Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
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Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the primary
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...
serving
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. It is located south of the
Downtown Atlanta Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The largest of the city's three commercial districts (Midtown Atlanta, Midtown and Buckhead being the others), it is the location of many corporate and region ...
district, and is named after former Atlanta mayors William B. Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson. Since 1998, Hartsfield–Jackson has been the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic, with the exception of 2020, when its passenger traffic dipped for that year due to travel restrictions resulting from the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In 2023, Hartsfield–Jackson served over 104.6 million passengers, the most of any airport in the world. It is also the world's busiest airport by aircraft movements. In 2024, Hartsfield–Jackson was again named the busiest airport in the world and saw 2% more capacity than the previous year. Hartsfield–Jackson is the corporate headquarters and primary hub of
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
. With just over 1,000 flights a day to 225 domestic and international destinations, the Delta hub is the world's largest airline hub and is considered the first mega-hub in America. Additionally, Hartsfield–Jackson is the home of Delta's Technical Operations Center, which is the airline's primary maintenance, repair and overhaul arm. Aside from Delta, Hartsfield–Jackson is also an operating base for
low-cost carriers A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper far ...
Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...
,
Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...
, and
Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines, Inc. is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Spirit was the ...
. The airport has international service within North America and to Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and East Asia. Hartsfield–Jackson is mostly in
unincorporated areas An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
of Clayton County, but it spills into the city limits of Atlanta, College Park, and Hapeville, in territory extending into Fulton County. Its domestic terminal is served by MARTA's Red and
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rail lines. Hartsfield–Jackson covers of land and has five parallel runways which are aligned in an east–west direction. There are three runways that are long, one runway that is long, and the longest runway at ATL measures long, which can handle the
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...
. effective June 12, 2025.


History


Candler Field/Atlanta Municipal Airport (1925–1961)

Hartsfield–Jackson began with a five-year, rent-free lease on that was an abandoned auto racetrack named The Atlanta Speedway. The lease was signed on April 16, 1925, by Mayor Walter Sims, who committed the city to develop it into an airfield. As part of the agreement, the property was renamed Candler Field after its former owner,
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
tycoon and former Atlanta mayor Asa Candler. The first flight into Candler Field was September 15, 1926, a Florida Airways mail plane flying from
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. In May 1928, Pitcairn Aviation began service to Atlanta, followed in June 1930 by Delta Air Service. Those two airlines, later known as
Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...
and
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
, respectively, would both use Atlanta as their chief hubs. The airport's
weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...
became the official location for Atlanta's weather observations on September 1, 1928, and records by the
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
. Atlanta was a busy airport from its inception, and by the end of 1930, it was third behind New York City and Chicago for regular daily flights with sixteen arriving and departing. Candler Field's first
control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...
opened March 1939. The March 1939 Official Aviation Guide shows 14 weekday airline departures: 10 Eastern and four Delta. In October 1940, the U.S. government declared it a military airfield and 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 ...
operated Atlanta Army Airfield jointly with Candler Field. The Air Force used Hartsfield–Jackson primarily to service many types of transient combat aircraft. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the airport doubled in size and set a record of 1,700 takeoffs and landings in a single day, making it the nation's busiest in terms of flight operation. Atlanta Army Airfield closed after the war. In 1942, Candler Field was renamed Atlanta Municipal Airport and by 1948, more than one million passengers passed through a war surplus hangar that served as a terminal building. Delta and Eastern had extensive networks from ATL, though Atlanta had no nonstop flights beyond Texas, St. Louis, and Chicago until 1961. Southern Airways appeared at ATL after the war and had short-haul routes around the Southeast until 1979. In 1957, Atlanta saw its first jet airliner: a prototype
Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s, and made its maiden flight on May 27, 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...
that was touring the country arrived from
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
The first scheduled turbine airliners were Capital Viscounts in June 1956; the first scheduled jets were Delta DC-8s in September 1959. The first trans-Atlantic flight was a Delta/Pan Am interchange DC-8 to Europe via Washington starting in 1964; the first scheduled international nonstops were Eastern flights to Mexico City and Jamaica in 1971–72. Nonstops to Europe started in 1978 and to Asia in 1992–93. a Atlanta claimed to be the country's busiest airport, with more than two million passengers passing through in 1957 and, between noon and 2p.m. each day, it became the world's busiest airport. (The April 1957 OAG shows 165 weekday departures from Atlanta, including 45 between 12:05 and 2:00 PM and 20 between 2:25 and 4:25 AM.) Chicago Midway had 414-weekday departures, including 48 between 12:00 and 2:00 PM. In 1957, Atlanta was the country's ninth-busiest airline airport by flight count and about the same by passenger count.


