Atlanta International Airport, GA Airport

Location
Opened in 1925, the airport is about 16 km or 11 miles south of downtown Atlanta. The terminal building may be reached on the Interstate I-285 at exit 61, Interstate I-85, exit 71, Georgia State Route #6 or US-Highway 29.

The Airport Metro Station, at the western side of the airport between the south terminal and the north terminal, is served by the "Red Line" and "Yellow Line" trains of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). Public buses 72, 78, 82, 88, 89, 180, 181 and 189 also stop at the airport.

Passengers coming by train please use the bus number 110 to Five Point Transit Center in the city centre, change for the "Red Line" or "Yellow Line" and head for the Airport Metro Station.

Since 2009, the ATL Skytrain, a people mover has been operating trains between the Main Terminal and the Rental Car Center (RCC) on the other side of the Interstate I-85 . This can transport up to 300 passengers in each direction in about 5 minutes and also stop at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC).

History
In April 1925 Walter Sims, then mayor of Atlanta, signed a 5 year lease for an area used as a racing track. This was called Candler Field, after the owner of the Coca-Cola patent and the proprietor of Asa Griggs Candler. The first landing took place a year later, a postal plane from Jacksonville. The first commercial flight from Atlanta was operated in the spring of 1928 by Pitcaim Aviation. Only a year later this was followed by Delta Air Lines (founded in 1928) who has been using Atlanta as its headquarters and important hub ever since. In 1939, the first control tower was built and during the Second World War, the airport was an official military airport of strategic importance for the US-Air Force. During this time, the area of the airport doubled.

In 1946, after the end of the Second Word War, the airport was officially renamed Atlanta Municipal Airport. Even then, Atlanta was the busiest airport in the USA with more than 1600 arrivals and departures a day. Two years later, the airport was able to count 1 million passengers. In 1956, international connections followed with Eastern Airlines operating regular services to Montreal. The development of Atlanta airport was disproportionate in comparison with other US airports with the 2 million mark being crossed as early as 1957. At the same time, a new terminal was built to cope with rising flight numbers. Atlanta thereby became the USA’s most important and largest airport and has remained so until now.

The grounds were extended further and another concourse was opened in 1961. Atlanta was then able to check in 6 million passengers a year. As early as 1967, with a total of 9.5 million passengers, the grounds were already too small for future prognoses and a group of urban planners and several airlines made plans to extend the airport during the following decades. However, construction work only began in 1977, 10 years later, and at the time this was the largest building project in the south of the USA.

The official inauguration was in the autumn 1980, when the airport was also renamed Atlanta - William B. Hartsfield International Airport, to honour the mayor, who had supported the extension work. The airport was then large enough for 55 million passengers. It was finally given its current name in 2003, in honour of the mayor of the same name who died that year.