| World / USA / Virginia / Sterling, 8 km from center | Coordinates: 38°56'45"N 77°27'42"W |
Airport Code IAD
Named after former head of the CIA, John Foster Dulles
Terminals
The signature Dulles main terminal houses ticketing, baggage claim, US Customs and Border Protection, the Z gates, and other support facilities. From here passengers can take mobile lounges to their concourses, "plane mates" directly to their airplanes, or take the passenger walkway to concourse B. The plane mates are also used to transport passengers arriving on international flights directly to the US Customs and Border Protection inspection centre located in the main terminal.
Mobile lounges
Dulles is one of the few remaining airports to use the mobile lounge system for boarding and disembarkation from aircraft. The "lounge" consists of a 54-by-16-foot carriage mounted on a scissor truck, capable of carrying 102 passengers. They were designed by the Chrysler Corporation in association with the Budd Company. The conveyances are sometimes nicknamed "moon buggies" for the similar appearance of their tires with those of the Lunar Rover.
The "Plane Mate" is an evolutionary variation on the concept. They are similar in appearance to mobile lounges, but can raise themselves on screws to "mate" directly with an aircraft. This allows passengers to deplane directly aboard and be carried to the main terminal.
By shuttling from the main terminal directly to a midfield jet ramp, passengers could avoid long walking distances amidst weather, noise, and fumes on the tarmac. But the advent of the Jetway and construction of the midfield concourses diluted the system's advantages.
Today, the airport uses 19 mobile lounges to transfer passengers between the midfield concourses and to and from the main terminal building, as well as 30 plane mates. They have all been given names based on the postal abbreviations of 50 states, e.g.: VA, MD, AK, etc. The MWAA plans to retire the mobile lounge system altogether in favor of an underground people mover and pedestrian walkway system (now in service to concourse B), as part of a major engineering program that will also add a concourse to the main terminal and give the airport a fourth runway. This construction is taking place under the D2 Dulles Development program, in which 12 additional gates will be added to Concourse B, as well as a 315 foot tall control tower built one mile south of the current ATC tower, set to be operational in 2006. In addition, a new Concourse C will be constructed, and plans for an additional fifth runway are underway.
Main terminal
The main terminal is a very well regarded building; its roof is a suspended catenary providing a wide enclosed area unimpeded by columns. It was recognized by the American Institute of Architects in 1966. It houses ticketing, baggage claim, and information facilities, as well as the International Arrivals Building for passenger processing.
Although still very elegant, the increase in low-cost carriers has caused extremely long security checkpoint lines to develop and they now plague the once spacious ticketing area. During busy travels seasons, the checkpoint line can wrap around the entire ticketing area. In these cases, getting from the end of the line to the front can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minues.
There are two sets of gates in the main terminal. They are waiting areas for airlines which lack permanent physical gates and therefore use Plane Mates. There are also the recently-opened "Z" Gates, which provide service for US Airways.
"H" Gates
Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa [ends September 30, 2006])
Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa, Rome-Fiumicino)
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (Santa Cruz de la Sierra, La Paz)
Saudi Arabian Airlines (Jeddah, Riyadh)
TACA (Guatemala City, San Salvador)
"Z" Gates
US Airways (Charlotte, San Juan)
US Airways operated by America West Airlines (Las Vegas, Phoenix)
US Airways Express operated by Colgan Air (Altoona, Beckley, Bluefield, Pittsburgh, Shenandoah Valley)
US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines (Charlotte)
Midfield Terminals
There are three midfield terminal buildings: One contains the A and B Midfield Concourses, another the C and D Midfield Concourses, and the last the G Midfield Concourse. The C and D Concourses, completed in 1983, were designed to be temporary. Their replacements are under development. The A and B Concourses are the first of the permanent Midfield Concourses.
Midfield Concourse A
United Airlines
United Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines (Boston, Buffalo, Columbus, Greensboro, Harrisburg, Indianapolis, Manchester (NH), Rochester (NY), Toronto)
United Express operated by Colgan Air (Allentown, Binghamton, Charleston (WV), Charlottesville, State College, White Plains)
United Express operated by GoJet Airlines (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Kansas City, Portland (ME), San Antonio, Syracuse)
United Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham (AL) [starts Sept. 6], Boston, Buffalo, Chicago-Midway [ends Sept. 5], Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbia, Daytona Beach, Detroit, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Hartford, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Manchester (NH), Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, Newark, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Myrtle Beach, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Raleigh/Durham, Rochester (NY), Savannah)
United Express operated by Trans States Airlines (Albany, Burlington, Dayton, Harrisburg, Hartford, Knoxville, Manchester (NH), Newark, Norfolk, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Roanoke, Syracuse, St. Louis)
Midfield Concourse B
AirTran Airways (Atlanta, Orlando)
Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
All Nippon Airways (Tokyo-Narita)
Continental Airlines (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental)
Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Cancún, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Salt Lake City)
Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Atlanta)
Delta Connection operated by Comair (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK)
JetBlue Airways (Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Long Beach, New York-JFK, Oakland, San Diego, West Palm Beach [begins Oct. 3])
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam)
Lufthansa (Frankfurt, Munich)
Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
MAXjet (London-Stansted)
Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul)
Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Memphis)
Scandinavian Airlines System (Copenhagen)
South African Airways (Dakar, Johannesburg)
Southwest Airlines (Chicago-Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa) [begins Oct. 5, 2006]
Sun Country Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
Virgin Atlantic (London-Heathrow)
Midfield Concourse C
Air Canada
Air Canada Jazz (Montréal, Ottawa)
Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
United Airlines (Albuquerque [starts September 6, 2006], Amsterdam, Aruba, Beijing [starts March 2007; pending gov't approval], Boston, Brussels, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Fort Myers [Beginning late october], Frankfurt, Hartford, Kuwait City [starts October 28, 2006], London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Montego Bay, Montevideo, Munich, Nassau, New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia, Oakland, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Punta Cana, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seattle/Tacoma, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Tokyo-Narita [starts Oct. 28, 2006], Tucson [beginning late october] Vancouver, West Palm Beach [beginning December 2006], Zurich)
Ted operated by United Airlines (Cancún, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, San Juan, Tampa)
United Express (See Concourse A)
United Express operated by Shuttle America (Albany, Atlanta Dallas/Fort Worth, Halifax, Hartford, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Montréal, Raleigh/Durham, Toronto)
Midfield Concourse D
American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, San Juan, St. Louis)
AmericanConnection operated by Chautauqua Airlines (St. Louis)
American Eagle (Chicago-O'Hare, Miami)
Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
British Airways (London-Heathrow)
BWIA West Indies (Barbados, Port of Spain, Tobago)
United Airlines (Destinations listed under Concourse C)
Midfield Concourse G
Concourse G was formerly used by United Express. On April 19, 2006, United Express moved their operations from Concourse G to Concourse A (which served as the hub for the now-defunct Independence Air). The transition was completed on May 1, 2006. [3] As Concourse G was temporary, it is currently scheduled to be demolished to make room for the new permanent concourse C.
Category: airport runway transportation
place comments: |
5 months ago RAINGOD | 0 |
 
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Polygon Credit: RAINGOD | ||||
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2 months ago DLS | +1 |
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John Foster Dulles was not DCI but rather Sec. of State. His brother Allen was DCI. | ||||
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