Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport ( IATA : CVG , ICAO : KCVG , FAA LID : CVG ) is a public international airport located in Boone County, Kentucky , United States, around the community of Hebron . The airport serves the Cincinnati tri-state area . The airport's code, CVG, is derived from the nearest city at the time of the airport's opening, Covington, Kentucky . The airport covers an area of 7,000 acres (10.9 sq mi; 28.3 km). It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027, in which it is categorized as a medium-hub primary commercial service facility.
55-544: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport offers non-stop passenger service to over 50 destinations in North America and Europe , handling numerous domestic and international cargo flights every day. The airport is a cargo global hub for Amazon Air , Atlas Air , ABX Air , Kalitta Air , and DHL Aviation . The airport is currently the 6th busiest airport in the United States by cargo traffic and 12th largest in
110-561: A people mover (a similar layout to Delta's main hub at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport ). Concourse C was only accessible by shuttle buses and was a ground-level facility for regional aircraft used by Delta Connection (operated by Comair ). After the opening of Terminal 3, the former Terminals B and C were renamed Terminals 1 and 2 respectively, which continued to house non-Delta airlines. Aircraft operations dramatically increased from around 300,000 to 500,000 yearly aircraft movements. In turn, passenger volumes doubled within
165-592: A 64-mile flight to Dayton, to a daily nonstop to Honolulu and Anchorage, to transatlantic destinations including Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Munich, Paris, Rome, and Zürich. Additionally, Air France operated flights into CVG for several periods for over a decade before finally terminating the service in 2007. When Delta went into bankruptcy in September 2005, a large reduction at CVG eliminated most early-morning and night flights. These initial cuts caused additional routes to become unprofitable, causing
220-573: A Hebron postal address, while the administrative headquarters uses an Erlanger postal address. The airport is outside of the Hebron census-designated place , which is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau , and the airport is also not in Erlanger, a city. The office, at 77 Comair Boulevard, was formerly the headquarters of the American regional airline Comair . The airport has one terminal and two concourses with
275-449: A cargo facility on the airport grounds. The company used DHL 's facilities prior to the construction of its new facility. The hub is Amazon's principal shipping hub and was constructed on 1,129 acres (457 ha) of land at the airport with a 3,000,000 sq ft (280,000 m) sorting facility and parking positions for over 100 aircraft. On April 30, 2017, Amazon began operations at CVG with 75 Boeing 767-200ER/300ER aircraft based at
330-666: A cost of $ 50 million, was permanently closed in 2008 and demolished in 2016. Further reductions in early 2010 caused Delta to close Concourse A in Terminal 3 on May 1, consolidating all operations into Concourse B. This resulted in the layoff of more than 800 employees. By 2011, Delta was down to roughly 130 flights per day at CVG. After several years of cuts to its older fleet, which were cited as being cut due to high costs associated with rising oil prices, Delta's wholly-owned and CVG-based subsidiary, Comair , ceased all operations in September 2012, ending over three decades of operations. In 2017,
385-459: A cost of over $ 2 billion. On March 26, 2001, Comair's pilots went on strike. The strike cancelled the airline's flights and grounded its fleet. The strike caused substantial disruption to Delta's operations, grounding connections to 95 cities. A core issue was pilot salaries; pilots at regional airlines were paid substantially less than mainline carriers. The strike ended 89 days later, in June, after
440-494: A decade from 10 million to over 20 million. This expansion prompted the building of runway 18L/36R and the airport began making preparations to construct Concourse D while adding an expansion to Concourse A and B. At its peak, CVG became Delta's second largest hub, handling over 600 flights daily in 2005. It was the fourth largest hub in the world for a single airline, based on departures, ranking only behind Atlanta, Chicago–O'Hare, and Dallas/Fort Worth. The hub served everything from
495-575: A fleet of 44 aircraft, and planned to reduce its workforce. Layoffs were to begin after September 2010, furloughing the pilot group to around 500 pilots (down to a 1999 date of hire). The company's fleet was to consist of only CRJ700 and CRJ900 aircraft. In July 2012, Delta announced that it would be shutting down Comair. The last Comair flight flew from Jacksonville International Airport to Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport on September 29, 2012, ending more than three decades of operation. Comair operated passenger services to 83 destinations in
550-478: A hub at CVG. That same year, Comair introduced its first international flights from Cincinnati to Toronto. In 1992, Comair moved into Concourse C, as Delta Air Lines gradually continued to acquire more of the airline's stock. In 1993, Comair was the launch customer for the Canadair Regional Jet , of which it would later operate the largest fleet in the world. By 1999, Comair was the largest regional airline in
