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74-565: Washington Dulles International Airport ( / ˈ d ʌ l ɪ s / DUL -iss ) ( IATA : IAD , ICAO : KIAD , FAA LID : IAD ) is an international airport in Loudoun County and Fairfax County in Northern Virginia , United States, 26 miles (42 km) west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport, which opened in 1962, is named after John Foster Dulles , an influential United States Secretary of State during

148-468: A facelift in 2006 that included light-fixture upgrades, new paint finishes, new ceiling grids and tiles, heating and air conditioning replacement, and complete restroom renovations. While all gates in Concourses C/D can be utilized for both domestic and international departures, all United international arrivals are conducted at gates C1-C14. These gates contain two exit configurations depending on

222-493: A few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

296-440: A few that use Concourse A). These concourses were constructed in 1983 as temporary facilities and designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum . The two concourses have 22 gates each, numbered C1–C28 and D1–D32, with odd-numbered gates on the north side of the building and even numbered gates on the south side. Concourse C composes the eastern half of the terminal and Concourse D composes the western half. The C/D concourses were given

370-567: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

444-468: A new three-story 550,000 square foot (51,000 m) south concourse building above the AeroTrain station for Concourse C, to replace Concourse A regional gates built in 1999. Decades-old rules set by Congress that limit the number of takeoffs and landings, as well as distance of routes, at Reagan Airport were intended in part to keep more flights at Dulles. Those rules have been weakened by Congress over

518-620: A parallel set of toll lanes were added on the same right-of-way to accommodate non-airport traffic (Dulles Toll Road). The airport-only lanes are both less congested and toll-free. As of November 1, 2008, MWAA assumed responsibility from the Virginia Department of Transportation both for operating the Dulles Toll Road and for the construction of the Silver Line down its median. Route 28, which runs north–south along

592-505: A renovation program for the airport including a new security mezzanine with more room for lines. A new train system, dubbed AeroTrain and developed by Mitsubishi , began in 2010 to transport passengers between the concourses and the main terminal. The system, which uses rubber tires and travels along a fixed underground guideway, is similar to the people mover systems at Singapore Changi Airport , Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , and Denver International Airport . The train

666-546: A row of office buildings along the north side of the main parking lot. The design also included a two-level road in front of the terminal to separate arrival and departure traffic and a federally owned limited access highway connecting the terminal to the Capital Beltway ( I-495 ) about 17 miles (27 km) to the east. (Eventually, the highway system grew to include a parallel toll road to handle commuter traffic and an extension to connect to I-66 ). The access road had

740-666: A short distance southeast. After the war, in 1948, the Civil Aeronautics Administration began to consider sites for a second major airport to serve the nation's capital. Congress passed the Washington Airport Act in 1950 to provide funding for a new airport in the region. The initial CAA proposal in 1951 called for the airport to be built in Fairfax County near what is now Burke Lake Park , but protests from residents, as well as

814-423: A train does not exceed four minutes, compared to the average 15-minute wait and travel time for mobile lounges. Under the development plan, future phases would see the addition of several new midfield concourses and a new south terminal. A fourth runway (parallel to the existing runways 1 and 19 L&R) opened in 2008, and development plans include a fifth runway to parallel the existing runway 12–30. If this runway

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888-486: A wide median strip to allow the construction of a passenger rail line, which opened as an extension of the Washington Metro's Silver Line on November 15, 2022. By 1985 the original design, featuring mobile lounges to meet each plane, was no longer well-suited to Dulles's role as a hub airport. Instead, midfield concourses were constructed to allow passengers to walk between connecting flights without visiting

962-509: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

1036-467: Is a hub for United Airlines and is frequently used by airlines that United has codeshare agreements with, mostly composed of Star Alliance members like Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa . Before World War II , Hoover Field was the main commercial airport serving Washington, on the site now occupied by the Pentagon and its parking lots. It was replaced by Washington National Airport in 1941,

1110-638: Is accessible via the Dulles Access Road / Dulles Greenway ( State Route 267 ) and State Route 28 . The Access Road is a toll-free, limited access highway owned by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to facilitate car access to Washington Dulles from the Capital Beltway and Interstate 66 . After it opened, non-airport traffic between Washington and Reston became so heavy that

1184-402: Is built, the current runway will be re-designated as 12L-30R while the new runway will be designated 12R-30L. An expansion of the B concourse, used by many low-cost airlines as well as international arrivals, has been completed, and the building housing Concourses C and D will eventually be knocked down to make room for a more ergonomic building. Because Concourses C and D are temporary concourses,

