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San Francisco International Airport is well south of the city limits of San Francisco. Yes, it does sit within a zip code that's assigned to San Francisco, but that's basically a polite fiction to pretend that it's actually in the city. It isn't.
According to USPS, ZIP code assignments depend largely on delivery areas and postal routes. It's all about practicality, not "polite fiction."
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhays25
Many airports are outside of their namesake city limits. I don't think the name implies anything.
Many airports are outside of their namesake city limits. I don't think the name implies anything.
In Seattle/Tacoma's case they actually created a city with the namesake of SeaTac.
Detroit is another one that's actually in Romulus, MI, and Dulles Airport is in the city of the same name in VA. I can't think of too many others as most of them are within the city limits including Atlanta, LAX, Chicago O'Hare, and even JFK which is in Queens, still technically NYC. Of course they have to be a good distance from the centralized urban areas. San Diego is one that's really close to its downtown.
Also Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Vancouver, Miami, Atlanta, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Sacramento, Buffalo, Dallas, Seattle...all outside their namesake cities (or mostly outside, including the terminals).
Many of the cities that do have multiple airports (DC, Houston, DFW, Chicago), do so because they outgrew their original airports and couldn't expand. It ended up being a happy accident that the older smaller airport lived on as a perhaps closer and more convenient alternative.
Atlanta and Phoenix had the ability to grow their original airports to the present day, so there was never a pressing need to build a second airport. Denver did but then closed the original. Philly ended up sandwiched between major metros with already large airports, and also happens to sit on a high speed rail line that links them all, so I think that ended up depressing its potential air traffic as well.
Also Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Vancouver, Miami, Atlanta, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Sacramento, Buffalo, Dallas, Seattle...all outside their namesake cities (or mostly outside, including the terminals).
I forgot about Cincinnati. That airport is even in a different state.
Atlanta's is partially within the CoA limits put is also within the cities of College Park and Hapeville, and also partially in Clayton County.
Atlanta's terminals and nearly all of its runway area are outside the city limits.
I'm looking into the airport's history...it looks like the terminal might have been inside the current city limits once (very northern end of the property).
St. Louis has two airports, the larger of the two with Lambert International in MO, and a smaller Mid America Airport in IL. Both are connected via metro. The smaller airport is home primarily to the low cost carrier Allegiant. I am guessing they chose that airport due to cost effectiveness. Allegiant also primarily focuses on flights to tourist destinations, and using the smaller airport definitely benefits recreational travelers (ease of access).
On the plus side, Mid America recently expanded, and Lambert is in the process of replacing their terminals. Hoping this is a good indicator for air travel in the St. Louis area.
Many of the cities that do have multiple airports (DC, Houston, DFW, Chicago), do so because they outgrew their original airports and couldn't expand. It ended up being a happy accident that the older smaller airport lived on as a perhaps closer and more convenient alternative.
Atlanta and Phoenix had the ability to grow their original airports to the present day, so there was never a pressing need to build a second airport. Denver did but then closed the original. Philly ended up sandwiched between major metros with already large airports, and also happens to sit on a high speed rail line that links them all, so I think that ended up depressing its potential air traffic as well.
Looking at the history, it looks like consolidation for efficiency was more to blame than mere airport expansion. It looks like most metros decreased their number of commercial airports rather than simply building new ones as the metro grows.
Houston for example went from half a dozen to almost every thing consolidated into IAH and Hobby.
I am old enough to remember when we had dozens of major airlines. Now we are down to less than 10. I am almost certain Atlanta would have had at least 5 commercial airports if Delta wasn't so dominant. It makes more sense for an airline to expand their footprint in an airport than to spread around wihin the metro at multiple smaller airports.
So no, it's not merely lack of space to grow. Although that may be a factor, I think it's more the evolution of the airline industry into a few huge airlines rather than dozens of big ones
Looking at the history, it looks like consolidation for efficiency was more to blame than mere airport expansion. It looks like most metros decreased their number of commercial airports rather than simply building new ones as the metro grows.
Houston for example went from half a dozen to almost every thing consolidated into IAH and Hobby.
I am old enough to remember when we had dozens of major airlines. Now we are down to less than 10. I am almost certain Atlanta would have had at least 5 commercial airports if Delta wasn't so dominant. It makes more sense for an airline to expand their footprint in an airport than to spread around wihin the metro at multiple smaller airports.
So no, it's not merely lack of space to grow. Although that may be a factor, I think it's more the evolution of the airline industry into a few huge airlines rather than dozens of big ones
There's also financial and regulatory considerations that make building new airports difficult. And the lack of available land is definitely a big one. Denver's airport is the most recent major airport in the country built from the ground up (1995), and it's also among the farthest from the region's principal population center (26 miles away).
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