605-595: A month, which were far exceeded due to the poor weather in the prior days. The software had been in the process of being phased out at the airline in favor of a new system with more capabilities. Comair's parent company Delta Air Lines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 14, 2005, bringing Comair into bankruptcy along with it. Comair announced that would cut costs by million dollars annually. These savings were achieved by aircraft, flight, and employee reductions. In late 2006, Comair opened an additional crew base and hub at New York City's JFK Airport . Comair had
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#1732858124616660-410: A new Delta Air Lines subsidiary. The interim name of the new company was Regional Handling Services until a new name was confirmed before September. Each airline maintained its own flying operations. Services including ticketing and baggage handling were to be handled by RHS beginning in the 3rd Quarter of 2009. There was to be a reduction in the workforce. The largest cut was to come from Comair which
715-506: A public company in July 1981. In 1984, Comair became a Delta Connection carrier with Delta Air Lines ' establishment of a hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). That same year, Comair introduced its first international flights from Cincinnati to Toronto . Turboprop aircraft operated by Comair on Delta Connection code sharing flights serving the Cincinnati hub included
770-557: A subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. , and Chautauqua Airlines , a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings . In early 2008, Delta announced it was going to reduce its domestic capacity by 4-5%, in which Comair would reduce its 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet fleet by 8-14 aircraft. In March 2008, when the price of oil rose, Delta announced it would further reduce domestic capacity. On February 10, 2009, Delta Connection announced that ground handling and gate service positions for Comair, Mesaba Airlines , and Compass Airlines would be transitioned to
825-502: A suitable site on the provision that Kenton County paid the acquisition cost. In October 1942, Congress provided $ 2 million to build four runways. The field opened August 12, 1944, with the first B-17 bombers beginning practice runs on August 15. As the tide of the war had already turned, the Air Corps only used the field until it was declared surplus in 1945. However, this was not before the first regularly scheduled air freight shipment in
880-514: A total of 51 gates. Both concourses are islands and are only accessible by an underground moving walkway and people mover . All international arrivals without pre-clearance are handled in Concourse B. The airport is home to 14 large Art Deco murals created for the train concourse building at Cincinnati Union Terminal during the station's construction in 1932. Mosaic murals depicting people at work in local Cincinnati workplaces were incorporated into
935-418: Is any flight with no change in flight number, but which may include one or more stops. During the early age of aviation industry when aircraft range was limited, most flights were served in the form of a milk run , aka there were many stops along the route. But as aviation technology developed and aircraft capability improved, non-stop flights began to take over and have now become a dominant form of flight in
990-631: The British Airways Concorde at JFK. In 1991, the airline ceased operations because of high fuel prices and the suspension of the British Airways contract after the first Gulf War. In the mid-1980s, Delta opened a hub in Cincinnati and constructed Terminals C and D with 22 gates. During the decade, Delta ramped up both mainline and Comair operations and established Delta Connection . Delta's continued growth at CVG then prompted them to spend $ 550 million to build their own terminal facility in
1045-544: The Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante , Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia , Saab 340 , Short 330 and Swearingen Metro . In July 1986 Delta Air Lines acquired 20% of Comair stock. The airline began operating a second hub at Orlando International Airport (MCO) during the late 1980s in support of the Delta hub at the airport. In 1992, Comair moved into Concourse C at CVG, as Delta Air Lines gradually continued to acquire more of
1100-419: The 1990s. The new terminal, known then as Terminal 3, opened in 1994 and would largely replace Terminal D. Terminal 3 consisted of three airside concourses, with most of Terminal D's gate space being repurposed into Terminal 3's Concourse A while Concourses B and C were new construction. Concourses A and B were parallel concourses connected to Terminal 3's main building by an underground walkway which also included
1155-483: The Delta Connection was operating nonstop flights between Cincinnati and Nassau, Bahamas , nonstop between Cincinnati and Colorado Springs , nonstop between Boston and Myrtle Beach , nonstop between Boston and Montreal , and also nonstop between Tulsa and Las Vegas with the latter being the westernmost destination ever served by the airline. Delta Air Lines acquired full ownership on October 22, 1999 at
