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Miami International Airport



         


Miami International Airport
Quick Info
Type of Airport commercial
Run by Miami-Dade Aviation Department
Opened January 9, 1929
City Miami, Florida, United States
Latitude Longitude
25° 77' 61.0" north 80° 28' 36.0" west
IATA MIA ICAO KMIA
Runways
Direction Length Surface
Feet Meters
9R/27L 13,000 3,900 Paved
9L/27R 10,500 3,150 Paved
12/30 9,355 2,806 Paved
8/26 8,600 2,580 Paved
Statistics
2003
Number of Passengers 29,590,000
Number of Takeoffs/Landings 417,423


Miami International Airport (IATA Airport Code: MIA, ICAO Airport Code: KMIA), is located in Miami, Florida. It has flights to airports throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the world. Along with Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, MIA is one of the largest aerial gateways into the American South. The airport has long enjoyed such a lofty status because of Miami's proximity to tourist attractions, local economic growth, and large Latin American and European population.

The airport is currently a hub of American Airlines, American Eagle, cargo airline Fine Air, and charter airline Miami Air. In the past, it has been a hub of Eastern Airlines, Air Florida, the original National Airlines, the original Pan American World Airways, and Iberia.

Gulfstream International Airlines operates regular flights between MIA and several airports in Cuba, the only commercial air links between the two countries. However, these flights must be booked through agents with special authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and are only generally available to government officials, journalists, researchers, professionals attending conferences, or expatriates visiting Cuban family.

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History

MIA was opened to flights in 1928 as Pan American Field, the operating base of Pan American World Airways, on the north side of the modern airport property. After Pan Am acquired the New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line, it shifted most of its operations to the Dinner Key seaplane base, leaving Pan Am Field largely unused until Eastern Airlines began flying there in 1934, followed by National Airlines in 1937.

In 1945, the City of Miami established a Port Authority and raised bond revenue to purchase the airport, now known as 36th Street Airport, from Pan Am. It was merged with an adjoining Army airfield in 1949 and expanded further in 1951. The old terminal on 36th Street was closed in 1959 when the modern passenger terminal (since greatly expanded) opened for service.

Airline crashes involving MIA include the 1972 crash of an Eastern Airlines L-1011 in the Everglades (the subject of Hollywood movie, The Ghost Of Flight 401), the 1983 crash of a Miami-bound Air Florida Boeing 737 in Washington, DC, the 1995 crash of American Airlines Flight 965 into a mountain while en route from Miami to Cali, the 1996 crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in the Everglades, and the 2000 crash of a Miami-bound Air France Concorde in Paris. Another flight that almost ended in death was Miami-bound American Airlines Flight 63, the target of "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

For many years, the airport was a common connecting point for passengers traveling from Europe to Latin America. However, stricter visa requirements for aliens in transit (a result, in part, of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks) have lessened MIA's role as an intercontinental connecting hub. In 2004, Iberia ended its hub operation in Miami, opting instead to run more direct flights from Spain to Central America.

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Terminal, Airlines, and Destinations

The main terminal at MIA is semicircular and has eight pier-shaped concourses, lettered A through H in a counter-clockwise direction. Ticketing and departures are located on the upper level: immigration and baggage carousels are located on the lower level. Each gate can route arriving passengers to the main level (for domestic arrivals) or to the immigration halls downstairs (for international arrivals). Concourse E has a third-floor people mover that transports passengers to a satellite terminal.

A parking garage is located inside the terminal's curvature, and is connected to the terminal by overhead walkways. There is a heliport on top.

Concourses A through D are currently being merged into a single linear concourse to accommodate American's hub: this construction is planned for completion by 2005, and will eventually necessitate the closure of concourses B and C. A new concourse, Concourse J, is also under construction with the support of Star Alliance carriers.

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Concourse A

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Concourse B

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Concourse C

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Concourse D


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Concourse E

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Concourse F

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Concourse G

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Concourse H

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Other Carriers

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Ground transportation

MIA's only direct public transport link is to Miami-Dade Transit, although free shuttles are provided to the Metrorail/Tri-Rail Transfer Station .

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