAD takes up the lions share of international flights while BWI has the lions share of domestic which is why theres so much cross commuting between the metros for flights.
Correct. DCA is strictly national and there’s a 1250 mile flight radius limit.
IAD & BWI are the only international airports in the DC-Baltimore region. That being said, IAD takes up the lions share of international flights while BWI has the lions share of domestic which is why you there cross commuting between the metros for flights.
DCA does have flights to Canada, the Bahamas, and Bermuda but that is just because they are inside the radius.
To add to DC area airport talks, in terms of O/d Data it seems that DCA and BWI are most popular for locals travelling domestically, and IAD is about 1/2 as popular, with mostly connections (Obviously on UA).
Other things I noticed:
-DEN has a significant amount of O/D Traffic given its population size and for being a major UA hub.
-PHL seems a bit low given its the only major airport for its 6+ million metro and quality of the airport. However, AA has a huge hub there and I personally have found ticket prices to be slightly higher there than EWR or BWI. Maybe some of the EWR and BWI numbers are performing well due to Philly area folks?
-Adding up all of the metropolitan areas with multiple airports, you roughly get a similar ratio of boarding to population. There are some outliers, like DEN and ATL (Perhaps they are so big that a lot of next day/terminal transfers count?) but its roughly good. Some airports like BOS become a magnet for a good chunk of New England, and when you add up New England's population.. you still get a good ratio.
-I am actually surprised with how low LAS is relative to its traffic numbers and tourist statistics, especially when you look at MCO.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Origin & Destination Survey, DB1B Ticket
1 Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles International LAX 1,324,394
2 Denver, CO: Denver International DEN 1,138,192
3 Atlanta, GA: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International ATL 1,088,364
4 Chicago, IL: Chicago O'Hare International ORD 1,085,583
5 Orlando, FL: Orlando International MCO 925,518
6 Boston, MA: Logan International BOS 919,227
7 Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International EWR 919,009
8 Seattle, WA: Seattle/Tacoma International SEA 908,387
9 Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Sky Harbor International PHX 868,167
10 Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: Dallas/Fort Worth International DFW 859,264
11 Las Vegas, NV: Harry Reid International LAS 829,770
12 San Francisco, CA: San Francisco International SFO 820,323
13 New York, NY: John F. Kennedy International JFK 763,958
14 New York, NY: LaGuardia LGA 747,533
15 Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis-St Paul International MSP 655,028
16 Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia International PHL 612,722
17 Houston, TX: George Bush Intercontinental/Houston IAH 606,033
18 San Diego, CA: San Diego International SAN 605,311
19 Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International FLL 605,198
20 Detroit, MI: Detroit Metro Wayne County DTW 589,164
21 Tampa, FL: Tampa International TPA 547,506
22 Miami, FL: Miami International MIA 537,910 23 Washington, DC: Ronald Reagan Washington National DCA 531,181
24 Austin, TX: DUPLICATE
25 Austin, TX: Austin - Bergstrom International AUS 520,863 26 Baltimore, MD: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall BWI 510,849
27 Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake City International SLC 464,454
28 Nashville, TN: Nashville International BNA 456,900
29 Portland, OR: Portland International PDX 447,280
30 Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Douglas International CLT 409,225
31 Sacramento, CA: Sacramento International SMF 390,303
32 Chicago, IL: Chicago Midway International MDW 389,902
33 Raleigh/Durham, NC: Raleigh-Durham International RDU 359,980
34 Honolulu, HI: Daniel K Inouye International HNL 345,472
35 St. Louis, MO: St Louis Lambert International STL 341,165
36 Dallas, TX: Dallas Love Field DAL 327,518
37 San Jose, CA: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International SJC 325,744
