History of Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport Essay Example

War, Candler Field became the busiest airport in US based on flight operations. The airfield changed its name to Atlanta Municipal Airport in 1946. The airport operated domestic flights until 1956 when eastern airlines started international flights to Canada. Following the first growing congestion in the airport, a new terminal construction which could accommodate over six million passengers annually, the largest in the US, was started and was opened on 3rd May, 1961 (AllExperts, 2010).

However, the following year, the airport accommodated an estimated 9. million passenger, a capacity that prompted the city of Atlanta to develop future plans for expanding the airport at a cost of $500 million (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 2010). The project was started in 1977 and by 1980; the airport was opened under the name, William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, after William B. Hartsfield who had contributed much in promoting the airport (Red Cirrus, LLC, 2010). By 1984 and 2001, the airport started the construction of a fourth runway and a fifth runaway each 9,000 foot long respectively.

Therefore, by May 2006, airport had five runways and a new control tower that could cover the entire runaway (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 2010). Just to be appreciated is the fact that the airport was renamed on October 20, 2003 to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in honor of Mayor Maynard Jackson. Given the fact that the airport was marked with huge congestion, an end-round taxiway was opened in 2007 (AllExperts, 2010). This taxiway was aimed at allowing planes landing far from the gate area to taxi while not compromise the takeoff of others.

Expansion of the airport According

to available information the management of the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has laid down an expansion plan which will enable the airport handle an estimated 121 million passengers a year (Red Cirrus, 2010). This plan is estimated to cost over $9 billion. By late 2009, the airport opened the Hartsfield–Jackson Rental Car Center. The center has 9900 parking spaces, covering an estimated 2. 8 million square feet (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 2010).

Other features in the center include a customer service and car maintenance center. This center is connected to the gate area by an automated people mover. Other plans which are underway are the construction of a new terminal near International Concourse E. this terminal is accepted to be complete by 2011 at a cost of $1. 4 billion (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 2010). This will named after Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. and will serve as the twelfth gateway for the airport. However, this gateway will only be used by international passengers destined for Atlanta.

The Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has also plans for is the construction of a new terminal to the south which according to the plan will accommodate an estimated 70 gates (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 2010). All these have the implication that since the beginning of the airport in 1925, it capacity is consistently on the increase. Conclusion It is established that the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport was started in 1925 and received increased remarkable publicity during the Second World War when it functioned as a military airport (AllExperts, 2010).

However, despite this, the airport has constantly emerged with new expansion plans which have currently seen it

capacity grow to over 55 million passengers a year (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 2010). The airport has evidently dominated the world airline by maintaining to be the busiest airport in the world since 1998. Indeed, due to this growth in service and capacity, it is a common joke in Atlanta city that even when going to hell or heaven one will always pass through Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.