Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport (IATA: GPT, ICAO: KGPT, FAA LID: GPT) is a joint civil–military public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) northeast of the central business district of Gulfport, a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is owned by the Gulfport–Biloxi Regional Airport Authority and serves the Gulf Coast area.

This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year). As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 487,907 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 411,978 enplanements in 2009, and 325,437 emplacements in 2014.

History

The airport was originally constructed in 1942 by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base for Air Corps Flying Training Command. Gulfport Army Airfield opened on July 7, and the Eastern Technical Training Command conducted technical training and basic training until transferred to Third Air Force on March 31, 1944 with joint use by Technical Training Command for marine training of Emergency Rescue School (3d Air Rescue Group) located at Keesler Army Airfield. With the end of the war and the drawdown of the military, Gulfport AAF was placed into reserve status on January 31, 1946.

An international airport is an airport that offers customs and immigration facilities for passengers travelling between countries. International airports are typically larger than domestic airports and often feature longer runways and facilities to accommodate the heavier aircraft commonly used for international and intercontinental travel. International airports often also host domestic flights. Some, such as Frankfurt Airport in Germany are very large; others such as Fa'a'ā International Airport in Tahiti, are quite small.

Buildings, operations and management have become increasingly sophisticated since the mid 20th century, when international airports began to provide infrastructure for international civilian flights. Detailed technical standards have been developed to ensure safety and common coding systems implemented to provide global consistency. The physical structures that serve millions of individual passengers and flights are among the most complex and interconnected in the world. By the second decade of the 21st century, there were over 1,200 international airports and almost two billion international passengers along with 50 million metric tonnes of cargo were passing through them annually.

Memphis International Airport (IATA: MEM, ICAO: KMEM, FAA LID: MEM) is a civil-military airport seven miles (11.2 km) southeast of downtown Memphis, in Shelby County, Tennessee.

Memphis International Airport is home to the FedEx Express global hub, which processes many of the company's packages. Nonstop FedEx destinations from Memphis include cities across the continental United States, Europe, Middle East, Asia and South America. From 1993 to 2009 Memphis had the largest cargo operations of any airport worldwide. MEM dropped into second position in 2010, behind Hong Kong; however, it remained the busiest cargo airport in the United States.

As of 2014, Memphis International Airport had a passenger count of 3.75 million, up slightly from the 2014 year.Delta Air Lines dropped Memphis as a hub airport after continually reducing flights following its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines. As of July 2014 MEM averaged 83 total passenger flights per day on all of the airlines serving the city. The airport has since added several airlines, including Southwest, Frontier, and Allegiant, which has increased competition among the carriers. Since Delta's departure as a hub operation, average round trip prices have declined significantly. The July–September 2014 quarter alone saw a 4.7% decline from the quarter a year earlier.

Philadelphia International Airport (IATA: PHL, ICAO: KPHL, FAA LID: PHL), often referred to just by its IATA code PHL, is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in the state. The airport is a major international hub for American Airlines and a regional cargo hub for UPS Airlines. The airport has service to destinations in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. Most of the airport property is located in Philadelphia proper. The international terminal and the western end of the airfield are located in Tinicum Township, Delaware County.

History

Starting in 1925 the Pennsylvania National Guard used the PHL site (known as Hog Island) as a training airfield. The site was dedicated as the "Philadelphia Municipal Airport" by Charles Lindbergh in 1927, but it had no proper terminal building until 1940; airlines used the airfield (at 39°55′48″N 75°04′41″W / 39.930°N 75.078°W / 39.930; -75.078) in nearby Camden, New Jersey. Once Philadelphia's terminal was completed (on the east side of the field) American, Eastern, TWA and United began flights.