38 Oakland, CA: Metro Oakland International OAK 323,701
39 Santa Ana, CA: John Wayne Airport-Orange County SNA 306,901
40 Kansas City, MO: Kansas City International MCI 305,067
41 New Orleans, LA: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International MSY 290,985
42 Cleveland, OH: Cleveland-Hopkins International CLE 285,126
43 Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis International IND 278,800 44 Washington, DC: Washington Dulles International IAD 275,957
45 San Antonio, TX: San Antonio International SAT 270,392
46 Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh International PIT 258,489
47 San Juan, PR: Luis Munoz Marin International SJU 255,939
48 Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International CVG 254,412
49 Houston, TX: William P Hobby HOU 252,999
50 Columbus, OH: John Glenn Columbus International CMH 239,533
51 Fort Myers, FL: Southwest Florida International RSW 237,339
52 Hartford, CT: Bradley International BDL 204,954
53 Ontario, CA: Ontario International ONT 189,781
54 Jacksonville, FL: Jacksonville International JAX 187,142
55 Burbank, CA: Bob Hope BUR 186,773
56 Milwaukee, WI: General Mitchell International MKE 184,263
57 West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL: Palm Beach International PBI 182,309
58 Omaha, NE: Eppley Airfield OMA 143,820
59 Boise, ID: Boise Air Terminal BOI 138,414
60 Charleston, SC: Charleston AFB/International CHS 137,380
61 Albuquerque, NM: Albuquerque International Sunport ABQ 137,221
62 Buffalo, NY: Buffalo Niagara International BUF 136,996
63 Memphis, TN: Memphis International MEM 136,518
64 Richmond, VA: Richmond International RIC 134,556
65 Kahului, HI: Kahului Airport OGG 129,400
66 Norfolk, VA: Norfolk International ORF 128,071
67 El Paso, TX: El Paso International ELP 125,552
68 Anchorage, AK: Ted Stevens Anchorage International ANC 124,301
69 Oklahoma City, OK: Will Rogers World OKC 123,232
70 Louisville, KY: Louisville Muhammad Ali International SDF 119,845
71 Spokane, WA: Spokane International GEG 119,839
72 Grand Rapids, MI: Gerald R. Ford International GRR 118,884
73 Reno, NV: Reno/Tahoe International RNO 117,293
74 Providence, RI: Rhode Island Tf Green International PVD 110,462
75 Tucson, AZ: Tucson International TUS 100,275
76 Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Airport LGB 100,135
77 Des Moines, IA: Des Moines International DSM 92,967
78 Sarasota/Bradenton, FL: Sarasota/Bradenton International SRQ 92,942
79 Tulsa, OK: Tulsa International TUL 92,688
80 Albany, NY: Albany International ALB 89,318
81 Syracuse, NY: Syracuse Hancock International SYR 85,638
82 Birmingham, AL: Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International BHM 83,986
83 Savannah, GA: Savannah/Hilton Head International SAV 83,336
84 Rochester, NY: Frederick Douglass Grtr Rochester International ROC 79,221
85 Kona, HI: Ellison Onizuka Kona International at Keahole KOA 76,572
86 Myrtle Beach, SC: Myrtle Beach International MYR 72,585
87 Knoxville, TN: McGhee Tyson TYS 71,373
88 White Plains, NY: Westchester County HPN 67,206
89 Pensacola, FL: Pensacola International PNS 66,827
90 Lihue, HI: Lihue Airport LIH 66,609
91 Colorado Springs, CO: City of Colorado Springs Municipal COS 65,947
92 Greer, SC: Greenville-Spartanburg International GSP 65,465
93 Fresno, CA: Fresno Yosemite International FAT 62,639
94 Little Rock, AR: Bill and Hillary Clinton Nat Adams Field LIT 62,186
95 Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs International PSP 60,627
96 Portland, ME: Portland International Jetport PWM 60,037
97 Madison, WI: Dane County Regional-Truax Field MSN 59,253
98 Bozeman, MT: Bozeman Yellowstone International BZN 56,730
99 Sanford, FL: Orlando Sanford International SFB 54,985
100 Asheville, NC: Asheville Regional AVL 54,047
Philadelphia only has PHL at the moment, but it feels like the Philadelphia area should have at least one other airport with regularly scheduled domestic flights due to capacity constraints (at least pre-pandemic). It will be interesting to see if Philly ever gets a new airport, as PHL is located in an area that will surely experience increasingly severe effects from climate change. Then again, aside from the old Willow Grove AFB, I can't see where we'd find the space to place an airport in this dense metro area.
