Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
IATA: CVG ICAO: KCVG FAA LID: CVG CVG Location of the airport in Kentucky
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Kenton County Airport Board
Serves	Cincinnati, Ohio
Location	Hebron, Kentucky
Hub for	Delta Air Lines DHL Express (Astar Air Cargo & Polar Air Cargo) Ameriflight
Elevation AMSL	896 ft / 273 m
Coordinates	39°02′56″N 084°40′04″W
Website	www.cvgairport.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 9/27 12,000 3,658 Asphalt/Concrete 18C/36C 11,000 3,353 Asphalt/Concrete 18L/36R 10,000 3,048 Concrete 18R/36L 8,000 2,438 Concrete
Statistics (2011)
Total passengers 7,034,263 Aircraft operations 161,912
Sources: Airport website.

Runway layout at CVG

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (IATA: CVG, ICAO: KCVG), sometimes called the Greater Cincinnati Airport is located in Hebron, unincorporated Boone County, Kentucky, United States and serves the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. Despite being located in Boone County, the airport operations are governed by the neighboring Kenton County Airport Board. The airport's code, CVG, comes from the nearest major city at the time of its opening, Covington, Kentucky. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport covers an area of 8,000 acres (32 km²).

History

President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved preliminary funds for site development of the Greater Cincinnati Airport February 11, 1942. This was part of the Army Air Corps program to establish training facilities during World War II. At the time, air traffic in the area centered around Lunken Airport just southeast of central Cincinnati. Lunken opened in 1926 and was located in the Ohio River Valley. Due to its location, the airport frequently experienced fog and was covered in approximately 80 ft (24 m) of water during the 1937 flood. While federal officials wanted an airfield site that would not be prone to flooding, Cincinnati officials hoped to build Lunken into the premier airport of the region.

A coalition of officials from Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties in Kentucky took advantage of Cincinnati's short-sightedness and lobbied Congress to build an airfield there. Boone County officials offered a suitable site on the provision that Kenton County paid the acquisition cost. In October 1942, Congress provided $2 million to construct four runways.

The field officially opened August 12, 1944 with the first B-17 bombers beginning practice runs on August 15. As the tide of the war had already turned, the Air Corps only used the field until 1945 before it was declared surplus. On October 27, 1946, a small wooden terminal building opened and the airport prepared for commercial service.

The first airplane, an American Airlines DC-3 from Cleveland, Ohio, landed at the airport January 10, 1947, at 9:53am. A Delta Air Lines flight followed moments later. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 97 weekday departures: 37 American, 26 Delta, 24 TWA, 8 Piedmont and 2 Lake Central. As late as November 1959, the airport had four 5,500 ft (1,700 m) runways at 45-degree angles, the north–south runway eventually being extended into today's runway 18C/36C.

Jet age

On December 16, 1960 the jet age arrived in Cincinnati when a Delta Air Lines Convair 880 from Miami completed the first scheduled jet flight. The airport needed to expand and build more modern terminals and other facilities; the original Terminal A was expanded and renovated. The north–south runway was extended 3,100 ft (940 m) to 8,600 ft (2,600 m). In 1964, the board approved a $12 million bond to expand the south concourse of Terminal A by 32,000 sq ft (3,000 m²) and provide nine gates for TWA, American, and Delta. A new east–west runway crossing the longer north–south runway was constructed in 1971 south of the older east–west runway. In the mid-1980s, Delta created a hub in Cincinnati and constructed Terminal 3 with its three midfield concourses. This hub eventually grew to be Delta's second largest, handling over 600 flights of Delta, and Delta Connection in 2005.

Delta hub cuts

In 2008, Delta merged with Northwest Airlines and cut flight capacity from the Cincinnati hub by 22 percent with an additional 17 percent reduction in 2009. Delta announced additional cuts in February 2010 by eliminating five destination cities. This leaves CVG with 63 destinations served by mainline and 'DL connection' flights, down from 130. Many businesses in Cincinnati have urged Delta to restore the service level it had in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade) while some have already relocated to cities with more available flights. Flights at CVG are scheduled in morning and afternoon blocks, in which very large numbers of flights are scheduled to depart around the same time. The only remaining intercontinental service by Delta is a daily departure to Paris in the evening. Air France operated flights into CVG for several periods for over a decade before finally terminating the service in 2007. As of now, both Air France and KLM codeshare on Delta's international and domestic services out of CVG. In January 2010, Delta's CEO Richard Anderson anticipated that there would be 160–170 daily departures in the summer and that the number would not change through at least the fall. Delta closed Concourse A in Terminal 3 May 1, 2010, and consolidated all operations into Concourse B. This resulted in the layoff of more than 800 employees. Delta, however, says that it will maintain the same amount of departures from CVG. In June 2011, Delta announced that it would cut another 10% of the CVG hub capacity that summer, offering between 145–165 daily flights.

