Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport

Coordinates: 39°10′31″N 076°40′06″W / 39.17528, -76.66833

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (IATA: BWI, ICAO: KBWI, FAA LID: BWI) serves the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area (U.S.). It is commonly called BWI or BWI Airport, its IATA Airport Code, an initialism for "Baltimore/Washington International". The airport is located in Linthicum, Maryland, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Baltimore and 30 miles (48 km) north of Washington, D.C.

In 2006 the airport served a record 20.7 million passengers. BWI is a secondary hub for AirTran Airways and a focus city for Southwest Airlines.

History

Planning for a new airport on 3,200 acres (13 km²) to serve the Baltimore/Washington area began just after the end of World War II, and ground was broken in 1947. Located near Friendship Church in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 10 miles south of Baltimore and 30 miles north of Washington, D.C., Friendship International Airport was dedicated on June 24, 1950, by President Harry Truman. Regular commercial service started the following month. Jet service started in 1957 when the first Boeing 707s were placed in service.

The State of Maryland, through the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), purchased Friendship International Airport from the City of Baltimore for $36 million in 1972. Under MDOT, the Maryland State Aviation Administration took over airfield operations and grew from three employees to more than 200. Plans to upgrade, improve, and modernize all Maryland airport facilities were announced almost immediately by the Secretary of Transportation, Harry Hughes. The airport was renamed Baltimore/Washington International Airport in 1973. However, the IATA code remained as "BAL" because "BWI" was already used by another airport until 1982 when it was changed to "BWI". The new name was part of an effort to grab a portion of the Washington-area travel market.

Runway diagram for Baltimore-Washington Airport

The first phase of BWI modernization was completed in 1974 at a cost of $30 million. Upgrades included improved instrument landing capabilities and runway systems, and construction of three new air cargo terminals, expanding the airport's freight capacity to 2.53 acres.

The passenger terminal renovation program was complete in 1979, the most dramatic work of the airport's modernization. The BWI terminal more than doubled in size to 14.58 acres; the number of gate positions increased from 20 to 27. The total cost of project was $70 million. To continue the work, the BWI Development Council was established to support initiatives for airport development.

BWI Rail Station opened in 1980, providing a rail connection to passengers on the busy Northeast Corridor. BWI became first airport in the U.S. to be served by a dedicated intercity rail station. In particular, the station provided relatively easy transit access to Washington, D.C., something Dulles International Airport currently lacks. In the late 1990s, a new international terminal (Concourse E) was added, though Dulles continues to hold the lion's share of the region's international flights, and BWI has not attracted many long-haul international carriers. British Airways and Icelandair have had a presence at BWI for many years. Other airlines, such as KLM, AerLingus, Ghana Airways, and El Al, started but later stopped flying to BWI.

Baggage claim area at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

For much of the 1990s, BWI was a major hub for US Airways, but that airline's financial difficulties in the wake of the dot-com bust and the September 11 attacks forced it to significantly reduce its presence at the airport. The airport has been a major haven for low-cost flights in the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan Area since the arrival of Southwest Airlines in September of 1993, and in the early 2000s Southwest significantly increased its operations there. Southwest is now BWI's largest carrier, accounting for about 51% of passengers in 2006.

To accommodate Southwest's extensive presence at the airport, in 2005 Concourses A and B were expanded, renovated, and integrated with one another to house all of that airline's operations there. On October 1 of that year, the airport was renamed again, to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, to honor the former US Supreme Court justice, who grew up in Baltimore. The more recent renaming has not resulted in a change to the IATA and ICAO locater codes.

The airport has been a backdrop in numerous films, including The Silence of the Lambs, Goldfinger, and Broadcast News.

Destinations with direct service from BWI

Terminals and destinations

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has five concourses, though Concourses A and B were essentially merged into a single concourse in a recent renovation.

