City: Cincinnati, OH

Category: Getting Here, Getting Around

Telephone: (859) 767-3151

Description: It’s puzzling to many passengers flying into Greater Cincinnati for the first time when they realize the airport isn’t in Cincinnati or even Ohio, but Kentucky. The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is a prime example of how the area overcomes state boundaries and works together to form a cohesive region.Since the federal government deeded it to the Kenton County Airport Board in 1945, the airport has proved to be the ideal location for the region’s air transportation. The rural setting, about 12 miles south of downtown Cincinnati, allows the airport to acquire space and slowly grow to meet the area’s changing transportation needs without butting heads with residential expansion. Its rural setting also keeps it away from the bulk of the daily traffic, so travelers don’t have to mix with commuters in the fight to make a flight.This is one of the nation’s fastest-growing airports. About 470 flights depart daily to 120 cities nonstop. More than 20 million passengers fly out of the airport annually. The airport is also a key international location, with nonstop flights taking off daily to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Montreal, Paris, Rome, Toronto and, during certain parts of the year, to Nassau in the Bahamas.And it’s a key business location, situated within an hour’s flight of 50 percent of the nation’s population and 50 percent of its manufacturing facilities. Numerous businesses relocating to the area from other parts of the country cite the airport as a primary factor in their decision. Cincinnati’s airport is within a 90-minute flight of 14 of the 20 top cities in the United States.The airport is also one of the most vital players in the region’s economic picture. Every time a plane takes off from the airport, almost $16,000 is contributed to the local economy through direct and indirect expenditures, for a daily average of $8.7 million and an annual impact of $3.9 billion.A $500 million expansion completed in 1994 added a terminal, a new road system, a new control tower, an automated baggage system that carries 21,000 bags an hour, an underground train that carries passengers to the terminal, and two new concourses. The airport now has all of the major conveniences of a small city—a wide variety of stores and bars, a barbershop, a chapel, two banks, and its own police station, fire department, and post office.Because of the increase in flights, nearby residents continually sound off about the nonstop noise. The airport board is buying as many nearby houses as it can, sound-insulating others, and trying to route its planes over less-populated areas. It still continues as a battle between progress and people, though.But although it is nice to have an airport with so many connections nearby, it is not always the cheapest place to catch a flight. Delta is able to set the prices since it has a hub here. As a result, competition is weak and the rates are high. If money outweighs time as a factor, you can more than likely find cheaper flights in Columbus, Dayton, Louisville, or Indianapolis. All four airports are about a two-hour drive from Cincinnati.However, the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport is convenient, and getting from the airport to downtown is easy. Cabs are available with a set fee of $26 for taking one to four passengers downtown. Direct phone lines for all major car-rental agencies are located in the baggage claim areas of each terminal, and buses go directly from outside these areas to the on-site rental companies.Airlines operating from the airport are Air France, American, Comair, Continental, Delta, Northwest/KLM, Skyway, United, and USA 3000.