Not An International Airport?

aa777jr · Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:59 pm

Why is it common to include "international" in the titles of airports, when they have little to zero international flights? AUS might have a few link flights to MEX, that's' all I can think of. Any ideas or other airports you can think of?

AA777jr

IanatSTN · Sat Oct 16, 2004 5:07 pm

Hey AA777jr,

If I am not mistaken, I beleive that an airport is called international if it has the facilities to operate international flights.

In your example AUS probably has these facilities, even if they are used very little/never.

Cheers Smile/happy/getting dizzy

[email protected]

aa777jr · Sat Oct 16, 2004 5:15 pm

I don't believe there is customs at AUS. I think its pretty cheesy to advertise yourself as an "international" airport and not have any decent flights to speak of. Thanks for info.

AA777jr

ciccone · Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:06 pm

AUS has both immigration and customs facilities. Even though airlines may not use these facilities on a regular basis, general aviation and charters may utilize them.

aa777jr · Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:10 pm

Wasn't aware of that Ciccone, thanks for the information.

It's still cheesy! Smile

AA777jr

keno · Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:15 pm

I believe there are many other so-called 'international' airports in the states which don't even have services to Mexico nor Canada. I read a thread on this a couple of months back.

Mir · Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:17 pm

Lots of small airports have the "international" tag, if they have the facilities to handle international flights. Chances are your local biz-jet GA airport is an international airport.

Carpethead · Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:58 pm

Actually, Osaka Itami International Airport is an airport that has not seen one commercial int'l flight in over 10 years since Kansai opened. There has been some diverts over the years but there are no longer immigration and customs facilities.

akjetBlue · Sat Oct 16, 2004 7:43 pm

RIC, Richmond International, in Richmond, VA with no international services comes to mind...

Then again there's always Evansville International EVV (kidding!)

Smile/happy/getting dizzy

RobK · Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:35 pm

One's which piss me off in the UK are Norwich International and Humberside International. Leeds/Bradford International (my local) as well for that matter.

Cheers,

Rob K Smile

texdravid · Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:45 pm

Another is when a huge aiport is truly international but only because the preponderance of the international flights are from U.S. carriers. A true international airport has more than BA or LH, plus AA.

Kinda sounds like pathetic DFW, huh?

Go3Team · Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:22 pm

RIC, Richmond International, in Richmond, VA with no international services comes to mind...

IIRC, AC had service here a few years ago, but it did not last long. The customs and immigration office, last time I checked was in the air freight area.

N1120A · Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:49 pm

Hey Rob, Norwich and Leeds both have a good deal of European services, and I am sure Leeds has a few IT charters to the US and Canada. Don't forget, Doncaster's new airport will be Doncaster International and will also probably have similar services. ONT did not have international facilities for commercial flights for a long time, but has been Ontario International Airport for at least half a century. The reason? Tons of international cargo flights.

kcrwflyer · Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:24 am

PHF, Newport news (international airport). Airtran , US, and DL... Not the least bit international. Dont know about their cargo.

If all you need is customs ect.. CRW could be international. We handle cargo from Montreal by the amerijet 737 load.

IntruderPC · Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:32 am

To Aa77jr: Airports are called "international" if/because they can handle customs even for GA traffic to nearby countrys. Consider Bangor International in Bangor Maine. Only the one runway and smallish facilities, but they handle customs for GA to surrounding Canadian provinces and I think that there are
4 or 5 more in Maine that are small airports called international. To be "International" does not mean handling major jet pax/cargo flights only.

Checo77 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:39 am

Tulsa Intl Airport, Oklahoma is so called but has no intl flight neither to Mexico nor Canada. They don´t even have immigration posts!!! (I went there once).
I don´t know why they call it Intl.
Adam Bechny

IntruderPC · Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:00 am

Checo77 Tulsa doesn't have "immigration" posts but they do have customs.
There are many flights of bizjets and GA to Mexico and Canada and even some over seas that require customs. Customs stations and capabilities are set up at many airports that seem "unworthy" to many people. There is the need for it because of cargo, GA, biz flights etc.

VS11 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:16 am

They may not have many pax flights but a lot of cargo flights. You still customs to clear imported goods.

NW7E7 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:28 am

LIT has customs but it is called a National airport. I don't know many National airports. The only other one I can think of is DCA and they have AC but it is still a National airport...kind of weird.

NW7E7

FATFlyer · Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:30 am

I've posted this before, when this topic came up 6 months ago, and before that as well.

In the US the Federal Govt. defines an "international airport" in Code of Federal Regulations 19CFR122.1 as:
(e) International airport. An international airport is any airport designated by:
(1) The Secretary of the Treasury or the Commissioner of Customs as a port of entry for aircraft arriving in the U.S. from any place outside thereof and for the merchandise carried on such aircraft;
(2) The Attorney General as a port of entry for aliens arriving on such aircraft; and
(3) The Secretary of Health and Human Services as a place for quarantine inspection.