Concourses A/B

• Southwest Airlines (Albany, Albuquerque, Austin, Birmingham (AL), Buffalo, Chicago-Midway, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Hartford, Houston-Hobby, Indianapolis, Jackson, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Long Island/Islip, Louisville, Manchester (NH), Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, Tampa, West Palm Beach)

Concourse C

• American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, San Juan, St. Louis)
  • AmericanConnection operated by Chautauqua Airlines (St. Louis)
  • AmericanConnection operated by Trans States Airlines (St. Louis)
  • American Eagle (Chicago-O'Hare, New York-JFK)
• Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Salt Lake City)
  • Delta Connection operated by Comair (Boston, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK)
  • Delta Connection operated by Freedom Airlines (New York-JFK)

Passengers wait in Terminal C for a storm to pass

• Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul)
  • Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Memphis)

Concourse D

• AirTran Airways (Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Dayton, Daytona Beach [seasonal], Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Miami [seasonal], Milwaukee, Orlando, Portland (ME) [seasonal], Rochester (NY), Sarasota/Brandenton, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa, West Palm Beach [seasonal])
• Continental Airlines (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
  • Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Cleveland, Newark)
• Midwest Airlines (Milwaukee)
  • Midwest Connect operated by SkyWest (Milwaukee)
• United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco)
• US Airways (Charlotte, Las Vegas, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix)
  • US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin (New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia)
  • US Airways Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines (New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia)
  • US Airways Express operated by Piedmont Airlines (New York-LaGuardia)
  • US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Charlotte)

Concourse E

Concourse E is officially entitled the Governor William Donald Schaefer International Terminal.

International terminal (Pier E) at BWI

• Air Canada
  • Air Canada Jazz (Toronto-Pearson)
• Air Greenland (Kangerlussuaq)
• Air Jamaica (Montego Bay, Kingston)
• British Airways (London-Heathrow)
• Icelandair (Reykjavik-Keflavik)
• North American Airlines (Accra, Lagos)
• USA 3000 Airlines (Bermuda, Cancún, La Romana [seasonal], Melbourne (FL) [begins December 20], Punta Cana)

Airline lounges

• United Airlines operates a Red Carpet Club in Concourse D.
• US Airways operates a US Airways Club in Concourse D, near Gate D22.
• British Airways operates a British Airways Chesapeake Club Lounge in Concourse E, near entrance to the concourse.
• USO operates a club near Concourse E for United States Military personnel and their families.

Car rental

BWI has a consolidated rental car facility located ten minutes from the terminal. A complimentary shuttle carries rental car customers between the facility and the arrivals area of the airport terminal.

Access

Rail

Light rail vehicle at BWI station

BWI Rail Station is located about a mile from the airport terminal; a free shuttle bus brings passengers to and from the train station and airport terminal. The station is served by Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains and, on weekdays, by the MARC Penn Line. Travel time by train is about ten minutes to Baltimore's Penn Station and thirty-five minutes to Union Station in Washington, D.C. MARC tickets are $4 to Baltimore and $6 to Washington; Amtrak tickets are $17-$22 to Baltimore and $17-$36 to Washington. Trains depart at least once an hour seven days a week, with departure times during rush hours and business hours being significantly more frequent.^[2]

The Maryland Transit Administration's Light Rail line has a stop just outside the entrance to the airport's International Terminal. Passengers can take the Light Rail to a variety of destinations in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, and Baltimore County, and can transfer to the Metro Subway in Baltimore, or to either of MARC's Baltimore terminals. A one-way ticket costs $1.60; an all-day pass, which provides access to bus, light rail, and Metro Subway travel throughout greater Baltimore, costs $3.50. A ride downtown takes approximately 30 minutes. Trains run every 20 minutes during peak hours, and 30 minutes all other times. ^[3]

Buses

Shuttle buses provide service between BWI and the Washington Metrorail subway station at Greenbelt, Maryland^[4]. This bus is the B30 route, which runs approximately every 40 minutes 6am-10pm weekdays and 9am-10pm on weekends, priced at $3.00 one-way payable by cash or SmarTrip.

Highway

BWI is located at the southeast terminus of Interstate 195, a spur route providing connections to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and Interstate 95.

References

1. ^ FAA Airport Master Record for BWI (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-07-05
2. ^ MARC Penn Line rail schedule
3. ^ MTA Light Rail schedules
4. ^ WMATA Express Bus Schedule to Greenbelt Metro

External links

• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport - Maintained by the Maryland Aviation Administration
• BWI Business Partnership
• BWI Development Council
• BWI Airport at WikiMapia
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF)
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KBWI
  • ASN accident history for BWI
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KBWI
  • FAA current BWI delay information

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