NTX Magazine Volume 2 | Page 20

CONNECTING THE WORLD DFW Airport helped shape North Texas into international destination D allas/Fort Worth International Airport has transformed North Texas into a global air transportation gateway. With about 1,900 flights per day and 200 destinations worldwide, DFW Airport is an economic engine that connects North Texas to global markets. As the North Texas region continues to grow, so does the airport. Its continued air route expansion and capital investments, along with long-haul aircraft and technology advancements in air traffic control, have propelled DFW Airport as a world-class gateway. The airport, which sits about 17 miles from both downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth, has expanded its international reach to 52 destinations and continues to actively seek out new air routes. International Gateway Emirates Airlines began daily service to Dubai in 2012, marking the airport’s first nonstop passenger flight to the Middle East. Qantas Airways launched daily non-stop service to Brisbane and Sydney, Australia, in May 2011. American Airlines, which operates its 18 NTX Magazine Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport major hub at DFW Airport, has been the primary driver for other expansion, bumping up daily London flights to five, adding daily service to Lima, Peru, and to South Korea’s Seoul Incheon Airport. “We have to understand where people are coming from and where they’re traveling to,” said Luis Perez, DFW Airport’s vice president of air service development. “We aren’t competing with Houston or Chicago. We’re competing with Dubai and Beijing. We connect regions of the world.” With 22 passenger airlines and 17 cargo carriers, DFW Airport is supporting more than 300,000 jobs in North Texas with an annual economic impact of $17 billion. DFW Airport is the focal point of the region’s economy – a monumental achievement for what was merely a vision almost 50 years ago when the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth agreed to jointly build the airport. DFW Airport opened in 1974 and five years later American Airlines announced the move of its world headquarters from New York City to Dallas-Fort Worth. The airport continued to grow throughout the 1970s and earned its status as an international gateway, which led to the creation of Foreign-Trade www.ntc-dfw.org