Washington Dulles International Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

Coordinates: 38°56′40″N 077°27′21″W / 38.94444°N 77.45583°W / 38.94444; -77.45583

Washington Dulles International Airport
Dulles Airport Terminal
IATA: IAD – ICAO: KIAD – FAA: IAD
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Serves		Washington Metropolitan Area
Location		Dulles, Virginia
Elevation AMSL		313 ft / 95 m
Website		www.mwaa.com/dulles/
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
1L/19R	9,400	2,865	Concrete
1C/19C	11,500	3,505	Concrete
1R/19L	11,500	3,505	Concrete
12/30	10,500	3,200	Concrete
12R/30L	10,500	3,200	Planned
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Washington Dulles International Airport (IATA: IAD, ICAO: KIAD, FAA LID: IAD) is a public airport located 25 miles (40 km) west of the central business district of Washington, D.C., in Dulles, Virginia^[2] (Loudoun County and Fairfax County, Virginia, United States).^[1] It serves the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The airport is named after John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State under Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Dulles main terminal is a well-known landmark designed by Eero Saarinen.

Dulles airport occupies 11,830 acres (47.9 km²) of land,^[3] straddling the border of Fairfax County and Loudoun County, Virginia. It is located within two unincorporated communities, Chantilly and Dulles. The airport is west of Herndon and southwest of Sterling. Dulles airport is operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Dulles is served by nearly a dozen U.S.-flagged carriers and nearly two dozen international carriers.^[4] Airlines serving Dulles provide non-stop service to over 80 domestic destinations and to over 40 international destinations. United Airlines maintains its East Coast hub at Dulles and handles 62% of passengers at the airport. JetBlue, which considers Dulles a focus city, handles 6% of passengers, and American Airlines is the airport's third largest carrier and handles 4%.^[5] The airport has 143 gates and 14 hard stand locations from which passengers can board or deboard using the airport's trademark PlaneMate airfield vehicles.^[6] On a typical day, Dulles sees 1,000 to 1,200 flight operations.^[7]

Contents 1 History and background 1.1 Origins 1.2 Design and original construction 1.3 Notable operations and milestones 2 Planned development 3 Terminals 3.1 Mobile lounges and plane mates 3.2 Main terminal 3.2.1 "Z" Gates 3.3 Midfield terminals 3.3.1 Midfield Concourse A 3.3.2 Midfield Concourse B 3.3.3 Midfield Concourse C 3.3.4 Midfield Concourse D 4 Airline lounges 5 Transportation to and from the airport 6 Accidents and incidents 7 In fiction 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History and background

[edit] Origins

At the end of World War II, growth in aviation and in the Washington metropolitan area led Congress to pass the Washington Airport Act of 1950, providing federal backing for a second airport. After preliminary proposals failed, including one to establish an international airport at what is now Burke Lake Park, the current site was selected by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1958. As a result of the selection, the former unincorporated community of Willard, which once stood in the airport's current footprint, was torn down.

[edit] Design and original construction

The civil engineering firm Ammann and Whitney was named lead contractor. The airport was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy on November 17, 1962. Its original name, Dulles International Airport, was changed in 1984 to Washington Dulles International Airport.^[8] The main terminal was designed in 1958 by famed Finnish architect Eero Saarinen and it is highly regarded for its graceful beauty, suggestive of flight. In the 1990s, the main terminal at Dulles was reconfigured to allow more space between the front of the building and the ticket counters, and additions that more than doubled the terminal's length were built onto each end. The original terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan was modeled after the Saarinen terminal at Dulles.

