Introduction
When flying into Atlanta there are several airports you can choose from. The Atlanta airport which is the biggest and most popular is Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Airport. If you are flying in from an international destination then it is mostly likely that you will have not much choice as to which Atlanta airport to fly into as all international flights into the Atlanta region fly into Hartsfield-Jackson. Hartsfield-Jackson is one of the world’s busiest airports in the world since 2006. If you are flying to Atlanta on a domestic flight then there is more flexibility as to which Atlanta airport you should choose. Other airports in the Atlanta area which are classified as municipal airports and are used by smaller planes include: Covington Municipal Airport, Falcon Field, Cartersville Airport, Cherokee Country Airport and Cobb County Airport.
History
The reason that Hartsfield-Jackson is so busy is that some of the biggest airlines use Atlanta as a central hub in their operations. The airlines which do use Hartsfield-Jackson as a central hub are AirTran, Delta Air Lines, ExpressJet and Delta Connection. The Hartsfield-Jackson airport has over 190 gates which means that it can have 190 planes loading or unloaded at any one time! The IATA airport code used for Hartsfrield-Jackson is ATL. In1925 the first plane landed at Candler Field which was the first airport on the site of where ATL is now. The Candler Field had been a auto racetrack before 1925 and was converted into a airfield Walter Sims, then then Major of Atlanta. In 1930 Delta began their services to Atlanta.
Features
It is surprising that already by the early 1930s Candler Field airport of Atlanta had become the 3rd busiest airport in the United States. During World War II the airport was closed for civilian use and used exclusively for military purposes. During this time the airport was expanded and at one point set the record of 1,700 takeoffs and landings within a single 24-hour period. In 2001 a fifth runway was added which increased the ability of the airport significantly. The fifth runway made ATL the only Atlanta airport with the capacity of over 230 flights per hour. Before the fifth runway was added the capacity per hour had been 184 flights per hour. With this number, you can imagine how good the services are at this airport.
Tips and comments
Up until 2002 the ATL airport was known as the Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. In 2003 the Atlanta City Council decided to change the name so that it included the name Jackson due to the sudden death of former city mayor Maynard Jackson. For passengers flying into the international Atlanta airport some useful information to know is which concourse particular airlines fly into. British Airways, Korean Air and Lufthansa all use concourse E at ATL. Some of the cargo airlines which fly into this Atlanta airport known as ATL are: Atlas Air, Qatar Airways Cargo, China Airlines, and Asiana Cargo. Most people agree that the best way to get to Atlanta or to leave Atlanta is through the international Hartsfield-Jackson airport.