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#17328581246161210-599: The Ohio River Valley; it frequently experienced fog, and the 1937 flood submerged its runways and two-story terminal building. Federal officials wanted an airfield site that would not be prone to flooding, but Cincinnati officials hoped to build Lunken into the region's main airport. Officials from Boone , Kenton , and Campbell counties in Kentucky took advantage of Cincinnati's short-sightedness and lobbied Congress to build an airfield there. Boone County officials offered
1265-544: The Pacific. DHL has completed a $ 105 million expansion and employs approximately 2,500 at CVG. Because of this growth, CVG stood as the 4th busiest airport in North America based on cargo tonnage and 34th in the world at the time. On May 28, 2015, DHL announced a $ 108M expansion to its current facility, which doubled the current cargo operations. The money was used to double the gate capacity for transferring cargo, an expansion to
1320-707: The United States arrived in mid-September, signalling the future importance of the airport. On October 27, 1946, a small wooden terminal building opened and the airport prepared for commercial service under the name Greater Cincinnati Airport . Boone County Airlines was the first airline to provide scheduled service from the airport and had its headquarters at the airport. The first commercial flight, an American Airlines DC-3 from Cleveland, landed on January 10, 1947, at 9:53 am. A Delta Air Lines flight followed moments later. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 97 weekday departures: 37 American, 26 Delta, 24 TWA, 8 Piedmont, and 2 Lake Central. As late as November 1959
1375-502: The United States, Canada , Mexico and the Bahamas at its peak in 2005. Before its downsizing, Comair operated the largest number of Bombardier (formerly Canadair ) regional jets of any airline with over 170 planes. At the time of closure, the Comair fleet consisted of just seven aircraft with an average age of 11.1 years, all of which were operated on Delta Connection services: Comair
1430-547: The United States, Canada , Mexico and the Bahamas . At the height of its operations in the 1990s and early 2000s, it was the world's largest regional airline, and operated from 1977 until 2012. The airline was established in March 1977, and started operations in April 1977. Patrick J. Sowers, Robert T. Tranter, David Mueller and his father Raymond founded the airline in Cincinnati . At
1485-513: The airlines stock. In 1993, Comair was the launch customer for the Canadair Regional Jet CRJ100 and would later operate the largest fleet in the world of this twin jet type. By 1999, Comair was the largest regional airline in the country worth over 2 billion, transporting 6 million passengers yearly to 83 destinations on 101 aircraft. That same year, in addition to shorter range flights from its Cincinnati and Orlando hubs, Comair as
1540-579: The airport and planned to have 200 daily takeoffs and landings from its CVG hub to destinations across the U.S. and internationally. The hub could create up to 15,000 jobs in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region. On August 11, 2021, Amazon debuted its new cargo hub at CVG. On May 28, 2024, Atlas announced that "Atlas Air has successfully reached an agreement to fully exit their Amazon CMI operations, which no longer aligned with our company plans. Separately, through Titan, we are pleased to extend
1595-473: The airport ever since. Terminal 2 was closed in May 2012, and CVG re-opened and consolidated all non-Delta airlines to Concourse A in Terminal 3 at that time, which became the sole terminal. Renovation and expansion of the ticketing/check-in area and Concourse A took place that year to accommodate the move. Terminals 1 and 2 were torn down in early 2017 to construct an overnight parking and deicing area. Both concourses,
1650-731: The airport had four 5,500 ft (1,700 m) runways at 45-degree angles, the north–south runway eventually being extended into today's runway 18C/36C. In the 1950s Cincinnati city leaders began pushing for expansion of a site in Blue Ash to both compete with the Greater Cincinnati Airport and replace Lunken as the city's primary airport. The city purchased Hugh Watson Field in 1955, turning it into Blue Ash Airport . The city's Blue Ash plans were hampered by community opposition, three failed Hamilton County bond measures, political infighting, and Cincinnati's decision not to participate in
1705-405: The area highways closed due to the blizzard, no additional deicing fluid could be delivered to the airport, and Comair was forced to cancel all flights beginning on Friday December 24. After receiving necessary supplies overnight, the airline began the process of startup when the computer system that handled flight crew assignments shut down. It had been designed with a hard coded limit of changes for
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1760-470: The board approved a $ 12 million bond to expand the south concourse of Terminal A by 32,000 sq ft (3,000 m) and provide nine gates for TWA , American, and Delta. A new east–west runway crossing the longer north–south runway was constructed in 1971 south of the older east–west runway. In 1977, before the Airline Deregulation Act was passed, CVG, like many small airports, anticipated