Original Jet Terminal (1961–1980)

In late 1957, work began on a new $21 million terminal, which opened on May 3, 1961. Consisting of six pier concourses radiating from a central building, the terminal was the largest in the country and could handle over six million travelers a year; the first year, nine and a half million people passed through. In March 1962, the longest runway (9/27, now 8R) was ; runway3 was and runway 15 was long. In 1971, the airport was named William B. Hartsfield Atlanta Airport in honor of Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield after his death. The name change took effect on February 28, which would have been Hartsfield's 81st birthday. The new name would be relatively brief, as it would be changed later in 1971 to William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport with the growth of flights to and from Atlanta outside North America.


Midfield Terminal (1980–present)

To address the significant increase in air traffic that outstripped the capacity of the 1961 terminal, and after years of planning and design, construction began on the present midfield terminal complex in 1977 under the administration of Mayor Maynard Jackson. It was billed as the largest construction project in the South, costing $500 million. The complex was designed by Stevens & Wilkinson, Smith Hinchman & Grylls, and Minority Airport Architects & Planners. The new complex, initially consisting of the North and South Terminals, Concourses A through D, and the northern half of the present-day Concourse T (which served as the International Terminal), opened on September 21, 1980, on time and under budget. It was designed to accommodate up to 55 million passengers per year and covered 2.5 million square feet (230,000 m2). In December 1984, a fourth parallel runway was completed, and another runway was extended to the following year. To accommodate increases in international air traffic, a southern extension of Concourse T opened in 1987, and Concourse E opened in 1994 in advance of Atlanta hosting the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, with Concourse T subsequently being converted to use by domestic flights. MARTA rail service was extended to Hartsfield with the opening of the
Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
station in 1988 (the station itself was constructed in 1979-80 as part of the terminal). In 1999, Hartsfield–Jackson's leadership established the Development Program: "Focus On the Future", involving multiple construction projects to prepare the airport to handle a projected demand of 121 million passengers in 2015. The program was originally budgeted at $5.4 billion over ten years, but the total was revised as of 2007 to over $9 billion. In 2001, construction of an over fifth runway (10–28) began. It was completed at the cost of $1.28 billion and opened in 2006. It bridges Interstate 285 (the Perimeter) on Hartsfield–Jackson's south side, making Hartsfield–Jackson the nation's only currently active civil airport to have a runway above an interstate (although Runway 17R/35L at
Stapleton International Airport Stapleton International Airport was a major airport in the western United States, and the primary airport of Denver, Colorado. It opened on October 17, 1929, and was replaced by the current Denver International Airport in 1995. It was a hub f ...
in
Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, crossed
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until that airport closed in 1995). The massive project, which involved putting fill dirt eleven stories high in some places, destroyed some surrounding neighborhoods and dramatically changed the scenery of Flat Rock Cemetery and Hart Cemetery, both on the airport's property. It was added to help ease traffic problems caused by landing small- and mid-size aircraft on the runways used by larger planes such as the