So it is an airport with the services to handle any kind of international flight, not necessarily an airport which receives commercial international flights.

This FAA advisory circular is a couple of years old but starting on page 3 it does list the airports that the US government would consider international as of 1996. I don't think there have been any major changes since then.
http://www.faa.gov/arp/pdf/5000-5c.pdf

RobK · Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:49 am

Hey Rob, Norwich and Leeds both have a good deal of European services, and I am sure Leeds has a few IT charters to the US and Canada. Don't forget, Doncaster's new airport will be Doncaster International and will also probably have similar services. ONT did not have international facilities for commercial flights for a long time, but has been Ontario International Airport for at least half a century. The reason? Tons of international cargo flights.

Sorry, but personally I don't class flights to continental Europe 'International' - they're merely 'Intercontinental'. International - to me - would mean 'out of Europe' from here within Europe and yes Leeds does have the seasonal Toronto service but I don't think it justifies the 'International' title. If the airports had a scheduled service to an airport out of Europe then yes, I'd say it warrants the title but not a seasonal once-weekly charter. Know what I'm trying say?

I mean, what next? Carlisle Intl ? Ipswich Intl ? It's beyond a joke.

Cheers,

Rob K Smile

aa777jr · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:06 am

TexDavid,

DFW at least operates flights to South America in addition to AA flights to NRT. AUS is the patheic airport!

AA777jr

N1120A · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:12 am

Rob, using that logic, flights from the US to Canada to Mexico would not be international, even though they cross boarders. Also, the UK is not a continent, so they cannot be called intercontinental. Now the, flights from the US to Europe are intercontinental. Damn northerners Big thumbs up

ConcordeBoy · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:43 am

Sorry, but personally I don't class flights to continental Europe 'International' - they're merely 'Intercontinental'.

Firstly, who cares what you classify: the law and geography tell a different story.

Secondly, that's intracontinental, not intercontinental.

aa777jr · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:59 am

haha, well said ConcordeBoy! It's still pretty cheesy we have alot of airports in the US claiming "international" on their tag. They may very well have a customs or whatever, but no flights out of the US.

AA777jr

ConcordeBoy · Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:21 am

They may very well have a customs or whatever, but no flights out of the US.

Most airports don't maintain their customs/immigration capabilities for nothing.

They probably have flights outta the USA; but with low frequency, no commercial scheduling, and probably cargo/private devotion.

RobK · Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:33 am

Rob, using that logic, flights from the US to Canada to Mexico would not be international, even though they cross boarders. Also, the UK is not a continent, so they cannot be called intercontinental. Now the, flights from the US to Europe are intercontinental. Damn northerners

Well, you know what I mean (maybe) Laugh out loud

RK

Venezuela747 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:59 am

PZO(Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) is an international airport but they dont have any international flights. I believe they had flights to the US at one point but I am not sure, hopelly one of my compais' can verify that. The titles at the front of the airport say "Aeropuerto Internacional Manuel Piar"

PNEPilot · Sun Oct 17, 2004 5:29 am

I they've upped the frequency a little, but not so long ago Allentown (ABE) & Harrisburg (MDT) were both "International" airports on the basis of one Air Canada triangular flight YYZ-ABE-MDT-YYZ

iowaman · Sun Oct 17, 2004 6:14 am

There are lots of smaller airports in MT, ND, MN, etc. that are international such as Cut Bank, MT (CTB). There even is an airport called Whetstone Intl. in Montana that has a turf runway and has an average of 60 aircraft operations per year. There also is Gopher Holes and Large Badger holes in the runway and it's an international airport of entry! Nuts

Runway Information
Runway 7/25
Dimensions: 4440 x 65 ft. / 1353 x 20 m
Surface: turf, in fair condition
RWY 07/25 GOPHER HOLES AND LARGE BADGER HOLES ON RY SURFACE.
Runway edge markings: /25 CONE MARKERS EVERY 200 FT BOTH SIDES OF RY AND RED CONES MARK THRS.
RUNWAY 7 RUNWAY 25
Traffic pattern: left left
Obstructions: 25 ft. pline, marked, 207 ft. from runway, 62 ft. right of centerline, 8:1 slope to clear
PLINE MKD WITH RED BALLS. 5 ft. fence, 200 ft. from runway, 40:1 slope to clear

flydc10 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:10 am

Helo, I am a Student in ERAU in Daytona beach DAB and the name is DAytona beach INTERNATIONAL airport. And the only international flight there is, is to the Bahamas I think 2 times a day with a King Air. Would you catalog that as international????????

Flydc10

UA772IAD · Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:16 pm

As a Washingtonian I would consider DCA to be domestic only (although mwaa.com claims that AC serves them), compared to Dulles (IAD) and BWI, DCA is domestic- and used maily for flights to New York, Boston, Florida, Chicago (UA) and a few other cities. Since 9/11 Signature Flight Services has closed and I believe that no GA traffic is allowed at DCA.