1815-453: The country worth over $ 2 billion, transporting 6 million passengers yearly to 83 destinations on 101 aircraft. Later that year, Delta Air Lines acquired the remaining portion of Comair's stock, causing Comair to solely operate Delta Connection flights. In 1988, two founders of Comair, Patrick Sowers and Robert Tranter launched a new scheduled airline from CVG named Enterprise Airlines , which served 16 cities at its peak. The airline spearheaded
1870-466: The course of 2007, Comair closed down its crew bases in Greensboro, North Carolina and Orlando, Florida. On May 25, 2007, Delta announced that Comair would operate 14 stretched CRJ900 aircraft for Delta Connection. These aircraft were to replace 14 smaller CRJ100 aircraft in Comair's fleet. Parent company Delta Air Lines replaced Comair's service in these destinations with Atlantic Southeast Airlines ,
1925-517: The customs facility, baggage claim, and ticketing areas were renovated in late 2017 to mid 2018 under a $ 4.5 million plan. In 2021, the airport opened a new rental car and ground transportation center adjacent to the main terminal. The airport is in an unincorporated area of the county. Various articles of the Cincinnati Enquirer describe the airport as being in Hebron . The airport terminal uses
1980-403: The dry leasing portion of our relationship with Amazon." The TANK 2X bus provides daily service in to downtown Cincinnati. [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Non-stop flight A non-stop flight is a flight by an aircraft with no intermediate stops, as opposed to a direct flight , which
2035-457: The economic viability of ultra long haul flights improved. Direct flights and non-stop flights are often confused with each other. Starting March 31, 2019, American Airlines started offering non-stop flights from Phoenix, Arizona to London , England , meaning that the plane leaves Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and lands at Heathrow Airport . Conversely, a direct flight simply means that passengers typically would not get off
2090-643: The end of its first year of highly profitable operations, two of the company founders, Sowers and Tranter, abruptly resigned the day following the first annual meeting as a "demand for immediate change" after they had uncovered repeated unacceptable and unsafe operational practices by one of the other partners. Comair suffered a fatal crash the year following their departure. Comair began scheduled services to Akron/Canton, Cleveland, and Evansville with two Piper Navajo aircraft. Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante twin-engine turboprop commuter aircraft were added to Comair's fleet in 1982. Under its parent Comair Holdings, it became
2145-408: The federal airfield program. On December 16, 1960, the jet age arrived in Cincinnati when a Delta Air Lines Convair 880 from Miami completed the first scheduled jet flight. The airport needed to expand and build more modern terminals and other facilities; the original Terminal A was expanded and renovated. The north–south runway was extended from 3,100 to 8,600 ft (940 to 2,620 m). In 1964,
2200-402: The frequency of low-volume routes to be further cut from 2006 to 2007. Planning for the new east–west runway stopped, along with all expansions to current terminals; Terminal 1 was closed due to lack of service. In 2008, Delta merged with Northwest Airlines and cut flight capacity from the Cincinnati hub by 22 percent with an additional 17 percent reduction in 2009. Concourse C, opened in 1994 at
2255-647: The hub was downgraded to a focus city, which was eliminated in 2021. Until 2015, CVG consistently ranked among the most expensive major airports in the United States. Delta operated over 75% of flights at CVG, a fact often cited as a reason for relatively high domestic ticket prices. Airline officials suggested that Delta was practicing predatory pricing to drive away discount airlines. From 1990 to 2003, ten discount airlines began service at CVG, but later pulled out, including Vanguard Airlines , which pulled out of CVG twice. After Delta downsized its hub operations, low cost carriers began operations and have been sustained at
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2310-625: The interior design of the railroad station by Winold Reiss , a German-born artist with a reputation in interior design. When the train concourse building was designated for demolition in 1972, a "Save the Terminal Committee" raised funds to remove and transport the 14 murals in the concourse to new locations in the Airport. They were placed in Terminal 1, as well as Terminals 2 and 3, which were then being constructed as part of major airport expansion and renovation. When Terminals 1 and 2 were demolished,
2365-441: The loss of numerous flights; creating the opportunity for Patrick Sowers, Robert Tranter, and David and Raymound Mueller to establish Comair to fill the void. The airline began service to Akron/Canton, Cleveland, and Evansville. In 1981, Comair became a public company, added 30-seat turboprops to its fleet, and began to rapidly expand its destinations. In 1984, Comair became a Delta Connection carrier with Delta's establishment of