Boeing 777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 777 is the world's largest twinjet and the most-built wide-body airliner. ...
, which need longer runways than the smaller planes. With the fifth runway, Hartsfield–Jackson is one of only a few airports that can perform triple simultaneous landings. The fifth runway was expected to increase the capacity for landings and take-offs by 40%, from an average of 184 flights per hour to 237 flights per hour. Along with the fifth runway, a new
control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...
was built to see the entire runway length. The new control tower is the tallest in the United States, over tall. The old control tower, at 231 ft, was demolished in 2006. In 2003, the
Atlanta City Council The Atlanta City Council (formerly the Atlanta Board of Aldermen until 1974) is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It consists of 16 members: the council president, twelve members elected from di ...
voted to rename Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport to honor former mayor Maynard Jackson, who died four months prior. The council planned to drop Hartsfield's name from the airport, but public outcry (occurring coincidentally during a debate over the state's flag) prevented this. In 2007, an "end-around taxiway" opened, Taxiway Victor. It is expected to save an estimated $26 million to $30 million in fuel each year by allowing airplanes landing on the northernmost runway to taxi to the gate area without preventing other aircraft from taking off. The taxiway drops about from runway elevation to allow takeoffs to continue. After the Southeastern U.S. drought of 2007, Hartsfield–Jackson (the state's eighth-largest water user) changed to reduce water usage. This included adjusting toilets (725 commodes and 338 urinals) and 601 sinks. (The two terminals alone use a day.) It also stopped using firetrucks to spray water over aircraft when the pilot made the last landing before retirement (a water salute). The city of Macon offered to sell water to Hartsfield–Jackson through a proposed pipeline. The Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal and Concourse F opened on the east side of the airport for international passengers in 2012. The 1980 terminal on the other end of the complex then became known as the Domestic Terminal. Prior to the opening of the International Terminal, all Atlanta-bound international passengers needed to go through TSA screening and transit to the terminal to exit the airport. The opening of the International Terminal eliminated the need for this practice, which had been in use since the opening of Concourse E in 1994. Today, Hartsfield–Jackson employs about 55,300 airline, ground transportation, concessionaire, security, the federal government, the City of Atlanta, and airport tenant employees and is the largest employment center in Georgia. With a payroll of $2.4 billion, the airport has a direct and indirect economic impact of $3.2 billion on the local and regional economy and an annual regional economic impact of more than $19.8 billion. In 2015, Hartsfield–Jackson became the first airport in the world to serve 100 million passengers in a year. Hartsfield–Jackson is routinely cited as one of the world's busiest, topping the
Airports Council International Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of Airport authority, airport authorities, informing members of industry practices and airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Quebec, Ca ...
rankings in 2022 and 2023.


