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.

On February 22, 2005, MCO became the first airport in Florida to accept E-Pass and SunPass toll transponders as a form of payment for parking. The system allows drivers to enter and exit a parking garage without pulling a ticket or stopping to pay the parking fee.

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]

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 and Shannon)
• Air Jamaica (Kingston and Montego Bay)
• Air Transat (Montreal and Toronto)
• Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma)
• America West Airlines (Las Vegas and Phoenix)
• American Airlines (Boston, Chicago/O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/LaGuardia, San Juan, and St. Louis)
• American Trans Air (Chicago/Midway, Indianapolis, and San Juan)
• Bahamasair (Nassau)
• Canjet (Halifax and Hamilton)
• Champion Air
• Continental Airlines (Cleveland, Houston/Intercontinental, and Newark)
• Continental Express (Houston/Intercontinental)
• Copa Airlines (Lima and Panama City)
• Executive Air dba American Eagle (Nassau)
• Gulfstream International Airlines dba Continental Connection (Key West and Miami)
• LTU (Dusseldorf)
• Martinair Holland (Amsterdam and San Jose (CR))
• Mexicana
• Skyservice (Toronto/Pearson)
• WestJet (Calgary and Toronto)

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, and Rochester)
• JetBlue (Boston and New York/Kennedy)
• Southwest Airlines (Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham, Buffalo, Chicago/Midway, Columbus, Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, Hartford/Springfield, Houston/Hobby, Indianapolis, Long Island/Islip, Jackson, Kansas City, Long Island/Islip, Louisville, Manchester, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk/Southern Virginia, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, St. Louis, and San Antonio)

Airside 3 (gates 30-59)

• Air Canada (Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto)
• Independence Air (Charleston, Columbia, Greensboro, Greenville, Huntsville, Knoxville, and Washington/Dulles)
• Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Memphis, and Minneapolis/St. Paul)
• Spirit Airlines (Atlantic City, Chicago/O'Hare, Detroit, New York/LaGuardia, and San Juan)
• United dba Ted (Chicago/O'Hare, Denver, and Washington/Dulles)
• United Airlines (Los Angeles and San Francisco)
• US Airways (Albany, Baltimore, Buffalo, Charlotte, Columbus, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Harrisburg, Key West, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Syracuse, and Washington/Reagan)

Airside 4 (gates 60-99)

• Aeroméxico (Mexico City)
• British Airways (London/Gatwick)
• Condor (Frankfurt/am Main and San Jose (CR))
• Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City)
• Frontier Airlines (Denver)
• Icelandair (Keflavik)
• Midwest Airlines (Milwaukee)
• Song (Boston, Hartford, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Newark, New York/Kennedy, New York/LaGuardia, Newark, and San Juan)
• Sun Country Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
• Virgin Atlantic (London/Gatwick and Manchester)

External links

• Orlando Airports homepage