(From Wikipedia)
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (IATA: DTW, ICAO: KDTW), usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport locally, or simply DTW, is a major international airport covering 6,700-acre (10.5 sq mi; 2,700 ha) in Romulus, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It is Michigan's busiest airport.
Metro Detroit's airport is the second-largest hub for Delta Air Lines, the world's largest airline. Delta's McNamara World Gateway terminal contains both domestic and international gates and serves as the airline's primary portal to Asia and its third-busiest gateway to Europe. The airport is also a major gateway for tourism in metropolitan Detroit. The airport is one of SkyTeam's major Midwestern hubs. It is the second-largest base for Spirit Airlines, where the airline was founded and once operated its largest base. Operated by the Wayne County Airport Authority, the airport is one of the nation's most-recently expanded and modernized airports, with six major runways, two terminals, 145 in-service gates, and an on-site Westin Hotel and conference center. The McNamara Terminal Concourse A is the world's second-longest airport terminal building at 1 mi (1.6 km) It is just surpassed by the 1.06 mi (1.71 km) long Kansai International Airport). The airport has maintenance facilities capable of servicing and repairing aircraft as large as the Boeing 747.
In 2008, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport was the 13th-busiest airport in the United States and the 24th busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic. Through August 2008, the airport remained one of the top ten U.S. international gateway airports. Metro Airport also serves the Toledo, Ohio, area, which is located approximately 47 miles (76 km) south of the airport, and the city of Windsor, Ontario and Southwestern Ontario in nearby Canada. The airport serves over 160 destinations and was named the best large U.S. airport in customer satisfaction by J.D. Power & Associates in 2010. In 2009, Detroit Metro Airport launched its first social media efforts with participation in Twitter, Facebook and YouTube networks. Detroit Airport is ranked best in America by J.D. Power and Associates.
Wayne County authorities began planning for a new airport in the western portions of the county as early as 1927. The following year, the county acquired one square mile of land for an aviation facility, to be called Wayne County Airport, at the corner of Middlebelt and Wick Roads, the northeastern boundary of today's airport. Construction was completed in 1929, and the first official landing took place on February 22, 1930. That same year, Thompson Aeronautical Corporation, a forerunner of American Airlines, inaugurated service from Wayne County. From 1931 until 1945, the airport housed Michigan National Guard operations gained by the Army Air Force. It was also named Romulus Army Airfield during the war. The original runway (14/32) was later decommissioned. However, parts of it remain today as Taxiways M-4 and P-4, transversing from southeast of Runway 3R/21L through Runway 9L/27R and ending northwest of Runway 3L/21R.
Between 1947 and 1950, county officials expanded the small airport to become Detroit's primary airport. The airport was renamed Detroit-Wayne Major Airport in 1947 and over the next three years expanded in size threefold as three more runways were built. In 1949, runways 3L/21R and 9L/27R were built and in 1950 runway 4R/22L was added. During this time, most commercial traffic shifted from small Detroit City Airport (now Coleman Young International Airport) northeast of downtown Detroit to the larger Willow Run Airport over 20 mi (32 km) west of the city, and 10 mi (16 km) west of Wayne County Airport.