1258-586: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

1332-541: Is expected to cost between $ 500 million and $ 800 million and the airport is seeking $ 230 million grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. Construction on the concourse began in August 2024, and it is expected to open in 2026. Since many major domestic and international airlines have a large presence at Washington Dulles, there are many airline lounges within the airport: Washington Dulles

1406-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

1480-426: Is intended to replace the mobile lounges, which many passengers found crowded and inconvenient. The initial phase includes the main terminal station, a permanent Concourse A station, a permanent Concourse B station, a permanent midfield concourse station (with access to the current temporary C concourse via a tunnel with moving walkways), and a maintenance facility. Mobile lounges continue to service Concourse D from both

1554-543: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

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1628-661: Is one of three major airports serving the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area . As of 2021, it is the second-busiest airport in the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area behind Reagan National Airport and the 28th-busiest airport in the United States. Dulles has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the Mid-Atlantic outside the New York metropolitan area , including approximately 90% of

1702-467: Is primarily used for international flights. Air France and KLM have a lounge opposite gate A19, Etihad Airways operates a First and Business Class lounge across from gate A15, and Virgin Atlantic has a Clubhouse lounge adjacent to gate A31. Concourse A's AeroTrain station is located between gates A6 and A14. Concourse B has 28 gates, located in the western half of the terminal. It is the first of

1776-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

1850-571: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

1924-686: The Cold War who briefly represented New York in the United States Senate . The airport's main terminal is a well-known landmark designed by Eero Saarinen , who also designed the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport . Operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority , Dulles occupies 13,000 acres (20.3 sq mi; 52.6 km), straddling the Loudoun–Fairfax line. IAD ranks fifth in

1998-481: The list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and the use of two letters allowed only

2072-414: The AeroTrain, which links the main terminal with the A and B concourse and links to a tunnel connecting to the C concourse. All airlines aside from certain express flights operate out of two linear satellite terminals . Each terminal is divided into two concourses, with the north terminal containing Concourses A and B, and the south terminal containing Concourses C and D. Concourses A and B are located in

2146-493: The D2 Dulles Development Project. The new building is to include a three-level structure with 44 airline gates and similar amenities to Concourse B. The concourse plan includes a dedicated mezzanine corridor with moving sidewalks to serve international passengers. The design and construction of the new C/D concourse has not been scheduled. When built, it is planned that both terminals will be connected to

2220-883: The Herndon–Monroe park & ride lot in Herndon, the Reston Town Center transit in Reston, the Wiehle–Reston East Metro station, and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Air and Space Museum. Formerly, the Metrobus 5A route served at the airport. Megabus provides service from Dulles to Charlottesville and Blacksburg . Washington Flyer has a monopoly to operate cabs from Washington Dulles Airport. Uber and Lyft are popular modes of transport to and from

2294-523: The IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn , is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as

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2368-536: The International Arrivals Building, as well as to transport passengers to and from aircraft on the hard stands that are called H gates (i.e., those parked remotely on the apron without access to jet bridges). Dulles's main terminal houses ticketing on the upper level, baggage claim and U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the lower level, and annexes for the International Arrivals Building for international passenger processing, as well as

2442-474: The International Arrivals Building, while passengers making onward connections are directed to a separate customs facility located on the ground floor of Concourse C. After being screened by TSA at a dedicated security checkpoint within the facility, these passengers then take escalators that deposit them in Concourse C near gate C7. A new and permanent C/D concourse (also called "Tier 2") is planned as part of

2516-487: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . 81st United States Congress Too Many Requests If you report this error to

2590-538: The U.S. The airport was Loudoun County's first official airport, consisting of two grass intersecting runways in the shape of an "X". The location of the former Blue Ridge Airport sits where the Dulles Air Freight complex and Washington Dulles Airport Marriott now sit today. The civil engineering firm Ammann and Whitney was named lead contractor. The airport was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy and Eisenhower on November 17, 1962. As originally opened,

2664-665: The US in terms of land area, after Denver International Airport , Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport , Southwest Florida International Airport , and Orlando International Airport . Most of the airport is in the unincorporated community of Dulles in Loudoun County, with a small portion in the unincorporated community of Chantilly in Fairfax County. Along with Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), Dulles

