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Image:KMCO.png FAA diagram of Orlando International Airport (MCO) Orlando International Airport (IATA: MCO, ICAO: KMCO, FAA LID: MCO) is a public 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 tourist destination and its enormous residential and commercial growth. The airport serves as a mini-hub for Delta Connection carriers Chautauqua Airlines and Freedom Airlines (all part of the Delta Connection) and a focus city for AirTran Airways, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines. In 2005 it was visited by 34.1 million passengers, making it the 12th busiest airport in the United States and the 21st-busiest in the World. It is the nation's 15th busiest international gateway, behind Philadelphia International Airport; JFK International in New York City ranks first.[1] Floridians often joke that the airport code MCO stands for "Mickey's Corporate Office" or "Mickey and Co." – Orlando being the location of the Walt Disney World Resort – but it actually stands for the airport's former name, McCoy Air Force Base, named for Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy, who died during an annual competition held at the base.
HistoryImage:Orlando International Airport hotel rooms.jpg View of MCO main terminal atrium, showing the on-site hotel rooms (Hyatt Regency) Before 1974, the land the airport now sits on was largely owned by the United States Air Force who operated an airbase there. The base was known as McCoy Air Force Base and the civilian airport was known as the Orlando Jetport at McCoy. Commercial service to the Jetport began in 1962 as flights were migrated from the old Herndon Airport, now the Orlando Executive Airport. The airport was under control of the city of Orlando for just one year, and in 1975 the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) was founded. Their mission was to manage and build the Orlando International Airport and the Orlando Executive Airport. The airport gained its current name and international airport status a year later in 1976, but kept its old IATA airport code MCO and ICAO airport code KMCO. In 1978, MCO handled 5 million passengers. By 2000, that number had soared to 30 million. Today, MCO covers 23 square miles (60 km²), and is the third-largest airport in the United States by area (after Denver and Dallas). MCO also has North America's second tallest control tower. MCO is a designated Space Shuttle emergency landing site. The west-side runways, Runway Complex 18/36, were designed to accommodate B-52 Stratofortress bombers; and due to their proximity to John F. Kennedy Space Center, were an obvious choice for an emergency landing should an attempt to land at KSC fall short. [2]
In 2004, Hurricane Charley caused some damage to the airport when it struck on the evening of August 13. On February 22, 2005, MCO became the first airport in Florida to accept E-Pass and SunPass toll transponders as a form of payment for parking. The system allows drivers to enter and exit a parking garage without pulling a ticket or stopping to pay the parking fee. The two toll roads that serve the airport, SR 528 (Beachline Expressway) and SR 417 (Central FL GreeneWay), use these systems for automatic toll collection. In October 2006 MCO opened a 100 space Cell Phone Parking Lot for drivers to use while waiting for a delayed flight to arrive. The lot is set up as a free Wi-Fi Hotspot enabling drivers to use their mobile devices to access the Internet, check email and monitor flight status. Around the same time MCO opened an Express Pickup service at each terminal allowing drivers to park their vehicles temporarily at a secure location just outside of baggage claim and meet their arriving party in person. A fee is charged for this service and is only available to E-Pass and SunPass users. Structure and functionImage:Orlando2005 009.jpg People mover stop Image:Orlando2005 010.jpg People mover infrastructure Image:Orlando2005 011.jpg Interior of people mover tram Orlando International Airport has a single main terminal building, connected by people mover to four airside terminals. There are passenger check-in and baggage claim facilities on the main terminal building's north side (referred to as Terminal A), and on the building's south side (referred to as Terminal B). Airsides 1 and 2 use baggage claim "A", while airsides 3 and 4 use baggage claim "B." Unlike its smaller counterpart at Tampa International Airport, MCO's airsides are much larger in capacity. 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 bags and clear US customs. They must then turn in their bags to have them transported to the main terminal. International passengers then ride the people mover to the main terminal, where they can reclaim their bags a second time in one of the main terminal's baggage claims. Because the people mover is located inside the secure part of the airport, international passengers must go through a security inspection upon leaving the customs area. Airside 1 (gates 1-29)
Airside 2 (gates 100-129)
Airside 3 (gates 30-59)
Airside 4 (gates 60-99)
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