As an aside, I feel like I have at least 5-6 airports to choose from when traveling. While I typically fly in and out of PHL, I always consider BWI and EWR due to the ease of taking Amtrak to either airport. DCA, IAD, and JFK are also convenient to reach by transit to a lesser extent. Since my wife and I live in Northwest Philadelphia, it's also pretty easy for us to fly out of ABE (Allentown) or TTN (Trenton) if ever necessary.
By passenger count, Seattle is 98% Sea-Tac (51m in 2023), 2% Paine Field in Everett (1m in 2019), and >0% Lake Union and Kenmore seaplanes and Boeing Field charters/execs.
Sea-Tac is enormously constrained for land. They've been spending billions to make the best use of every inch, including a greater focus on overseas routes. If they add another terminal (tearing out other stuff) they might get to the 60s and remain functional.
Paine will keep growing. Current plans call for it growing to over 4m. (This also has the largest Boeing plant and a lot of general aviation.)
The State believes we need capacity more like 90m(?). A commission recently tried to come up with a plan for a second major airport. This was an overly-constrained effort and failed its mission. Now we're, predictably, at square one.
This region will never fit a major two-runway airport. We simply don't have the land, unless we gut the growth management concept and ruin a huge area (there are some large flattish protected areas such as between Auburn and Enumclaw). The lawsuits and cost make me wonder if it's really possible.
Here's what I've predicted for years: We'll expand Paine a lot more, maybe to handle in the 10-15m range, by getting rid of most of the general aviation. Sea-Tac will push its growth plans to get into the 60s. And around 2050 we'll open a smaller one-runway airport with capacity to grow to 10-15m by expanding an existing field somewhere in the southern metro. Alternatively, there's also potential to add real service to Boeing Field / King County International Airport, just four miles south of Downtown Seattle, as Southwest and Alaska once proposed.
Yeah, I was going to mention about Everett/Paine which was an addition since this thread first started in 2012.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Origin & Destination Survey, DB1B Ticket
1 Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles International LAX 1,324,394
2 Denver, CO: Denver International DEN 1,138,192
3 Atlanta, GA: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International ATL 1,088,364
4 Chicago, IL: Chicago O'Hare International ORD 1,085,583
5 Orlando, FL: Orlando International MCO 925,518
6 Boston, MA: Logan International BOS 919,227
7 Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International EWR 919,009
8 Seattle, WA: Seattle/Tacoma International SEA 908,387
9 Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Sky Harbor International PHX 868,167
10 Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: Dallas/Fort Worth International DFW 859,264
11 Las Vegas, NV: Harry Reid International LAS 829,770
12 San Francisco, CA: San Francisco International SFO 820,323
13 New York, NY: John F. Kennedy International JFK 763,958
14 New York, NY: LaGuardia LGA 747,533
15 Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis-St Paul International MSP 655,028
16 Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia International PHL 612,722
17 Houston, TX: George Bush Intercontinental/Houston IAH 606,033
18 San Diego, CA: San Diego International SAN 605,311
19 Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International FLL 605,198
20 Detroit, MI: Detroit Metro Wayne County DTW 589,164
21 Tampa, FL: Tampa International TPA 547,506
22 Miami, FL: Miami International MIA 537,910 23 Washington, DC: Ronald Reagan Washington National DCA 531,181
24 Austin, TX: DUPLICATE
25 Austin, TX: Austin - Bergstrom International AUS 520,863 26 Baltimore, MD: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall BWI 510,849
27 Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake City International SLC 464,454
28 Nashville, TN: Nashville International BNA 456,900
29 Portland, OR: Portland International PDX 447,280
30 Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Douglas International CLT 409,225
31 Sacramento, CA: Sacramento International SMF 390,303