Facilities

Oblique air photo of the airport, facing north in 2011

The airport's terminal/remote-concourse configuration, combined with simultaneous triple landing/takeoff capabilities, makes CVG a particularly efficient airport for flight operations. CVG is the smallest domestic hub of Delta Air Lines and is the central hub of Delta's wholly owned subsidiary airline, Comair, which provides regional jet service under the Delta Connection banner. As such, the airport serves an important role in Delta's Midwest hub-and-spoke system. In recent years, Delta Air Lines has considerably pared the number of flights out of the Cincinnati hub and in August 2008 announced it would be moving all of its Comair flights to Concourses A and B and closed all operations in Concourse C in January 2009. In February 2010, Delta announced it would close Concourse A in May and further consolidate operations in the remaining concourse.

The airport has three terminals, though one in use. Since January 2007, Terminal 1 houses only airport administrative offices. It is the original terminal and was built in 1960 and renovated in 1974. Designed by Heery & Heery, Terminals 2 and 3 were built in 1974 when additional expansion necessitated more gates. Terminal 3 was expanded specifically for Delta in 1987 and has three remote concourses. Concourses B and C were completed in December of 1994 as part of a $500 million expansion designed by Thompson, Hancock, Witte & Associates. Concourses A and B are connected to the main terminal by an underground train system. Concourse C is reachable only by shuttle bus. Terminal 3 is served by Delta and its regional affiliates. Terminal 3 houses the airport's only US Customs and Border Protection facilities in Concourse B. All international arrivals except, U.S. border preclearance are processed in the Mezzanine Level of Concourse B. Terminal 3 is also served by USA3000 Airlines, who predominantly serve international destinations.

Concourse B in Terminal 3 is well known for its open spaces, high ceilings, large windows with views of the airfield, and natural lighting during the day. All Delta, Delta Connection, and Comair flights all operate from Concourse B.

In May of 2012, Terminal 2 was officially closed and all non-Delta operations were consolidated in a newly renovated Concourse A. The renovation was in response to civic and business leader's concerns about the loss of flights to and from the airport.

The airport currently operates four paved runways:

• Runway 9/27: 12,000 x 150 ft. (3,658 x 46 m), Asphalt/Concrete
• Runway 18C/36C: 11,000 x 150 ft. (3,353 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt/Concrete
• Runway 18L/36R: 10,000 x 150 ft. (3,048 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete
• Runway 18R/36L: 8,000 x 150 ft. (2,438 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete

Employment

In addition to hundreds of ground staff employees, Delta has a flight attendant base and a pilot base for the McDonnell Douglas MD-88, and Boeing 737–800. Delta's regional carrier (Comair) also have pilot and flight attendant bases. In total, over 1,000 people are employed at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Skyclub

Delta operates one Sky Club in Concourse B and until summer 2008, also operated a Business Elite lounge near Gate B14. Though the lounge was closed, the furniture and space is now used as a pilots lounge.

Main Terminal

Concourse A

Operated by Delta Air Lines until 2010, Concourse A underwent an extensive renovation before re-opening on May 15, 2012 to serve passengers on Air Canada, American Airlines, United Airlines, and US Airways, all of which formerly used Terminal 2, which is now closed. As such, ticketing, security screening and baggage claim for all airlines now take place in the newly renamed Main Terminal (Terminal 3).

Concourse B

Concourse B is, like all concourses of Terminal 3, designed and originally purposed for Delta and its affiliates, including Cincinnati based Delta subsidiary, Comair. The concourse thus houses all Delta and Delta Connection flights with a total of 39 gates. Also, U.S. Customs and Border Protection are contained in Concourse B .

Concourse C

Concourse C, which housed all Delta Connection flights, opened in September 1994 and closed in 2009 due to Delta Air Lines cutting flights from the hub. Concourse C is an island and was only accessible by passengers from other terminals and ticketing facilities via buses. Delta has a lease on the concourse until 2025. Concourse C is currently used only for special events such as serving as the flight terminal base for executive aircraft for NASCAR race teams during the summer race weekend at Kentucky Speedway located in nearby Sparta, KY.