2738-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

2812-433: The airport had three long runways (current day runways 1C/19C, 1R/19L, and 12/30) and one shorter one (where current taxiway Q is located). Its original name, Dulles International Airport, was changed in 1984 to Washington Dulles International Airport. The main terminal was designed in 1958 by famed Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen , and it is highly regarded for its graceful beauty, suggestive of flight. The terminal

2886-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

2960-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

3034-480: The airport's plane mate vehicles. Conceived in early planning sessions in 1959, Dulles is one of a few remaining airports to utilize mobile lounges (also known as "plane mates" or "people movers"), now only used for transport to the International Arrivals Building as well as transport for Concourse D. They have all been given names based on the postal abbreviations of 50 states, e.g., VA, MD, AK. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has partially phased out

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3108-574: The airport, and MWAA receives a $ 4 fee per trip, which is included in the quoted fare. Dulles has been a popular filming location, particularly in its early years when it had relatively low traffic levels in relation to its size and its elaborate design. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in

3182-429: The arriving flight. Domestic passengers and international passengers from airports with U.S. customs pre-clearance exit directly into the concourse, while international arrivals from airports without border pre-clearance are redirected down a sterile corridor to U.S. Customs & Immigration. Passengers arriving from international destinations who are ending their journey at Dulles are then transported by mobile lounge to

3256-502: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

3330-468: The consumption of more than 37,000 Northern Virginia homes during peak production. In 2024, IAD was ranked as the 11th best airport in the world by AirHelp , a passenger rights tech company that assists passengers with flight disruptions. Data was compiled for 239 of the world's busiest airports in 69 countries. Data was compiled from May 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024. Criteria was based on on-time performance, customer opinion, and food and shops. Dulles ranking

3404-554: The eastern edge of the airport, has been upgraded to a limited access highway, with the interchanges financed through a property tax surcharge on nearby business properties. The Dulles Toll Road ( VA-267 ) is extended to the south of Leesburg as the Dulles Greenway. Washington Metro service is available to Dulles via a station on the Silver Line . Service began operation on November 15, 2022. Fairfax Connector bus routes 981 and 983 serve Washington Dulles, connecting to

3478-886: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

3552-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

3626-478: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

3700-597: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

3774-500: The four Z gates (used by Air Canada and United Express), H gates, various information kiosks and other support facilities. The main terminal was recognized by the American Institute of Architects in 1966 for its design concept; its roof is a suspended catenary providing a wide enclosed area unimpeded by any columns. The main terminal was extended in 1996 to 1,240 feet (380 m)—Saarinen's original design length—which

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3848-487: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

3922-723: The international passenger traffic in the Baltimore–Washington region. It had more than 20 million passenger enplanements every year from 2004 to 2019, with 24 million enplanements in 2019. An average of 60,000 passengers pass through Dulles daily to and from more than 139 destinations around the world. Increased domestic travel from Reagan National Airport has eroded some of Dulles's domestic routes. Dulles overtook Reagan in total enplanements in 2019. In 2018, however, Dulles surpassed Reagan in yearly passenger boardings after having fewer passengers since 2015. Furthermore, it still ranks behind BWI in total annual passenger boardings. Dulles

3996-416: The main terminal and Concourse A. Even after AeroTrain is built out and the replacement Concourses C and D are built, the mobile lounges and plane mates will still continue to be used, to transport international arriving passengers to the International Arrivals Building, as well as transport passengers to aircraft parked on hardstands without direct access to jet bridges. Dulles has stated that the wait time for

4070-543: The main terminal and other concourses via the AeroTrain. To that extent, the AeroTrain station at Concourse C was built at the location where the future Concourse C/D structure is proposed to be built, and is connected to the existing Concourse C via an underground walkway. In April 2022, the Airport Authority published plans for a 14 gate Concourse E to be built atop the AeroTrain station with the purpose of replacing outdoor boarding areas at Concourse A. Construction

4144-533: The main terminal. Concourse B is used by some international carriers, and is also utilized by almost all non-United domestic and Canada flights. The facility also includes a British Airways Galleries lounge adjacent to the AeroTrain station, a Lufthansa lounge between gates B49 and B51, and a Turkish Airlines lounge near gate B43. Concourses C and D are located in the south midfield terminal, and are used for United Airlines flights, including all mainline flights and most United Express regional flights (save for

4218-419: The main terminal. Mobile lounges were still used for international flights and to transport passengers between the midfield concourses and the main terminal; Concourse C/D was the first to be built, followed by Concourse A/B. A tunnel (consisting of a passenger walkway and moving sidewalks) that links the main terminal and Concourse B was opened in 2004. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) began