32 Chicago, IL: Chicago Midway International MDW 389,902
33 Raleigh/Durham, NC: Raleigh-Durham International RDU 359,980
34 Honolulu, HI: Daniel K Inouye International HNL 345,472
35 St. Louis, MO: St Louis Lambert International STL 341,165
36 Dallas, TX: Dallas Love Field DAL 327,518
37 San Jose, CA: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International SJC 325,744
38 Oakland, CA: Metro Oakland International OAK 323,701
39 Santa Ana, CA: John Wayne Airport-Orange County SNA 306,901
40 Kansas City, MO: Kansas City International MCI 305,067
41 New Orleans, LA: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International MSY 290,985
42 Cleveland, OH: Cleveland-Hopkins International CLE 285,126
43 Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis International IND 278,800 44 Washington, DC: Washington Dulles International IAD 275,957
45 San Antonio, TX: San Antonio International SAT 270,392
46 Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh International PIT 258,489
47 San Juan, PR: Luis Munoz Marin International SJU 255,939
48 Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International CVG 254,412
49 Houston, TX: William P Hobby HOU 252,999
50 Columbus, OH: John Glenn Columbus International CMH 239,533
51 Fort Myers, FL: Southwest Florida International RSW 237,339
52 Hartford, CT: Bradley International BDL 204,954
53 Ontario, CA: Ontario International ONT 189,781
54 Jacksonville, FL: Jacksonville International JAX 187,142
55 Burbank, CA: Bob Hope BUR 186,773
56 Milwaukee, WI: General Mitchell International MKE 184,263
57 West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL: Palm Beach International PBI 182,309
58 Omaha, NE: Eppley Airfield OMA 143,820
59 Boise, ID: Boise Air Terminal BOI 138,414
60 Charleston, SC: Charleston AFB/International CHS 137,380
61 Albuquerque, NM: Albuquerque International Sunport ABQ 137,221
62 Buffalo, NY: Buffalo Niagara International BUF 136,996
63 Memphis, TN: Memphis International MEM 136,518
64 Richmond, VA: Richmond International RIC 134,556
65 Kahului, HI: Kahului Airport OGG 129,400
66 Norfolk, VA: Norfolk International ORF 128,071
67 El Paso, TX: El Paso International ELP 125,552
68 Anchorage, AK: Ted Stevens Anchorage International ANC 124,301
69 Oklahoma City, OK: Will Rogers World OKC 123,232
70 Louisville, KY: Louisville Muhammad Ali International SDF 119,845
71 Spokane, WA: Spokane International GEG 119,839
72 Grand Rapids, MI: Gerald R. Ford International GRR 118,884
73 Reno, NV: Reno/Tahoe International RNO 117,293
74 Providence, RI: Rhode Island Tf Green International PVD 110,462
75 Tucson, AZ: Tucson International TUS 100,275
76 Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Airport LGB 100,135
77 Des Moines, IA: Des Moines International DSM 92,967
78 Sarasota/Bradenton, FL: Sarasota/Bradenton International SRQ 92,942
79 Tulsa, OK: Tulsa International TUL 92,688
80 Albany, NY: Albany International ALB 89,318
81 Syracuse, NY: Syracuse Hancock International SYR 85,638
82 Birmingham, AL: Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International BHM 83,986
83 Savannah, GA: Savannah/Hilton Head International SAV 83,336
84 Rochester, NY: Frederick Douglass Grtr Rochester International ROC 79,221
85 Kona, HI: Ellison Onizuka Kona International at Keahole KOA 76,572
86 Myrtle Beach, SC: Myrtle Beach International MYR 72,585
87 Knoxville, TN: McGhee Tyson TYS 71,373
88 White Plains, NY: Westchester County HPN 67,206
89 Pensacola, FL: Pensacola International PNS 66,827
90 Lihue, HI: Lihue Airport LIH 66,609
91 Colorado Springs, CO: City of Colorado Springs Municipal COS 65,947
92 Greer, SC: Greenville-Spartanburg International GSP 65,465
93 Fresno, CA: Fresno Yosemite International FAT 62,639
94 Little Rock, AR: Bill and Hillary Clinton Nat Adams Field LIT 62,186
95 Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs International PSP 60,627
96 Portland, ME: Portland International Jetport PWM 60,037
97 Madison, WI: Dane County Regional-Truax Field MSN 59,253
98 Bozeman, MT: Bozeman Yellowstone International BZN 56,730
99 Sanford, FL: Orlando Sanford International SFB 54,985
100 Asheville, NC: Asheville Regional AVL 54,047
Excellent data post! Below is a link to some international O&D data but it is a bit dated. Nonetheless the rankings are going to be similar:
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