International Pan American Airport is a former airport in Dinner Key, Miami, Florida operated by Pan American World Airways from 1932 to 1945. During its existence, it operated alongside Coast Guard Air Station Dinner Key.
International Pan American Airport is a former airport in Dinner Key, Miami, Florida operated by Pan American World Airways from 1932 to 1945. During its existence, it operated alongside Coast Guard Air Station Dinner Key.
Dinner Key was the site of the first continental naval air station in the United States, which opened in 1918. The United States Navy vacated the facility following the end of World War I that year, and it was then used by commercial seaplane operators. The New York, Rio & Buenos Aires Airline began service at the airport in 1929 and merged into Pan Am in 1930. [1]
Dinner Key served as a base for Pan American World Airways's flying boats during the 1930s and 1940s. It was one of the world's largest airports and the main hub for air traffic between North and South America. The inaugural flight from Dinner Key to Panama took place on December 1, 1930. Charles Lindbergh, who was a technical adviser to Pan Am, surveyed some of the early air routes. Because of inadequate landing facilities along the South American route, flying clipper ships were utilized by Pan Am, forming a vital link between North and South America. [2] Pan Am opened an Art Deco terminal building at the airport in 1934, featuring a globe in its lobby that was 10 feet in diameter and weighed 3.5 tons. Pan Am operated Sikorsky S-41 and Sikorsky S-42 flying boats from the airport. [1]
The Navy requisitioned the entire Dinner Key facility in 1943 and commissioned it as Dinner Key NAF. [1] After the technological advances of World War II and the construction of suitable airports in South America made seaplanes largely obsolete, Pan Am transferred its operations to Miami International Airport, which had been in operation since 1928 as Pan American Field. Pan Am's final flight to Dinner Key took place August 9, 1945. This happened to be the same day an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, essentially ending World War II. [2]
Today, the airport is the site of Miami City Hall, located in the old Pan Am terminal building. Two of Pan Am's hangars are still in use by the Grove Key Marina. [1] The terminal's centerpiece globe was showcased in the lobby of Miami's Museum of Science from 1960 until the museum moved in 2015, and in 2022 was installed at the site of the Miami Worldcenter development. [3]
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for much of the 20th century. It was the first airline to fly worldwide and pioneered numerous innovations of the modern airline industry, such as jet aircraft, jumbo jets, and computerized reservation systems. Until its dissolution in 1991, Pan Am "epitomized the luxury and glamour of intercontinental travel", and it remains a cultural icon of the 20th century, identified by its blue globe logo, the use of the word "Clipper" in its aircraft names and call signs, and the white uniform caps of its pilots.
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii. The airport is named after Honolulu native and Medal of Honor recipient Daniel Inouye, who represented Hawaii in the U.S. Senate from 1963 to his death in 2012. The airport is in the Honolulu census-designated place 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Honolulu's central business district. The airport covers 4,220 acres, more than 1% of Oahu's land.
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Chalk's International Airlines, formerly Chalk's Ocean Airways, was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in unincorporated Broward County, Florida near Fort Lauderdale. It operated scheduled seaplane services to the Bahamas. Its main base was Miami Seaplane Base (MPB) until 2001, with a hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. On September 30, 2007, the United States Department of Transportation revoked the flying charter for the airline, and later that year, the airline ceased operations.
New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line was an airline that operated seaplane service from New York City to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and intermediate points on the east coast of South America during the 1920s. It was forced to merge into its competitor, Pan American World Airways, in 1930.
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The Sikorsky S-42 was a commercial flying boat designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft to meet requirements for a long-range flying boat laid out by Pan American World Airways in 1931. The innovative design included wing flaps, variable-pitch propellers, and a tail-carrying full-length hull. The prototype first flew on 29 March 1934, and, in the period of development and test flying that followed, quickly established ten world records for payload-to-height. The "Flying Clipper" and the "Pan Am Clipper" were other names for the S-42.
The Sikorsky S-38 was an American twin-engined ten-seat sesquiplane amphibious aircraft. It was Sikorsky's first widely produced amphibious flying boat, serving successfully for Pan American Airways and the United States military.
Dinner Key is a marina complex in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida, along the shore of Biscayne Bay on South Bayshore Drive. It was originally an island, but was connected to the mainland in 1914 by filling in the intervening space. An early source attributes the name to the island being a convenient place to stop to eat while traveling by boat between the mouth of the Miami River and Snapper Creek south of Miami. Dinner Key is accessible by public transit via the Coconut Grove Circulator from the Miami Metrorail at Coconut Grove and Douglas Road stations. Formerly, it has been the location of Coast Guard Air Station Dinner Key and International Pan American Airport.
New York Airways was a helicopter airline in the New York City area, founded in 1949 as a mail and cargo carrier. On 9 July 1953 it may have been the first scheduled helicopter airline to carry passengers in the United States, with headquarters at LaGuardia Airport. Although primarily a helicopter airline operator with scheduled passenger operations, New York Airways also flew fixed wing aircraft, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 19-passenger STOL twin turboprop aircraft.
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Miami City Hall is the local government headquarters for the City of Miami, Florida. It has been located in the former Pan American Airlines Terminal Building on Dinner Key, which was designed by Delano & Aldrich and constructed in 1934 for the former International Pan American Airport, since 1954. The city's government headquarters originated in Downtown Miami for 58 years until its relocation to Coconut Grove.
Coast Guard Air Station Dinner Key is a former United States Coast Guard facility located in Dinner Key, Miami, Florida. It was built next to the International Pan American Airport.
Soledad International Airport was the main airport of Barranquilla, Colombia from 1936 to 1981 when it was replaced by Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport. It was the main international hub in the country from 1936 to 1959.
Coordinates: 25°43′43.20″N80°14′7.25″W / 25.7286667°N 80.2353472°W