Orlando International Airport is a major public commercial service airport located six miles (10 km) southeast of the central business district of Orlando, a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is the busiest airport in Florida (by the number of passengers) owing to Orlando's popularity as a destination of tourism, conventions, and business travel.

Overview

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The airport serves as a secondary hub for AirTran Airways and a focus city for both Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways. The airport hosts AirTran's corporate headquarters and operations center, though the airline maintains its main hub of operations at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Southwest Airlines is currently the airport's largest carrier in terms of passengers traveled; SWA carried one-fifth of all passenger traffic at MCO in 2006..

In 2007 MCO was visited by 36.48 million passengers, making it the 10th busiest airport in the United States on the basis of passenger traffic and the 20th-busiest in the World. It is the 15th busiest international gateway in the United States, behind Philadelphia International Airport; JFK International in New York City ranks first.. It is third busiest in international gateway in Florida, after Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.

The airport code MCO stands for the airport's former name, McCoy Air Force Base, named for Colonel Michael Norman Wright McCoy, USAF, commander of the 321st Bombardment Wing at the then-Pinecastle Air Force Base. Col McCoy died in the crash of a B-47 Stratojet during the annual Strategic Air Command (SAC) Bombing and Navigation Competition that was held at the base in 1957. Pinecastle AFB was later renamed McCoy AFB in his honor the following year.

The Greater Orlando area is also served by Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB), and more indirectly by Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB) and Melbourne International Airport (MLB).

Structure, Function, and Destinations

image:Orlando International Airport hotel rooms.jpg Orlando International Airport has a large main terminal building, connected by an elevated tram system to four airside terminals. The main terminal building is divided into two terminals; A and B. There are passenger check-in and baggage claim facilities on the main terminal building's north side (Terminal A), and on the building's south side (Terminal B). Airsides 1 and 2 use baggage claim "A", while airsides 3 and 4 use baggage claim "B." MCO's airsides are much larger in capacity than their smaller counterparts at Tampa International Airport.

Airside 4 currently serves as the airport's primary international arrivals terminal, however Airside 1 also handles international arrivals. Arriving international passengers who require immigration and/or customs clearance are processed through those checkpoints in the airside terminal where they arrive. After clearing US immigration, passengers collect their baggage and clear US customs. After clearing customs, international passengers must ride the people mover to the main terminal. Airside 4 provides escalator access directly from the customs hall to the people mover platform. This has eliminated the requirement for arriving international passengers to go through a security inspection between the customs area and the people mover, and as a result they now have the option of bringing their checked baggage with them on the people mover. Alternatively, passengers also have the option of placing their baggage on a transfer belt in the customs hall for transport to the main terminal's baggage claim. Only those passengers who are connecting to a flight in Airside 4 and airport employees, will need to go through security upon exiting customs.