Hartsfield

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport

A line of automated and staffed ticketing counters for Delta, Atlanta's major tenant airline.
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (IATA: ATL, ICAO: KATL, FAA LID: ATL), known locally as Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, and Hartsfield–Jackson, is located seven miles (11 km) south of the central business district of Atlanta,Georgia, United States. It has been the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic and number of landings and take-offs since 2005, serving 89 million passengers per year.[2]The airport is a focus city for Southwest Airlines and is the primary hub of Delta Air Lines and Delta Connection partner ExpressJet; the Delta hub is the world's largest airline hub. Delta Air Lines flew 59.01% of passengersfrom the airport in February 2011, AirTran flew 17.76%, and ExpressJet flew 13.86%.[3] The airport has 199 domestic and international gates.[4]
Hartsfield–Jackson held its ranking as the world's busiest airport in 2011, both in terms of passengers and number of flights, by accommodating 92 million passengers (252,000 passengers daily) and 923,991 flights.[1][5][6] Many of the nearly one millionflights are domestic flights from within the United States, where Atlanta serves as a major hub for travel throughout the Southeastern United States.
Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport has international service to North America, South America, Central America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. As an international gateway to the United States, Hartsfield–Jackson ranks seventh.[1] The airport is locatedmostly in unincorporated areas in Fulton and Clayton counties; the city limits of Atlanta,[7] College Park,[8] and Hapeville extend to the airport grounds.[9] The airport is served by MARTA's Red/Gold rail line.

History

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport's Air traffic control Tower
Hartsfield–Jackson had its beginnings with a five-year, rent-free lease on 287 acres (116 ha)that was the home of an abandoned auto racetrack. The lease was signed on April 16, 1925, by Mayor Walter Sims, who committed the city to develop it into an airfield. As part of the agreement, the property was renamed Candler Field after its former owner, Coca-Cola tycoon and former Atlanta mayor Asa Candler. The first flight into Candler Field was on September 15, 1926, a Florida Airways mailplane flying from Jacksonville, Florida. In May 1928, Pitcairn Aviation began service to Atlanta, followed in June 1930 by Delta Air Service. Later these two airlines, known as Eastern Air Lines and Delta Air Lines, respectively, would both use Atlanta as their chief hubs.[10]
It was a busy airport from its inception and by the end of 1930 it placed third behind New York City and Chicago for regulardaily flights with sixteen arriving and departing.[11] Candler Field's first control tower was opened March 1939.[12]
In October 1940, the U.S. government declared it a military airfield and the United States Army Air Force operated Atlanta Army Airfield jointly with Candler Field. The Air Force used the airport primarily for the servicing of transient aircraft, with many different types ofcombat aircraft being maintained at the airport. During World War II, the airport doubled in size and set a record of 1,700 takeoffs and landings in a single day, making it the nation's busiest airport in terms of flight operation. Atlanta Army Airfield closed after war's end.[12]
In 1946 Candler Field was renamed Atlanta Municipal Airport and by 1948, more than one million passengers passed through awar surplus hangar that served as a terminal building. During the postwar regulated period, both Delta and Eastern operated an extensive route network from ATL to destinations throughout the United States. Southern Airways also established itself at ATL shortly after the war and maintained a network of short-haul routes around the Southeast through 1979.
On June 1, 1956 an Eastern flight to...