City: Baltimore, MD

Category: Getting Here, Getting Around

Telephone: (410) 859-7111, (800) I-FLY-BW

Description: Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (referred to by locals as BWI or BWI Marshall, and sometimes Friendship by the longtime locals) honors the first African-American Supreme Court justice and a Baltimore native. Four domestic concourses (essentially, concourse A and B connect and together serve Southwest Airlines) and one international concourse have 70 gates, including 12 for commuter aircraft. Thirty-three commercial airlines carry more than 56,000 passengers daily with 650 flights, with Southwest Airlines carrying more than half of the passengers. A total of 20,488,881 passengers used the airport in 2008, making BWI the country’s 24th busiest airport. Hourly parking is available, immediately inside the arrivals/departures travel ramp. The garage has a green and red lighting system that lets you see exactly where the open parking spaces are. A “cell phone” lot lets you park for free while your incoming passengers clear the plane and pick up their luggage. A call to you, and the arriving visitors and you can be curbside at the same time. Voila! BWI Marshall is one airport that’s treated as part of a solution to an area problem with great connections to street and rail traffic. Ten minutes from the airport, via free shuttle service, is the BWI Airport Amtrak station with MARC (Maryland Rail Commuter) and Amtrak service to Baltimore and points north and to Washington, D.C., and points south. In July 2009, the first airline just for pets began service to BWI Marshall Airport. Pet Airways will initially cater to dogs and cats. Birds, reptiles, pigs, and other animals are being considered for future expansion. Pet attendants individually load the animals onto Beechcraft 1900 turboprops, whose seats and overhead bins have been removed. The animals are then placed into secured kennels. Attendants accompany the flights. Owners may drop off their pets up to 72 hours before flight time or leave them overnight at the arrival city at the airline’s Paws Lodges. Pet Airways offers flights between BWI and regional airports in New York, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles areas. For more information visit www.petairways.com.