[edit] Notable operations and milestones

• The first flight at Dulles was an Eastern Air Lines Super Electra turboprop arriving from Newark International Airport in New Jersey.
• Dulles was initially considered to be a white elephant due to its limited flight destinations in the 1960s and its 26-mile (42 km) distance from downtown Washington, but the airport has steadily grown at the same time that suburbs of the city have grown along the Dulles Technology Corridor and the Capital Beltway. Perimeter and slot restrictions placed on flights arriving at and departing from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport have meant that most long-distance flights to the area must operate at Dulles or Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland.
• The era of jumbo jets in international aviation began on January 15, 1970, when First Lady Pat Nixon christened a Pan Am Boeing 747 at Dulles in the presence of Pan Am chairman Najeeb Halaby. The event did not feature the traditional champagne bottle christening, instead, red, white, and blue water was sprayed on the aircraft. The first Boeing 747 flight on Pan Am from Dulles was to London Heathrow.
• Another milestone in aviation took place on May 24, 1976, when supersonic air travel commenced between Dulles and Europe. On that day, a British Airways Concorde flew in from London and an Air France Concorde arrived from Paris. The two sleek aircraft lined up at Dulles nose-to-nose for a photo opportunity.
• On June 13, 1983, the Space Shuttle Enterprise "landed" at Dulles atop a modified Boeing 747 after completing a European tour and prior to returning to Edwards AFB. In 1985, the Enterprise was placed in a storage hangar near Runway 12/30 pending the construction of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
• During the 1980s, a United States Senate resolution to change the name of Washington Dulles to Washington Eisenhower was defeated.
• When the SR-71 was retired by the military in 1990, one was flown from its birthplace at United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California to Dulles, where it was placed in a special storage building pending the construction of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, setting a coast-to-coast speed record at an average 2,124 mph (3,418 km/h). The entire trip took 64 minutes.^[9]
• The inaugural flight of the Boeing 777 in commercial service, a United Airlines flight from London Heathrow, landed at Dulles in 1995.

• In December 2003, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum opened at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles. The museum annex houses an Air France Concorde, the Enola Gay B-29, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the Boeing 367-80, which was the prototype of the Boeing 707, and other famous aerospace artifacts, particularly those too large for the main building on the National Mall.
• On April 19, 2006, United Express began moving its operations from Concourse G to Concourse A. The latter was formerly used by the now-defunct Independence Air, which ceased operations on January 6, 2006. The transition was completed on May 1, 2006.^[10] Concourse G was later demolished.
• The launch of low-cost carrier Independence Air in 2004 propelled IAD from being the 24th busiest airport in the United States to 4th, and one of the top 30 busiest in the world. At its peak of 600 flight operations daily (The combined presence of Independence Air, JetBlue, and AirTran). Briefly making Dulles the largest low-cost hub in the United States. Independence Air ceased operations in January 2006. Southwest Airlines began service at Dulles in fall 2006. In 2006, Dulles ranked 29th in 2006 in traffic movements. In 2007, 24.7 million passengers passed through the airport.^[11]

• In 2007, Dulles saw considerable international growth with new flights by Aer Lingus (Dublin), Copa Airlines (Panama City), Iberia Airlines (Madrid), Qatar Airways (Doha), and United Airlines (Beijing, Rome-Fiumicino). Other airlines have expressed interest in flying to Dulles. Air China and Turkish Airlines have confirmed new flights (to Beijing and Istanbul, respectively) but have not determined start dates.^{[citation needed]} Air Peru and Virgin Nigeria have also announced their intention to fly to Dulles, and Air India plans to launch new Mumbai–Munich–Washington flights by 2009.^{[citation needed]} Other possible airlines include Air One, Caribbean Airlines, Emirates Airline, and Jet Airways.^{[citation needed]} Aerosur is also interested in flying to Washington to replace Lloyd Aereo Boliviano's former flights.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Planned development

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

As Dulles expanded in the 1980s and 1990s, operations outgrew the main terminal and new midfield concourses were constructed, using mobile lounges to bring passengers to the main terminal. An underground tunnel (consisting of a passenger walkway and moving sidewalks) which links the main terminal and concourse B was opened in 2004. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) began a renovation program for the airport, to include a new security mezzanine to help relieve the heavily congested security lines that are familiar to passengers traveling through the airport. There will also be a new train system, dubbed "AeroTrain", which is currently being developed by Mitsubishi.^{[citation needed]} The system, which uses rubber tires and travels along a fixed guideway, is similar to the people mover systems at Miami's airport and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.^{[citation needed]} The train is intended to replace the mobile lounges, which many passengers find crowded and congested. Dulles has stated that the wait time for a train will not exceed two minutes, compared to the average 15 minute wait and travel time for mobile lounges today. The train system in Phase One will include a main terminal station, a permanent Concourse B station, temporary access to the temporary C&D concourses, and a maintenance facility. Final-phase development would see the addition of several new midfield concourses and a new south terminal. Also, under the development plan, two new runways are being constructed to address increasing flight traffic and an expansion of the B concourse, which is used by many low cost airlines as well as international arrivals. The "Midfield Concourses" (C and D) mainly house United Airlines, and will be knocked down to make room for a more ergonomic building.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Terminals

