Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
IATA airport code: DFW
Location: 2400 Aviation Dr., DFW Airport, TX 75261
Year Opened: Although a joint Dallas/Fort Worth Airport was proposed as early as 1927, construction didn’t begin until 1969. The airport was dedicated in September 1973 and opened for commercial flights in January 1974.
Size: The airport covers 17,207 acres, approximately 27 square miles, making it the second largest U.S. airport by land area. It has seven runways, and five terminals with 182 gates split among them.
Transportation: Three separate rail lines service the airport. DART, (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) connects primarily to Dallas from Terminal A, TEXrail in Terminal B connects to Fort Worth and Trinity Railway Express services both cities and is accessed via a shuttle bus to CentrePort/DFW Airport Station DART also has bus service to the airport as does Trinity Metro. Taxis, rideshares and limousine services are available.
Hub: It is the largest hub for American Airlines and is also the second largest single airline hub in the world, behind Delta’s Atlanta hub
Fun Fact #1: DFW Airport has service to 260 destinations, including 67 international and 193 domestic destinations within the U.S. DFW is in a small group of airports worldwide that service more than 200 destinations
Fun Fact #2: The airport is bigger than Manhattan and has its own ZIP code. A sixth terminal was scheduled to open in 2025 but the COVID 19 crisis has put that timeline in doubt.
Fun Fact #3: The dedication ceremony in 1973 included the first landing of a supersonic jet in the U.S.
Fun Fact #4: The joint airport was delayed more than 40 years because the two cities couldn’t come to a deal on several things, including location, even when the civil aeronautics commission had $1.9 million earmarked for the project in 1940. In the meantime, both cities built and operated multiple competing airports.
Website: www.dfwairport.com
This story originally appeared in the Sept./Oct. issue of Exhibit City News, p. 20. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/ecn_sept-oct_2020