Historic airline service

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
and Eastern dominated Hartsfield–Jackson during the 1970s. United, Southern,
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,
Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...
and TWA were also present. In 1978, after
airline deregulation Airline deregulation is the process of removing government-imposed entry and price restrictions on airlines affecting, in particular, the carriers permitted to serve specific routes. In the United States, the term usually applies to the Airline D ...
, United no longer served Atlanta, while Southern successor
Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
was the airport's third-largest carrier. Eastern was a larger airline than Delta until deregulation in 1978, but Delta was early to adopt the hub-and-spoke route system, with Atlanta as a hub between the Midwest and Florida, giving it an advantage in the Atlanta market. When the current terminal complex opened in 1980, Delta occupied all of Concourse A and the southern side of Concourse B, while Eastern occupied the remainder of Concourse B and all of Concourse C. All other domestic airlines used Concourse D, and Concourse T (known then as the International Concourse) was used by international flights. Eastern ceased operations in 1991. From Eastern's demise to the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, Delta's hub grew to occupy all of Concourse B and the southern side of Concourse T (which opened in 1987), and international flights moved to the new Concourse E (which opened in 1994). By 1996, Delta's regional affiliate Atlantic Southeast Airlines (operating as
Delta Connection Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...
) relocated to the north side of Concourse C and the gates were converted for use by regional aircraft. After Eastern ceased operation,
Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...
(the successor of Republic) briefly expressed interest in establishing an Atlanta hub but ultimately decided against it.
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
also considered establishing an Atlanta hub around that time but decided Delta was too strong there and instead replaced Eastern's other hub in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. In 1992, TWA created a small hub at Atlanta and relocated to some of Eastern's former gates on Concourse C. TWA abandoned the Atlanta hub concept in 1994 leaving Delta with a monopoly hub at Atlanta.
Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...
was the first Asian carrier to serve Atlanta in 1986. In December 1994,
Korean Air Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. (KAL; ) is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations, and international flights. It is owned by the Hanjin, Hanjin Group. The present-day Korean Air tra ...
became the second Asian carrier to serve Hartsfield–Jackson. Atlanta-based ValuJet was established in 1993 as low-cost competition for Delta at ATL. ValuJet built up their hub on Concourse C in the following years. However, ValuJet's safety practices were questioned early, and the airline was grounded after the 1996 crash of
ValuJet Flight 592 ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami International Airport, Miami to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta in the United States. On May 11, 1996, the ValuJet Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC ...
. ValuJet resumed operations later that year and in 1997, it merged with
AirTran Airways AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 until it was acquired by Southwest Airlines May 2, 2011. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, AirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines b ...
. AirTran would continue operating the hub and was second-largest airline at ATL through the 2000s. AirTran was acquired by
Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...
in 2011, who did not serve Atlanta prior to the acquisition. AirTran was fully absorbed into Southwest in 2014, continuing to operate Atlanta as a focus city and remaining Hartsfield–Jackson's second-largest carrier. In 2024, Southwest announced it was permanently cutting 15 destinations from Atlanta, reducing its footprint from 18 gates to 11, and cutting staff. In recent years, Hartsfield–Jackson has had an increase in non-Delta flights, both due to the rapid population growth of
Metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...
and the airport's prominence as a major hub. Since 2015, Hartsfield–Jackson has seen growth from low-cost carriers such as
Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...
and
Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines, Inc. is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Spirit was the ...
. Spirit also established Atlanta as an operating base. In addition to the growth of the low-cost carriers, international carriers have increasingly offered service to Atlanta since 2014. In 2014,
Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic A ...
began offering direct flights to London and in 2015, the airline began offering direct flights to Manchester. In May 2016,
Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları''), or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı, is the flag carrier of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 352 destinations (including cargo) in Europe, Asia, Oce ...
began offering direct flights to
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
and
Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (, ''al-Qaṭariyya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, flying to over 170 internatio ...
began
Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
flights just one month later on June 1. In March 2019, WestJet began offering direct flights to Calgary, and in 2023, the airline started non-stop service to Vancouver and Winnipeg. In 2024, WestJet began non-stop service to Edmonton.
Copa Airlines Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., branded as Copa Airlines, is the flag carrier of Panama. It is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with its main hub at Tocumen International Airport. Copa is a subsidiary of Copa Holdings and a member o ...
became the first Latin American carrier to serve Hartsfield–Jackson in December 2021 with direct flights to Panama City. In June 2022,
Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...
reintroduced Montreal service. Ethiopian Airlines started service to Atlanta in 2023, becoming the first African carrier to serve the airport since
South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier of South Africa. Founded in 1929 as Union Airways it later rebranded to South African Airways in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannes ...
ended service in 2006. LATAM Perú started service to Atlanta in October 2023 from Lima. Aeromexico Connect resumed service to Atlanta in January 2024 with nonstop service to Guadalajara and Monterrey. Nonstop service to Leon/Guanajuato and Mérida began in March 2024. The Mérida service ended in June. Nonstop service to Querétaro started service in August 2024. Nonstop service to Manzanillo started on November 2.
Scandinavian Airlines The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), commonly known as Scandinavian Airlines, is the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden. Including its subsidiaries SAS Link and ...
started service to Atlanta in June 2024 with direct flights from Copenhagen.
Etihad Airways Etihad Airways is one of the two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Zayed International Airport. The airline commenced operations in November 2003, and ...
will start nonstop service to Atlanta on July 2, 2025 with direct flights to Abu Dhabi.