The main terminal houses ticketing, baggage claim, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Z gates, and other support facilities. From here, passengers can take mobile lounges to their concourses, "plane mates" directly to their airplanes, or take the passenger walkway to concourse B. The plane mates are also used to transport passengers arriving on international flights directly to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection center located in the main terminal. The terminal cost US$108.3 million and has 143 gates total.^[12]

[edit] Mobile lounges and plane mates

Dulles is one of the few remaining airports to use the "mobile lounge" system for boarding and disembarkation from aircraft. The "lounge" consists of a 54-by-16-foot carriage mounted on a scissor truck, capable of carrying 102 passengers. These vehicles were designed by the Chrysler Corporation in association with the Budd Company, and are sometimes nicknamed "moon buggies" due to their otherworldly appearance. When mobile lounges were first introduced, they had ramps at one end that could be raised or lowered to the floor height of an aircraft. However, when they were retrofitted to be used only for inter-terminal passenger transport, the ramps were removed and doors that could interlock with a terminal building were fitted to either end. Mobile lounges have a driver's cab at each end. The wheels at either end of the lounge can be steered, but the wheels at the end opposite the driver lock into a straight-ahead configuration so that the lounge is steered only by the wheels at the leading end of the lounge.

The "plane mate" is an evolutionary variation on the concept. They are similar in appearance to mobile lounges, but can raise themselves on screws (parts of which are contained in a pair of fin-like towers above the vehicles) to "mate" directly with an aircraft. This allows passengers to deplane directly aboard and be carried to the main terminal. They are easily identified by the different window configuration and two short columns on the roof with red beacons mounted on the top. Plane mates have an accordion-like canopy at one end (similar to the canopy seen at the end of a jet bridge) and have only one driver's cab and one set of steering wheels at the canopy end.

The airport's designers thought that by shuttling from the main terminal directly to a midfield jet ramp, they could save passengers from long walking distances amidst weather, noise, and fumes on the ramp. But the advent of the jet bridge and construction of the midfield concourses diluted the system's advantages.

Today, the airport uses 19 mobile lounges to transfer passengers between the midfield concourses and to and from the main terminal building, as well as 30 plane mates. They have all been given names based on the postal abbreviations of 50 states, e.g.: VA, MD, AK The MWAA plans to retire the mobile lounge system for inter-terminal passenger movements in favor of an underground people mover and pedestrian walkway system (now in service to concourse B). However, some plane mates will remain in use to disembark international passengers and carry them to the International Arrivals Building, as well as to convey passengers to and from aircraft on hard stand (i.e., those parked remotely on the tarmac without access to jet bridges).^[13][14]

[edit] Main terminal

The main terminal was recognized by the American Institute of Architects in 1966 for its design concept; its roof is a suspended catenary providing a wide enclosed area unimpeded by any columns. It houses ticketing, baggage claim, and information facilities, as well as the International Arrivals Building for passenger processing.

Although the original design is still intact, the increase in low-cost carriers and increased security requirements have caused functional problems, with long lines at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints and crowded conditions in the once more-than-adequate ticketing area occurring during peak periods. During busy travel seasons, the checkpoint line can wrap around the entire ticketing area. In these instances, getting from the end of the line to the front can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes.^{[citation needed]} Separate security screening lines allow "premium passengers" to move through security faster, and "Dulles Diamond" lanes are available for experienced travelers who self-select to use them.

There are two sets of gates in the main terminal: waiting areas for airlines which lack permanent physical gates and therefore use plane mates to reach planes parked at hard-stand locations, and the "Z" Gates, which provide service for US Airways.

[edit] "Z" Gates

Airlines	Destinations
US Airways	Charlotte, Phoenix
US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Charlotte
US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines	Charlotte

[edit] Midfield terminals

There are two midfield terminal buildings: One contains the A and B Midfield Concourses, another the C and D Midfield Concourses. The C and D Concourses, completed in 1983, were designed to be a temporary home for United Airlines, which began hub operations at the airport in 1985 (after abandoning its hub at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport). Their replacements are under development. The G Concourse, built as a temporary location for United Express flights (after Atlantic Coast Airlines, United's former main United Express carrier at Dulles, severed its ties with United and became Independence Air), has been demolished. The B Concourse is the first of the permanent Midfield Concourses.

