International airport

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.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport (IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT) is a joint civil-military public international airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1935 as Charlotte Municipal Airport, in 1954 the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport after former Charlotte mayor Ben Elbert Douglas, Sr. The airport gained its current name in 1982 and is the second largest hub for American Airlines after Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, with service to 175 domestic and international destinations as of 2008. In 2009, it was the 9th busiest airport in the United States. In 2010, Charlotte was the 6th busiest airport in the world, based on traffic movements and in 2013 it was the 23rd busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic. Charlotte is the largest airport in the United States without nonstop service to Asia.

History

The early years

The city received a $200,000 grant from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1930 to establish Charlotte's first municipal airport.