Facilities


Terminals

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has two terminals and seven concourses with a total of 193 gates. The Domestic Terminal is located on the west side of Hartsfield–Jackson and the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal is on the east side of the airport. The Domestic Terminal has entrances on both sides, which are known as Domestic Terminal North and Domestic Terminal South. Concourse T is directly connected to the Domestic Terminal and Concourse F is directly connected to the International Terminal. The remaining five concourses (Concourses A-E) are located between the two terminals and are parallel to each other. The terminals and concourses are connected airside by the Transportation Mall, an underground pedestrian tunnel with a series of moving walkways and The Plane Train, a 24/7 underground automated people mover. A second underground walkway connecting the north sides of Concourses B and C once existed for Eastern Air Lines. Though, this underground walkway was closed in the late 2000s and is now used for Hartsfield–Jackson's baggage system.
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
' hub includes operations on all seven concourses. The south side of Concourse T and all of Concourses A and B are used exclusively by Delta for main line domestic flights. Delta's regional flights (operated as
Delta Connection Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...
) primarily operate from the north side of Concourse C. The south side of Concourse C is used by
Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...
for their operating base and it is use for some Frontier flights.
Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...
uses gates on the north end of Concourse E for their operating base. Spirit Airlines operated in Concourse E and some gates on the South side of Concourse D. All other airlines uses Concourse T. Some Delta and Delta Connection flights operate on Concourse D as well. International flights operate in Concourses E and F. Concourse F is the only concourse in Hartsfield–Jackson that has a gate that can support an
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...
, the largest passenger aircraft in the world. All non-Delta international carriers operate their ATL flights from this terminal, including Delta's partners such as Air France, KLM, Korean Air, LATAM, Virgin Atlantic, Scandinavian, and WestJet. Aeromexico operates in Concourse E. Some WestJet flights operate in Concourse D. International passengers arriving in Concourse F will be processed at the Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in that concourse before exiting into the landside of the international terminal. In Concourse E, international passengers ending their journeys in Atlanta will go through a dedicated underground walkway to the Concourse F checkpoint. International passengers arriving in Concourse E that are connecting to another flight will be processed in a separate checkpoint on Concourse E and reenter the concourse via a dedicated TSA checkpoint. *Concourse T contains 21 gates. *Concourse A contains 30 gates. *Concourse B contains 32 gates. *Concourse C contains 34 gates. *Concourse D contains 40 gates. *Concourse E contains 31 gates. *Concourse F contains 12 gates.


Ground transportation

The domestic terminal can be accessed directly from Interstate 85 SB at exit 72/Camp Creek Pkwy, or from Interstate 85 NB at exit 71/Riverdale Rd. The international terminal is accessed directly from
Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...
SB or NB at exit 239. These freeways in turn connect with the following additional freeways within 10 miles: Interstate 285, Interstate 675,
Georgia State Route 166 State Route 166 (SR 166) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Georgia. It connects the Alabama state line with the city of Atlanta. The highway travels through Carrollton, McWhorter, and East Point. Except for the Carrollton and ...
, Interstate 20. Hartsfield–Jackson has its own
train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...
on the city's
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
system, MARTA, served by the Red and
Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
lines. The above-ground station is inside the main building, between the north and south domestic terminals on the west end. The Airport station is currently the southernmost station in the MARTA system, though expansions via metro or
commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
further south into Clayton County have been discussed. Several local shared-ride shuttle services are readily available at Atlanta Airport, offering diverse options for travelers seeking convenient transportation. The Hartsfield–Jackson Rental Car Center, which opened December 8, 2009, houses all 10 airport rental agencies with capacity for additional companies. The complex features 9,900 parking spaces split between two four-story parking decks that together cover , a customer service center, and a maintenance center featuring 140 gas pumps and 30 wash bays equipped with a water recovery system. An automated people mover, the ATL SkyTrain, runs between the rental car center, the Domestic Terminal, and the Gateway Center of the
Georgia International Convention Center The Georgia International Convention Center or GICC, opened in April 2003, is the second largest convention center in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, the largest being the Georgia World Congress Center. It is located at 2000 Co ...
, while a four-lane roadway that spans Interstate 85 connects the rental car center with the existing airport road network.


Other facilities

The 990 Toffie Terrace hangar, a part of Hartsfield–Jackson Airport and located within the City of College Park corporate limits, is owned by the City of Atlanta. The building now houses the
Atlanta Police Department The Atlanta Police Department (APD) is a law enforcement agency in the city of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city shifted from its rural-based Marshal and Deputy Marshal model at the end of the 19th century. In 1873, ...
Helicopter Unit. It once served as the headquarters of the regional airline ExpressJet. Before its merger with ExpressJet, Atlantic Southeast Airlines was headquartered in the hangar, then named the A-Tech Center. In December 2007, the airline announced it was moving its headquarters into the facility, previously named the "North Hangar". The hangar includes of hangar bays for aircraft maintenance. It has of adjacent land and 1,400 parking spaces for employees. The airline planned to relocate 100 employees from Macon to the new headquarters. The Atlanta City Council and Mayor of Atlanta Shirley Franklin approved the new 25-year ASA lease, which also gave the airline new hangar space to work on 15 to 25 aircraft in overnight maintenance; previously, its aircraft were serviced at ConcourseC. Hartsfield–Jackson property division stated that the hangar was built in the 1960s and renovated in the 1970s.
Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...
and
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
had previously occupied the hangar. Delta's lease originally was scheduled to expire in 2010, but the airline returned the lease to the City of Atlanta in 2005 as part of its bankruptcy settlement. The city collected an insurance settlement of almost $900,000 due to the cancellation.