[edit] Midfield Concourse A

Airlines	Destinations
United Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Boston, Buffalo, Columbus (OH), Greensboro, Indianapolis, New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Toronto-Pearson
United Express operated by Colgan Air	Allentown/Bethlehem, Altoona, Beckley, Binghamton, Charleston (WV), Charlottesville, Clarksburg, Johnstown, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Shenandoah Valley, State College, White Plains
United Express operated by GoJet Airlines	Kansas City, Norfolk, Portland (ME), Providence, Rochester (NY), San Antonio, Syracuse
United Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Albany (NY), Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Burlington (VT), Charleston (SC), Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbia (SC), Detroit, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Hartford/Springfield, Huntsville, Jacksonville (FL), Kansas City, Manchester (NH), Myrtle Beach, Nashville, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, New York-LaGuardia, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Raleigh/Durham, Roanoke, Rochester (NY), Savannah
United Express operated by Shuttle America	Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Halifax, Hartford/Springfield, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Miami, Montréal, New Orleans, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Pittsburgh, Rochester (NY), Toronto-Pearson
United Express operated by Trans States Airlines	Albany, Birmingham (AL), Burlington (VT), Charleston (SC), Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Dayton, Detroit, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Knoxville, Manchester (NH), Newark, Philadelphia, Providence, Richmond, Roanoke, St. Louis, Syracuse

[edit] Midfield Concourse B

Airlines	Destinations
Aer Lingus	Dublin [seasonal], Madrid [begins March 29]
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo
AirTran Airways	Atlanta, Orlando
Air France	Paris-Charles de Gaulle
All Nippon Airways	Tokyo-Narita
American Airlines	Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, San Juan [begins November 19]
AmericanConnection operated by Trans States Airlines	St. Louis
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
Avianca	Bogotá
British Airways	London-Heathrow
Cayman Airways	Grand Cayman [seasonal]
Continental Connection operated by Colgan Air	Newark
Continental Connection operated by CommutAir	Newark
Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines	Newark
Copa Airlines	Panama City
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, Cancún, Salt Lake City
Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines	Atlanta
Delta Connection operated by Comair	Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK
TACA	Guatemala City, San Salvador
Iberia Airlines	Madrid
JetBlue Airways	Boston, Cancún, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers [seasonal], Long Beach, New York-JFK, Oakland, Orlando, San Juan, West Palm Beach [seasonal]
KLM	Amsterdam
Korean Air	Seoul-Incheon
Locair	Lake Cumberland
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich [seasonal; ends October 23]
Northwest Airlines	Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Northwest Airlink operated by Compass Airlines	Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines	Minneapolis/St. Paul
Qatar Airways	Doha
Saudi Arabian Airlines	Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh
Scandinavian Airlines System	Copenhagen
South African Airways	Dakar, Johannesburg
Southwest Airlines	Chicago-Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa
Sun Country Airlines	Minneapolis/St. Paul
Virgin America	Los Angeles, San Francisco
Virgin Atlantic	London-Heathrow

[edit] Midfield Concourse C

Airlines	Destinations
Air Canada Jazz	Montréal-Trudeau, Ottawa
United Airlines	Albuquerque, Amsterdam, Aruba, Beijing-Capital, Boston, Brussels, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cancún, Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Dubai,Fort Myers, Frankfurt, Geneva, Greensboro, Hartford/Springfield, Houston-Intercontinental, Kuwait, Las Vegas, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Montego Bay, Moscow-Domodedovo, Munich, New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia, Orlando, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Punta Cana, Raleigh/Durham, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Rome-Fiumicino, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seattle/Tacoma, Singapore, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Tampa, Tokyo-Narita, Zürich
United Express operated by Shuttle America	See Concourse A

[edit] Midfield Concourse D

Airlines	Destinations
Ethiopian Airlines	Addis Ababa, Rome-Fiumicino
United Airlines	See Concourse C
United Express operated by Shuttle America	See Concourse A