4292-405: The midfield terminal building closer to the main terminal. They are utilized by all non-United flights as well as a limited number of United Express flights. Concourse A has 47 gates, located in the eastern half of the north midfield terminal. It consists of a permanent ground-level set of gates designed for small planes and United Express flights, and several former Concourse B gates. The concourse

4366-603: The mobile lounge system for inter-terminal passenger movements with the AeroTrain , an underground people mover that currently operates to all of the concourses except concourse D, with a passenger tunnel remaining to concourses A and B. However, the Aerotrain to concourse C stops at a terminal north of the actual concourse, leaving a significant walk from the terminal to concourse after disembarking. Plane mates remain in use to disembark international passengers and carry them to

4440-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

4514-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

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4588-448: The only way to get to those concourses is via moving walkway from the Concourse C station, which is built in the location of the future gates and Concourse D by mobile lounge from the main terminal. In the short term, United Airlines has constructed a 20,000 square foot (1,900 m) buildout on Concourse C between gate C18 and the AeroTrain entrance for use as a Polaris Lounge for international passengers. Further expansion plans include

4662-425: The permanent elevated midfield concourses. Originally constructed in 1998 and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum , the B concourse contained 20 gates. In 2003, 4 additional gates were added to concourse B, followed by a 15-gate expansion in 2008. In addition to the AeroTrain station located between gates B51 and B62, Concourse B also has an underground walkway to connect it to

4736-574: The rapid expansion of Washington's suburbs during the time, led to reconsideration of this plan. One competing plan called for the airport to be built in the Pender area of Fairfax County, while another called for the conversion of Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County , Maryland , into a commercial airport. The current site was selected by President Eisenhower in 1958; the Dulles name

4810-506: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

4884-500: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

4958-453: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

5032-413: The years, however, causing Dulles to lose 200,000 passengers to Reagan between 2011 and 2013. In 2023, construction started on a 100 MW solar power facility, battery and bus charging equipment. It would include the largest airport-based solar and battery development in the U.S. as part of an agreement with Dominion Energy. The solar panels would cover more than 835 acres (338 ha) on land, equivalent to

5106-587: Was added on a new security mezzanine level of the main terminal. This checkpoint replaced previous checkpoints that were located behind the ticketing areas. Travelers enrolled in TSA PreCheck and CLEAR still use this area to clear security. A separate security checkpoint is available on the baggage claim level for staff only, and previously had access for all passengers as the Dulles Diamond area. Both public security checkpoints connect to escalators to

5180-592: Was an overall 8.22 out of 10. Dulles originally used airport code DIA, the initials of Dulles International Airport. When handwritten, it was often misread as DCA, the code for Washington National Airport, so in 1968 Dulles's code was changed to IAD. The airport's terminal complex consists of a main terminal (which includes four of the original gates, "Z" gates), and two parallel midfield terminal buildings: Concourses A/B and C/D. The entire terminal complex has 139 total gates: 123 gates with jetways and 16 hardstand locations from which passengers can board or disembark using

5254-420: Was built without any concourses and gates as all aircraft were parked at remote sites. Passengers were bussed to their aircraft by way of mobile lounges that raised up to the aircraft level, some are still in use today. The first midfield terminal that included gates and jetbridges was constructed in 1985 when New York Air and other airlines began hub operations at Dulles. In the 1990s, the main terminal at Dulles

5328-547: Was chosen by Eisenhower's aviation advisor Pete Quesada , who later served as the first head of the Federal Aviation Administration . As a result of the site selection, the unincorporated, largely African-American community of Willard , which once stood in the airport's current footprint, was demolished, and 87 property owners had their holdings condemned. Dulles was also built over a lesser-known airport named Blue Ridge Airport, chartered in 1938 by

5402-520: Was reconfigured to allow more space between the front of the building and the ticket counters. Additions at both ends of the main terminal more than doubled the structure's length. The original terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, was modeled after the Saarinen terminal at Dulles. The design included a landscaped man-made lake to collect rainwater, a low-rise hotel, and

5476-457: Was slightly more than double its originally constructed length of 600 feet (180 m). On September 22, 2009, an expansion to include the 41,400 square feet (3,850 m) International Arrivals Building opened for customs and immigration processing with a capacity to process 2,400 passengers per hour. Also in September 2009, a 121,700 square feet (11,310 m) central security checkpoint

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