Norfolk International Airport is seven miles (11 km) northeast of downtown

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, an

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, United States. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Airport Authority: a bureau under the municipal government. The airport serves the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

metropolitan area of southeast Virginia (along with

Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport is in Newport News, Virginia, United States, and serves the Hampton Roads area along with Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk. The airport is owned and operated by the Peninsula Airport Commi ...

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

) as well as northeast

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Despite its name, the airport does not have any international destinations nonstop. The

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

(FAA)

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2019–2023 categorized it as a small-hub primary commercial service facility.

records say the airport had 3,663,996 passengers in

calendar year Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. A year can also be measured by starting on any o ...

2018, an increase of 9% from 3,380,902 in 2017. , Norfolk International was ranked as the 70th-busiest airport in the United States and the fourth-busiest in Virginia in terms of passengers served annually, behind

Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fai ...

Reagan National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

and Richmond International.

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

has the largest share of passenger traffic, followed by

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

and

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

History

The airport was first established in 1938 as Norfolk Municipal Airport; from 1942 until 1947 it was run by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. In 1968 its name changed to Norfolk Regional Airport, and in 1976 it was renamed again to the present Norfolk International Airport.

Facilities

The airport covers 1,300 acres (526 ha) at an elevation of 27 feet (8 m). Its main runway, 5–23, is 9,001 by 150 feet (2,744 x 46 m) and crosswind runway 14–32 is 4,875 by 150 feet (1,486 x 46 m). ORF sign

The crosswind runway (14–32) was closed for renovations on December 19, 2009, and reopened in the spring of 2011. The airport's long-term plan calls for this runway to be destroyed to make way for a parallel runway (5R-23L) east of runway 5–23, but the FAA grounded the plan in summer 2016 due to diminishing demand, limited space, and environmental impacts. In 2017 the airport had 67,679 aircraft operations, average 185 per day: 39% airline, 27%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

, 27%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, and 2% military. In November 2018, 95 aircraft were based at the airport: 52 single-engine, 20 multi-engine, 20 jet, and 3

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. General aviation services, or fixed-base operations, are provided by

Signature Flight Support Signature Aviation is a British multinational aviation services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The company has been known by numerous names over the years, having been founded as ''W. Wilson Cobbett Ltd'' in 1879; it was ren ...

with full-service facilities for maintaining and housing private and corporate aircraft. The modern terminal facility offers everything from aircraft rental to sightseeing flights and aircraft repair. Daily scheduled aircraft include ERJ140/145 (United, American), CRJ200/700/900 (Delta, United, American), ERJ170/175 (American, United), A300 (FedEx), A319/320 (United, Allegiant, American, Frontier), B717 (Delta), B737 (Southwest, American, Delta), and B757 (UPS and Delta).

FAA control tower

Built in 1995, the FAA Norfolk Air Traffic Control Tower stands high. Operated and managed by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Norfolk Tower handles about 1,100 aircraft per day, 24 hours per day and 365 days per year. Radar coverage is provided by the ASR-9 terminal system with a six-level weather detection capability. Also available for use is an Enhanced Target Generator (ETG) lab with two radar scopes to accomplish training objectives, as well as the IDS4 system, a specialized microcomputer network system designed to distribute and display both static and real-time data regarding weather and other rapidly changing critical information to air traffic controllers.

Gates

Norfolk International Airport has two passenger concourses: Concourse A (gates A1-A11), and Concourse B (gates B16-B30).

and

occupy Concourse A while

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America. Allegiant was founded in 1 ...

Delta Airlines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along wi ...

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

, and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

occupy Concourse B. International flights are handled at gate A1; however, there are currently no scheduled international flights. Specific gate locations are the following: American A2, A4, A6-A11, Delta B21-B25, Southwest A3 and A5, United B27-B30, with Allegiant and Frontier using common gates of B16, B17, B18, B20. Concourse B gates B22 and B26 are no longer in use.

Cargo yard

About 70 million pounds of air cargo are shipped in and out of Norfolk International Airport each year. NIA houses one of the most modern and efficient air cargo facilities in the state. Its two modern air cargo terminals have of space. A ramp provides direct access from plane to warehouse.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Airline market share

Top destinations

Annual traffic

Passenger development

Ground transportation

There are no bus or shuttle services to and from Norfolk International Airport. The nearest

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

(HRT Route 15) connection is away at the intersection of

Military Highway Military Highway is a four-to-eight-lane roadway built in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia, USA during World War II. Carrying US 13 for most of its length, it also carries US 58, and US 460 while in Chesapeake. It is a major alt ...

(Route 165) and Norview Avenue (Route 247). All ground transportation services are located in the arrivals terminal. There are several on-site rental car companies, an authorized shuttle service providing door-to-door service to the entire Hampton Roads area, and taxis available through several companies. Both

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

and

Lyft Lyft, Inc. offers mobility as a service, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic ...

service the airport through an agreement with the airport authority.

Parking

A nine-level parking garage adjacent to the new arrivals terminal opened in July 2002. It provides 2,800 covered spaces for short term, long term and rental parking. Overall, NIA parking facilities can accommodate 7,000 vehicles. In February 2019, the airport announced it would begin construction of a brand new 1.09 million square foot parking garage. Construction started in July 2019. This new parking garage will consolidate all parking lots at ORF. It will also replace the employee shuttle that costs over $600,000 a year to operate.

Accidents and incidents

* On January 19, 1967 a

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Vickers 754D Viscount collided with a snow plow which had entered the runway in the path of the United plane upon landing. All 50 passengers and crew on board the aircraft survived; the aircraft suffered major damage to its airframe and was written off. * On September 1, 1974 a

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (l ...

which was sitting empty on the ramp caught fire, damaging the airframe beyond repair. The cause of the fire was never determined.

References

External links

* * *
Live webcam image from WAVY-TV
* Airport pictures *
Main terminal building and pedestrian bridge
*
Rendering of present configuration of terminal
*
Rendering of future configuration of terminal with planned expansion
** http://www.howardmodels.com/Architectural-Scale-Models/Norfolk-Airport/pic4.jpg *
Aerial picture
{{authority control Airports in Virginia Transportation in Norfolk, Virginia Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Virginia 1938 establishments in Virginia Airports established in 1938

History

Facilities

FAA control tower

Gates

Cargo yard

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Airline market share

Top destinations

Annual traffic

Passenger development

Ground transportation

Parking

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links