[edit] Airline lounges

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

• Aer Lingus operates a Gold Circle Lounge in the B concourse, opposite gate B50.^[15]
• Air France operates a Departures Lounge in the B Concourse, opposite B46.^[16]
• All Nippon Airways operates a Club ANA Fuji lounge in the B Concourse, opposite B46.^[17]
• American Airlines operates an Admirals Club lounge in the B Concourse, opposite B62.^[18]
• British Airways operates a Terraces Lounge and a First Class Lounge in the B Concourse, opposite B50.^[19]
• Lufthansa operates a Senator Lounge and a Business Lounge in the B Concourse, opposite B50.^[20]
• Northwest Airlines/KLM operate a WorldClubs (to be renamed Delta Sky Club) lounge in the B Concourse, opposite B20.^[21]
• United Airlines operates three Red Carpet Clubs in the C and D Concourses opposite C7, C16, and D7.^[22]
• Virgin Atlantic operates a Clubhouse in the B Concourse opposite B32.^[23]

Airlines who do not operate a lounge of their own are offered access to lounges of partner airlines.

[edit] Transportation to and from the airport

Dulles is accessible via the Dulles Access Road (State Route 267) and State Route 28.

As of 2007^[update], the only Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority service to Dulles is the "express" 5A Metrobus route. The 5A express bus makes two to three stops on its way from the airport to downtown Washington, depending on the time of day: stops include the Herndon–Monroe transfer station in Herndon and the Rosslyn Metro station in Arlington. The latter can be accessed by the Orange/Blue lines. The 950 Fairfax Connector bus brings passengers from Reston to the Herndon–Monroe transfer station, where they can switch to the 5A bus to the airport. The RIBS 2 Fairfax Connector bus also connects Reston passengers to the Herndon–Monroe transfer point. An alternative (and more expensive) way of reaching Dulles is the Washington Flyer Coach bus service that operates roughly every thirty minutes between the airport and the West Falls Church Metro station.^[24]

Passengers connecting to the Shenandoah Valley can use the Shenandoah Valley Commuter Bus, which connects to the Vienna and Rosslyn Metro station. Taxis and SuperShuttle ride sharing vans are also available.

Construction is now underway to connect the airport to Washington via the Silver Line of the Washington Metro by 2016.

[edit] Accidents and incidents

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

On December 1, 1974, a flight diverted to Dulles, TWA Flight 514, crashed into Mount Weather.

On June 18, 1994, a Learjet 25 operated by Mexican carrier TAESA crashed in trees while approaching the airport from the south. Twelve people died. The passengers were planning to attend the 1994 FIFA World Cup soccer games being staged in Washington, D.C.

A flight originating from Dulles, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks.

[edit] In fiction

Dulles has been the backdrop for many Washington based movies, starting shortly after the airport opened with the 1964 film Seven Days in May.

The 1983 comedy film D.C. Cab,starring Mr. T, Adam Baldwin and Gary Busey showed scenes outside of the main terminal at Dulles Airport.

The action movie Die Hard 2: Die Harder is set primarily at Dulles airport. The plot of the film involves the takeover of the airport's tower and communication systems by terrorists, led by Colonel Stuart (William Sadler), who subsequently uses the equipment to prevent airliners from landing, demonstrating the consequences by fooling one jet into crashing onto a runway. It is up to LAPD cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) to stop them from downing more planes, one of which has his wife aboard. The film was not shot at Dulles; the stand-ins were Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the now-closed Stapleton International Airport in Denver. An often-noted inconsistency is the existence of Pacific Bell pay phones in the main terminal (the telephone company that served Dulles at the time was GTE and the nearest PacBell territory was thousands of miles away).

Part of the thriller The Package (starring Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones) took place at Dulles. However, the Dulles stand-in this time was Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Portions of all three sequels to the disaster film Airport were filmed at Dulles: Airport 1975, with Charlton Heston, Karen Black and George Kennedy; Airport '77, with Jack Lemmon, Christopher Lee and George Kennedy; and The Concorde: Airport '79.

Dulles has also served as a stand-in for a New York City airport, in the 1999 comedy, Forces of Nature. While set in a New York airport, the main terminal is recognizable.

Dulles is featured in several episodes the television series The X-Files.^[25]

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Washington Dulles International Airport

• Busiest airports in the United States by international passenger traffic
• List of thin shell structures
• Thin-shell structure

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• openNav: IAD / KIAD charts
• FAA Airport Diagram(PDF), effective 2 July 2009
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KIAD
  • ASN accident history for IAD
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KIAD
  • FAA current IAD delay information