Security Checkpoint

The Main Terminal Security Checkpoint is on the Ticketing Level. This new, expandable checkpoint opened in November 2009. After clearing security, passengers can take escalators or elevators down to the Cincinnati Airport People Mover that departs to go out to all gates. Arriving passengers still exit the terminal by taking elevators or escalators down to the baggage claim level and ground transportation.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations	Concourse
Air Canada Express operated by Jazz Air	Toronto-Pearson	A
AmericanConnection operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare	A
American Eagle	Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York-JFK	A
Apple Vacations operated by Frontier Airlines	Cancun, Punta Cana	B
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, Orlando, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa Seasonal: Cancun, Phoenix, San Diego	B
Delta Connection operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Baltimore, Grand Rapids, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Washington-Dulles	B
Delta Connection operated by Comair	Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Fayetteville (AR), Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Harrisburg, Hartford/Springfield, Houston-Intercontinental, Jacksonville (FL), Kansas City, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New Orleans, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Newark, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, St. Louis, Syracuse [ends August 13, 2012], Tampa, Toronto-Pearson, Washington-Dulles, Washington-National Seasonal: Des Moines	B
Delta Connection operated by Compass Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Kansas City, Tampa	B
Delta Connection operated by ExpressJet	Atlanta, Detroit, Hartford/Springfield, Newark, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington-National	B
Delta Connection operated by Mesaba Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Hartford, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul	B
Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines	Baltimore, Charlotte, Fayetteville (AR), Greenville/Spartanburg, Hartford, Kansas City, Madison, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Raleigh/Durham, St. Louis, Syracuse [ends August 13, 2012], Toronto-Pearson, Washington-Dulles, Seasonal: Grand Rapids	B
Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines	Milwaukee, Nashville, Washington-National	B
Sunwing Airlines	Montego Bay	B
United Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare	A
United Express operated by CommutAir	Cleveland [ends July 31, 2012]	A
United Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark, Washington-Dulles	A
United Express operated by GoJet Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Denver	A
United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Houston-Intercontinental	A
United Express operated by Trans States Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Washington-Dulles	A
US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin	Charlotte, Philadelphia	A
US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Charlotte	A
US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines	Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-National	A
Vision Airlines	Seasonal: Myrtle Beach	A

Top destinations

Top Ten Busiest Domestic Routes Out of CVG
(March 2011 – February 2012)

Rank	City	Passengers	Carriers
1	Atlanta, GA	248,000	Delta
2	Chicago, IL (ORD)	215,000	American, Delta, United
3	Charlotte, NC	148,000	Delta, US Airways
4	Dallas/Fort Worth, TX	125,000	American, Delta
5	Orlando, Florida	125,000	Delta
6	Los Angeles, CA	116,000	Delta
7	Philadelphia, PA	112,000	Delta, US Airways
8	Boston, MA	111,000	Delta
9	New York, NY (LGA)	110,000	Delta
10	Minneapolis, MN	109,000	Delta

Cargo carriers and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
ABX Air	Baltimore, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greensboro, Houston-Intercontinental, Harlingen, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, Newark, New York-JFK, Orlando, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Juan, Seattle-Boeing Field
Aerotransporte de Carga Unión	Benito Juarez International Airport
Air Cargo Carriers	Harrisburg
Ameriflight	Albany, Cedar Rapids, Omaha, Winnipeg
Astar Air Cargo	Atlanta, Boston, Hamilton (ON), Los Angeles, Mexico City, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Toledo
Atlas Air	Anchorage, Bahrain, Frankfurt, Leipzig/Halle, Phoenix, Toledo
Capital Cargo International Airlines	Denver, Laredo, Nashville, Philadelphia, Rochester (NY), St. Louis
Cargojet Airways	Montréal-Mirabel
Castle Aviation	Akron-Canton
DHL Air UK	Brussels, East Midlands, Leipzig/Halle
FedEx Express	Indianapolis, Memphis, Washington-National
Kalitta Air	Anchorage, Bahrain, East Midlands, Hong Kong, Leipzig/Halle, Liège, Seoul-Incheon
Polar Air Cargo	Anchorage, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Leipzig/Halle, Seoul-Incheon
Southern Air	Anchorage, Hong Kong, Leipzig/Halle
Suburban Air Freight	Richmond

Other facilities

Delta Private Jets is headquartered on the grounds of the airport.

Ground transportation

TANK provides bus service from the airport to Downtown Cincinnati via Route 2X. Car rental services are provided by Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty. The Main Terminal has Short Term Parking Garages. The Short Term Parking areas are designated by fruit names: Level 1- Orange, Level 2- Lemon, Level 3- Lime, Level 4- Cherry, and Level 5- Grape. Long Term Parking is remote from the terminal, so passengers must use a shuttle bus between the terminals and Long Term Parking lot.