2420-459: The lowest percentage of on-time flights of all major U.S. carriers during late 2006. This was the result of starting operations at JFK, a congested airport with poor staffing and an unfortunate terminal and aircraft ramp layout that severely dropped Comair's ratings in the DOT listings. In 2008, Comair tied with American for the lowest on-time performance, with 70% of its flights arriving on-time. During
2475-525: The modern times. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 eventually opened up Russian airspace, allowing commercial airlines to exploit new circum polar routes and enabling many new non-stop services, removing the need of making stopover in-between. In the late 2000s to early 2010s, rising fuel prices coupled with economic crisis resulted in cancellation of many ultra-long haul non-stop flights. As fuel prices fell and aircraft became more economical
2530-509: The murals in those areas were stored and the new Security Screening building was designed to accommodate the heavy weight of the murals with the eastern "store front" windows designed to be removable to permit the future installation of the murals. The murals were also featured in a scene in the film Rain Man starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise . In addition, a walkway to one of the terminals at CVG
2585-449: The pilots approved a contract that included pay raises. Comair came to nationwide attention during winter 2004 when it canceled all of its flights on Saturday, December 25 and Sunday, December 26, stranding 30,000 people. The reason was a combination of record snow and a crew scheduling software flaw. On December 23 and 24, a record snowfall hit the Cincinnati area, forcing the airline to deplete its entire supply of deicing solution. With
2640-527: The plane if it stops (lands) at a location between the two cities. Comair (USA) Comair was a regional airline in the United States , a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines , headquartered at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Boone County , Kentucky , United States. Operating under the brand name Delta Connection , Comair operated passenger services to destinations in
2695-438: The regional jet revolution in a unique manner by operating 10-seat Cessna Citation business jets in scheduled services. The flights became popular with Cincinnati companies. The airline served destinations including Baltimore, Boston, Cedar Rapids, Columbus (OH), Green Bay, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York–JFK, and Wilmington (NC). The airline also became the first international feed carrier by feeding
2750-475: The sorting facility, and various technical improvements, which was completed in Autumn 2016. In addition, this has provided many more jobs for the Cincinnati area, and will dramatically increase the airport's operations. On January 31, 2017, Amazon announced that its new cargo airline, Amazon Air would pick CVG as its main worldwide shipping hub, following an investment of $ 1.49B in the construction and expansion of
2805-541: The world. CVG is the fastest-growing cargo airport in North America. President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's administration approved preliminary funds for site development of the Greater Cincinnati Airport on February 11, 1942. This was part of the United States Army Air Corps program to establish training facilities during World War II . At the time, air traffic in the area centered on Lunken Airport just southeast of central Cincinnati. Lunken opened in 1926 in
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#17328581246162860-446: The world. However, in 2004, DHL decided to move its hub to Wilmington, Ohio, in order to compete in the United States shipment business. The plan ended up failing, and DHL moved back to CVG in 2009 to resume its original operations. CVG now serves as the largest of DHL's three global hubs (the other two being Leipzig/Halle and Hong Kong ) with numerous flights each day to destinations across North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and
2915-474: Was featured in the scene in the film when Hoffman's character, Raymond, refused to fly on a plane. The nine murals located in the former Terminals 1 & 2 were relocated to the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati. Additionally, there are several pieces of Charley Harper artwork in the Concourse B food court. In 1984, DHL opened its CVG hub and began operations throughout
2970-511: Was headquartered in the Comair General Office Building on the grounds of Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport in unincorporated Boone County , Kentucky , United States , west of Erlanger , and south of Cincinnati, Ohio . As the airline ended operations, up to 30 employees were to remain working at the headquarters. 77 Comair Boulevard formerly served as the corporate headquarters of Comair. The building
3025-561: Was to reduce its staffing by nearly half. A voluntary termination was introduced and involuntary cuts were possible later in the year as Delta mainline ground employees took over positions of Delta subsidiary ground employees that had been contracted to Comair and then Regional Elite Airline Services . On September 1, 2010, Comair announced that it would reduce its fleet by eliminating all of its aging Bombardier CRJ100/200 aircraft, expecting to have retired them all sometime in 2012. Retirement would start in 2011. Also, it expected to operate
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