Airlines and destinations


Passenger


Cargo


Statistics


Top destinations


Airline market share


Annual traffic


On-time performance (domestic major U.S. carriers only)


Accidents and incidents

* On May 23, 1960,
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
Flight 1903, a Convair CV-880-22-1 (N8804E), crashed on
takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a tr ...
resulting in the loss of all four crew members. This flight was a training flight for two Delta captains who were being type-rated on the 880. * On February 25, 1969, Eastern Air Lines Flight 955 was hijacked by one passenger shortly after takeoff from ATL en route to Miami. The man pulled a .22 caliber pistol and demanded to be flown to Cuba. He got off the plane in Cuba, and the DC-8 was allowed to fly back to the U.S. *On April 4, 1977, Southern Airways Flight 242 was on descent to the airport when
hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...
was ingested into the engines, leading them to fail. Pilot errors and difficult weather forced the pilots to attempt an emergency landing on a highway. Upon touchdown, the aircraft struck several buildings and cars, killing 72 people. * On January 18, 1990, Eastern Air Lines Flight 111, a Boeing 727, overran a
Beechcraft King Air The Beechcraft King Air is a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s ...
operated by Epps Air Service, based at another Atlanta airport. The King Air had landed and was taxiing when the 727, still at high speed in its landing roll, collided with the aircraft. The larger plane's wing impacted the roof of the smaller. The pilot of the King Air, an Epps charter pilot, was killed, while a passenger survived. No crew or passengers on the Eastern plane were injured. * On November 1, 1998,
AirTran Airways AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 until it was acquired by Southwest Airlines May 2, 2011. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, AirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines b ...
Flight 867, a Boeing 737, lost control and skidded off of the runway while landing, with main landing gear in a drainage ditch and its empennage extending over the taxiway. The nose gear was folded back into the electrical/electronic compartment and turned 90 degrees from its normal, extended position. The cause was an improperly repaired hydraulic line leak that caused the flight crew to lose control of the airplane. * On September 10, 2024, Delta Air Lines Flight 295, an
Airbus A350-900 The Airbus A350 is a flight length, long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbu ...
, and Endeavor Air Flight 5526, a Bombardier CRJ-900, were involved in a low-speed ground collision. While the CRJ-900 was stationary at a runway hold-short point, the right wingtip of the A350 impacted and broke off the CRJ-900's vertical stabilizer. There were no injuries reported among the 236 people on board the A350 or 59 people on board the CRJ-900.


In popular culture

The airport was seen in the 2018 Channel 5 documentary ''The Secret Life of the World's Busiest Airport''.


See also

* Atlanta's second airport * Candler Field Museum * ''Flight Path'', a book about the airport * Georgia World War II Army Airfields * List of airports with triple takeoff/landing capability * List of busiest airports by aircraft movements *
List of busiest airports by cargo traffic The world's thirty busiest airports by cargo traffic for various periods (data provided by Airports Council International). Numbers listed refer to loaded and unloaded freight in metric tonnes, including transit freight. 2024 final statistics A ...
*
List of busiest airports by international passenger traffic The following is a list of the world's busiest airports by international passenger traffic. For the list of world's busiest airports by total passenger traffic (both domestic and international), see List of busiest airports by passenger traffic. ...
*
List of busiest airports by passenger traffic The world's busiest airports by passenger traffic are measured by total passengers provided by the Airports Council International, defined as passengers enplaned plus passengers deplaned plus direct-transit passengers. The world's busiest airp ...
* List of the busiest airports in the United States *
List of the busiest airports The definition of world's busiest airport has been specified by the Airports Council International in Montreal, Canada. The ACI defines and measures the following three types of airport traffic: *Passenger traffic: total passengers embarked and d ...
* List of tallest air traffic control towers in the United States


References


External links

*
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Official
YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Transportation in Atlanta 1926 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Airports in Georgia (U.S. state) Airports established in 1926 Transportation in Clayton County, Georgia Buildings and structures in Fulton County, Georgia Buildings and structures in Clayton County, Georgia Transportation in Fulton County, Georgia College Park, Georgia Hapeville, Georgia