Based aircraft

Jet Aircraft – 9 Single Engine – 2 Multi-Engine – 2

Total – 9 (Data as of 2009)

Other

Statistics

The apron as seen from Terminal 2. In the foreground is an American Eagle Embraer E-135

Statistics for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

Year	Total Passengers	% change	Aircraft Movements	% change
2002	20,812,642		486,501
2003	21,197,447	1.8%	505,557	3.9%
2004	22,062,557	4.1%	517,520	2.4%
2005	22,778,785	3.2%	496,366	4.1%
2006	16,244,962	28.7%	345,754	30.3%
2007	15,736,220	3.1%	328,059	5.1%
2008	13,630,443	13.4%	285,484	13.0%
2009	10,621,655	22.1%	222,677	22.0%
2010	7,977,588	24.9%	177,597	20.2%
2011	7,034,263	11.8%	161,912	8.8%

Pricing

CVG consistently ranks among the most expensive major airports in the United States. Delta and its subsidiary Comair operate over 88% of flights at CVG, a fact often cited as a reason for relatively high domestic ticket prices. Airline officials have suggested that Delta practices predatory pricing to drive away discount airlines. From 1990 to 2003, ten discount airlines began service at CVG, only to later pull out, including Vanguard Airlines, which pulled out of CVG twice. Delta maintains that its pricing is reasonable, considering the increased connectivity and non-stop flights that a hub airport offers a market the size of Cincinnati.

According to a study commissioned by CVG, 18% of Cincinnati-area residents use one of five nearby airports – Dayton, Louisville, Port Columbus, Indianapolis, or Blue Grass (Lexington) – instead of CVG because passengers can find fares up to 50% lower at these nearby airports.

In a bid to boost local ridership and make CVG more competitive with surrounding airports, Delta Air Lines announced a large-scale fare reduction on February 6, 2009.

Industrial murals

The airport is home to 14 large Art Deco murals that were originally created for the Cincinnati Union Terminal during the Great Depression. Mosaic murals depicting people at work in local Cincinnati workplaces were incorporated into the interior design of the railroad station by Winold Reiss, a German-born artist with a reputation in interior design.

When one Concourse of the Station was designated for demolition in 1972, a "Save the Terminal Committee" raised funds to remove and transport the 14 murals in the concourse to new locations in the Airport. They were placed in Terminal 1, and in Terminals 2 and 3, which were then being constructed as part of a major airport expansion and renovation.

The murals were also featured in a scene in the film Rain Man starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. In addition, a walkway to one of the terminals at CVG was featured in the scene in the film when Hoffman's character, Raymond, refused to fly on a plane.

Notable accidents

• On January 12, 1955, 1955 Cincinnati mid-air collision, a Martin 2-0-2A was in the take off phase of departure from the airport when it collided with a privately owned Castleton Farms DC-3. The mid-air collision killed 13 people on the commercial airliner and 2 on the privately owned planes.

• On November 14, 1961, Zantop cargo flight, a DC-4, crashed near runway 18 into an apple orchard. The crew survived.

• On November 8, 1965, American Airlines Flight 383, a Boeing 727, crashed on approach to runway 18, killing 58 (53 passengers and 5 crew) of the 62 (56 passengers and 6 crew) on board.

• On November 6, 1967, TWA Flight 159, a Boeing 707, over-ran the runway during an aborted takeoff, injuring 11 of the 29 passengers. One of the injured passengers died four days later. The seven crew members were unhurt.

• On November 20, 1967, TWA Flight 128, a Convair 880, crashed on approach to runway 18, killing 70 (65 passengers and 5 crew) of the 82 persons aboard (75 passengers and 7 crew).

• On October 8, 1979, Comair Flight 444, a Piper Navajo, crashed shortly after takeoff . Seven passengers and the pilot were killed.

• On June 2, 1983, Air Canada Flight 797, a DC-9 flying on a Houston-Dallas-Toronto-Montreal route, made an emergency landing at Cincinnati due to a cabin fire. Twenty-three of the 41 passengers died of smoke inhalation or fire injuries, including legendary Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers. All five crew members survived.

• On August 13, 2004, Air Tahoma Flight 185, a Convair 580, was en-route to Cincinnati from Memphis, Tennessee, carrying freight under contract for DHL Worldwide Express. The aircraft crashed on a golf course just south of the Cincinnati airport due to fuel starvation and dual engine failure, killing the first officer and injuring the captain.

See also

• Ohio World War II Army Airfields
• Kentucky World War II Army Airfields

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

• Historical Images of Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport
• History of the Industrial Murals
• Mural images and location map
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective October 3, 2024
• FAA Terminal Procedures for CVG, effective October 3, 2024
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KCVG
  • ASN accident history for CVG
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KCVG
  • FAA current CVG delay information