Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, does not have any public airports within its boundaries. However, several airports serve Washington, D.C. Some of the airports are defunct airports, and some are still active. Some of these airports are public (owned and operated by a government or governmental authority), some are public use (privately owned, but open to all aircraft), and some are private (privately owned, and only aircraft approved by the private owner may use the airfield).
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is an international airport in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, located 9 mi (14 km) south of downtown Baltimore and 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Washington, D.C.
An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter geocode designating many airports and metropolitan areas around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The characters prominently displayed on baggage tags attached at airport check-in desks are an example of a way these codes are used.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Crystal City, Virginia, United States, 5 miles (8.0 km) from Washington, D.C. It is the closest airport to Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, the 24th-busiest airport in the nation, the busiest airport in the Washington metropolitan area, and the second busiest in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area.
Richmond International Airport is a joint civil-military airport in Sandston, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community. The airport is about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of downtown Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Richmond International Airport is the busiest airport in central Virginia and the third-busiest in the state behind Washington Reagan and Washington Dulles. RIC covers 2,500 acres of land.
Melbourne Orlando International Airport is a public airport 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of downtown Melbourne, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, and 70 miles (113 km) southeast of Orlando, located on central Florida's Space Coast. The airport is reached by NASA Boulevard. It is governed by a seven-member board which is appointed by the Melbourne City Council and the private sector. The airport budget is part of the Melbourne municipal budget; the airport receives no local tax dollars. The projected expenses for 2010 were $14.1 million. The executive director of the airport is Greg Donovan, A.A.E.
Newport News-Williamsburg 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 Commission, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. PHF covers 1,800 acres.
Stafford Regional Airport is a public airport located three miles (5 km) southwest of the central business district of Stafford, the county seat of Stafford County, Virginia, United States. The airport is southwest of the intersection of Route 630 and U.S. Route 1 near Interstate 95, approximately 40 miles (64 km) south of Washington, D.C., and 60 miles (97 km) north of Richmond. It is owned and operated by the Stafford Regional Airport Authority, an independent body of representatives from Stafford and Prince William Counties and the City of Fredericksburg.
Hoover Field was an early airport serving the city of Washington, D.C. It was constructed as a private airfield in 1925, but opened to public commercial use on July 16, 1926. It was located in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection of the Highway Bridge and the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway, where The Pentagon and its northern parking lots now stand.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is an independent airport authority, created with the consent of the United States Congress to oversee management, operations, and capital development of the two major airports serving the U.S. national capital: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.
Manassas Regional Airport, known as Harry P. Davis Field, is 5 mi (8.0 km) southwest of the center of Manassas. Manassas Regional Airport is the largest regional airport in the U.S. state of Virginia, and it is located 30 miles (48 km) from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. has a number of different modes of transportation available for use. Commuters have a major influence on travel patterns, with only 28% of people employed in Washington, D.C. commuting from within the city, whereas 33.5% commute from the nearby Maryland suburbs, 22.7% from Northern Virginia, and the rest from Washington, D.C.'s outlying suburbs.
Leesburg Executive Airport at Godfrey Field is a town-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles south of the central business district of Leesburg, a town in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Wheeling Ohio County Airport is a public airport serving Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia, United States. It is eight miles (13 km) northeast of downtown Wheeling and is owned by the Ohio County Commission.
Washington-Hoover Airport was an airport serving the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States from 1933 to 1941. It was created by the merger of Hoover Field and Washington Airport on August 2, 1933. It was in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection of the Highway Bridge and the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. Washington-Hoover Airport, like its predecessors, suffered from safety problems, short runways, and little room to grow. It closed for public use in June 1941, and the United States Department of War purchased the site in September, closing it for good. Washington National Airport, which opened in June 1941, was built as its replacement. The Pentagon now occupies the site.
Washington Airport was the second major airport to serve the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Located in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection of the Highway Bridge and the Mount Vernon Parkway. The first airport to serve the city was Hoover Field, a private airfield constructed in 1925. Washington Airport, a private airport triple the size of Hoover Field, was built literally across the road in late 1927. The airfield suffered from short and unpaved runways, numerous life-threatening obstructions around the field, poor visibility due to a burning garbage dump adjacent to each field, and poor drainage. Washington Airport nearly went bankrupt in 1933, and it was auctioned off to the owner of Hoover Field, who merged the two into a single airfield, Washington-Hoover Airport.
Maryland's first aeronautical event was the flight of 13-year-old Edward Warren from Baltimore in Peter Carne's tethered hot air balloon in 1784.
The United States capital, Washington, D.C., has been the site of several events in the nation's history of aviation, beginning from the time of the American Civil War, often for the purpose of promoting the adoption of new aeronautical technologies by the government. It has also been home to several governmental and civilian aircraft manufacturers and aviation organizations, and several aerospace contractors.
The Northern Virginia region is served by numerous mediums of transit. Transportation in the region is overseen by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.