RNO does not have international service either.

KAUST · Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:32 pm

AUS maybe "cheesy", but it IS beautiful. A very gorgeous building inside and out in my opinion.

Now compare that to George Bush 'Intercontinental' Airport in north Houston, home to the airline that brags the most international flights of them all, that airport is butt ugly. Not a window to be found in the place and half if it is unfiinished. It's like walking through the DeathStar.

Cheers -
KAUST

iowaman · Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:33 pm

If customs are available at the airport, it's International. DCA is International because of Customs available and there is several Air Canada flights.

mariner · Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:38 pm

I believe that Funjet flies several charters from AUS to Mexico.

And on November 7, Frontier starts scheduled service 3 x weekly AUS/CUN.

cheers

mariner

bill142 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:57 pm

Canberra airport has international status, although it has no scheduled international services. Since CBR is the capital of Australia it has international status so that visiting heads of state can fly straight into CBR insted of having to go through SYD or MEL first. Air Force One with George Jr flew into CBR last year and a few days later the president of China came in.

We did recently have some scheduled international services to Nadi with FJ, but I heard they were cancelled to to poor loads. The owners of the aiport are trying to coerce the government into letting them take excess traffic from SYD insted of building a second airport in SYD. They are also trying to get flights to SIN but I'm not sure which airline they are trying to get for those flights, since I doubt SQ and QF would be interested unless the flights are going via another city like ADL, BNE or DRW as the loads just wouldn't be there.

aa777jr · Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:11 pm

Thanks for the compliments, my hometown airport AUS is rather nice! I agree though Bush is the worse airport. It's rather sad we don't have any international flights...perhaps maybe a few to Mexico, but I'm thinking those are all connecting in HOU.

AA777jr

luisde8cd · Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:28 pm

PZO(Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) is an international airport but they dont have any international flights. I believe they had flights to the US at one point but I am not sure, hopelly one of my compais' can verify that. The titles at the front of the airport say "Aeropuerto Internacional Manuel Piar"

Recently I saw a TV ad showing the work done by the regional goverment. It showed PZO terminal and I managed to see a inmigration queue and signs in Spanish-Portuguese-English. My guess is that it gets charters from Brazil...

travisnc · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:29 pm

This was also in the document posted by FATFlyer:

http://www.faa.gov/arp/pdf/5000-5c.pdf

5. UNOFFICIALLY NAMED INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORTS. In addition to the
designated international airports discussed above,
there are a number of airports in the United States
that contain the word ``International'' within their
names but have no official designation. Nothing
prohibits this practice, though it is discouraged.
However, without any official designation, these
airports have no international status.

According to that any airport in the US can call itself "International" whether it has customs facilities or not. The FAA doesn't like it, but apparently they don't do any thing about it.

BR715-A1-30 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:35 pm

GPT USED to have international flights to Canada with C3000, but that was terminated. When we got that service, we changed the name from Gulfport Biloxi Regional Airport to Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. Even though we do not have an International COMMERCIAL flight, we do get lots of INTERNATIONAL CARGO. and we do have the facilities to handle international flights. We are currently seeking more service.

N1120A · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:43 pm

Well, Cut Bank is an official international port of entry and probably gets a few Canadian GA planes that make their customs stop there. Beautiful place, as I have been there on Amtrak, anything east of it is just horrid though. 111 ops a week means no tower though. As far as H28 (Whetstone MT, that's right no K before it or anything) it actually has a customs office, it is right there on AirNav. I bet it is an airport that light GA can divert to if there are problems at Cut Bank or another close to border airport. Really funny though, it is probably the smallest international airport in the world.

As far as DCA not allowing GA, they still have instructions relating to taxiing from the GA ramp, I am just guessing that they don't want GA there and will not want you gassing up there. Oh, and it is called National, because it is the airport of the Nation. As far as the other part of the name, that is because Republicans don't like NATCA

6thfreedom · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:43 pm

LOL...

The joke in Australia is that the only two airports that have 'International' in their title, don't actually have any scheduled international services.

Canberra and Hobart!

I suppose it's the airport's way of trying to play up their significance on the 'international' scene.

Venezuela747 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:53 pm

Hey Luis,

Last time I was at PZO (2001) I dont recall any inmigration/DIEX offices. If you ahve been to the airport, its kinda divided in half, the western part has 1 belt and thats where the baggage and arriving passangers arrive, its just a glass door I am not sure if they have added offices. The eastern part is with all the counters and the glass door leading outside to board the aircraft, they lastly added a metal detector and stuff.

If my memory is not that bad, I remeber in 2002 or so they closed the airport for remodeling, amybe thats what they did.

andz · Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:36 pm

(2) The Attorney General as a port of entry for aliens arriving on such aircraft;

how busy is Roswell International then? Big grin

SHUPirate1 · Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:40 pm

6thfreedom-Let me get that straight...you're telling me that the CAPITAL of Australia does not receive a SINGLE international flight?

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