Misplaced Pages

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75-658: Portland International Airport ( IATA : PDX , ICAO : KPDX , FAA LID : PDX ) is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon , accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland 's city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah County , 6 miles (10 kilometers) by air and 12 mi (19 km) by highway northeast of downtown Portland . Portland International Airport

150-604: A World War II era housing project, failed, completely destroying the city. Rather than having the neighborhoods rebuilt, this low area between the Columbia River and Columbia Slough is occupied by the Portland International Raceway , a golf course, and some businesses. Vanport remained underwater for several weeks following the levee burst. Flooding in the Tri-Cities peaked on May 31 with Kennewick taking

225-677: A flash flood on Dry Creek in Ephrata, Washington , where 60 blocks were damaged. Silt coming into the city blocked the storm drains, limiting how much water the city's infrastructure could carry. On May 28, some larger tributaries of the Columbia had flooded. Temporary levees were built in Cle Elum and Ellensburg in an attempt to keep the Yakima River from flooding those communities. The Kootenai River flooded 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) of farmland in

300-626: A microcinema run by the Hollywood Theatre ; it shows free short films by Portland-based filmmakers that are primarily focused on the culture of the Pacific Northwest . The terminal also houses a distillery. In the pre-security area, there are several local food carts . In addition, the lower terminal roadway near the TriMet MAX Red Line station has a work station and assembly for repairing bicycles. The Oregon Welcome Center also has

375-535: A "Tool check-out". Jet fuel is supplied via the Portland Jet Line, an 8 inches (200 mm) Kinder Morgan fuel pipeline running from the Northwest Industrial area of Portland 's Willbridge Terminal to the airport. Willbridge contains 40 tanks, connected to the 14 inches (360 mm) Olympic pipeline and 8 inches (200 mm) Eugene pipeline, BNSF rail, truck, and ships. Public transit service to

450-600: A base on the southwest portion of the airport property grounds, and is also the host unit of the 142nd Fighter Wing (142 FW), which operates the F-15 Eagle . Local transportation includes the MAX Red Line light rail, which takes passengers between PDX and downtown Portland, as well as farther west to Beaverton . There is also Interstate 205 , which connects to southwestern Washington (north from PDX) along with many suburbs of Portland (south from PDX). Portland's first airport

525-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

600-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

675-758: Is accessible from exit 24 on Interstate 205 . IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

750-600: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

825-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

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900-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

975-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

1050-590: Is often referred to by its IATA airport code, PDX. The airport covers 3,000 acres (1,214 ha) of land. Portland International Airport has direct flights to cities throughout the United States and in several other countries, including Canada, Mexico, Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Iceland. The airport is a hub for Alaska Airlines . It also has a maintenance facility for Alaska Air subsidiary Horizon Air . General aviation services are provided at PDX by Atlantic Aviation . The Oregon Air National Guard has

1125-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

1200-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

1275-565: The Flood Control Act of 1950 funding the construction of several new dams and levee systems in the Columbia River watershed. Multiple dams owned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers resulted from this act including The Dalles Dam , as well as dams owned by sub-national entities like Priest Rapids Dam . As a result of these projects, major flooding on the Columbia River is far less likely. These songs were inspired by

1350-558: The Hanford Site . In the United States, National Guard troops deployed throughout the region to assist with disaster relief during and after the flood. President Harry Truman visited Washington on a campaign trip in June 1948. During his visit, he toured flood damaged areas around the Portland metro area and Wenatchee . Truman expressed support for more extensive flood control infrastructure in

1425-567: The Methow Valley in Northern Washington. Flooding in these areas generally began the week of May 23 and lasted for several days. Floodwaters gradually continued downstream, forcing evacuations around the Tri-Cities as early as May 27 and closing the highway between The Dalles and Cascade Locks in Oregon on the 28th. Despite frequent assurances from officials, levees protecting Vanport ,

1500-497: The concourse connector was opened. This is a long hallway on the secure side of the airport that connects the A, B and C concourses to the D and E concourses on the other side of the airport. If there is a long line at the checkpoint at one end of the airport, passengers may use the other checkpoint and walk through the connector to their desired concourse. The connector closed permanently on January 5, 2021, to make room for terminal expansion. The airport's carpet , installed in 1987,

1575-459: The 1948 flooding with large rural areas also ending up under water. Many railroad tracks, power, telephone, and telegraph lines were out of service for a period following the flood. Small cities in the Inland Northwest, such as Bonners Ferry, Idaho , Union, Oregon , and Libby, Montana were flooded by the rivers and creeks they sit on. Washed out and flooded roads isolated other areas, such as

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1650-626: The 1948 flooding. Major flooding from rapid snowmelt was also observed in other major watersheds in the region, including the Fraser River which inundated portions of the Vancouver area leaving 1500 people homeless. The Snake River , which is the largest tributary to the Columbia, and its watershed did not experience widespread flooding thanks to lower snowpack in East Idaho and far western Wyoming . Several cities experienced extensive damage during

1725-587: The Columbia River system, and it gained further urgency following the flooding in 1948. The result of this commission was the Columbia River Treaty , which was ratified between the two nations in 1964. Smaller waterways were also altered, such as in Kimberley, British Columbia where Mark Creek was diverted into a flume . Partially in response to the 1948 floods, the United States Congress passed

1800-553: The Idaho Panhandle. Record setting flooding from the Columbia itself was observed in the Tri-Cities, Portland metropolitan area, and in Trail, British Columbia on May 30 and 31. Many streamflow gauges on larger waterways like the Columbia recorded near-record high discharge rates, only being beat by major flooding in 1894 and 1876. Major flooding in 1849 likely also exceeded the 1948 peak but reliable records do not extend that far into

1875-472: The New Deal era". The WPA and Port of Portland faced difficulties in preparing the site for construction because the low-lying area was frequently covered by flood waters from the Columbia River. Workers covered the area with over 4 million cubic yards (3,100,000 m) of sand to help drain it of water, and constructed a series of dikes to control flooding. Two runways capable of serving the modern aircraft of

1950-511: The Northwest while speaking in Seattle , but a speech he gave in Portland a few days later focused more on development of the river for commerce and focused less on flooding and safety. Throughout the flooded area, waterways were altered to limit the chances of future flooding. A joint commission involving the United States and Canada had been formed in 1944 to study improvements that could be made to

2025-475: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Vanport Flood The 1948 Columbia River flood (or Vanport Flood )

2100-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

2175-405: The airport is provided by TriMet , the metropolitan area's primary transit agency, with its MAX Red Line light rail service. The 1986-opened MAX Light Rail system was extended to the airport in 2001. The Red Line originally provided service as far as downtown Portland only, but in 2003 it was extended west to Beaverton. The light rail station is located only about 150 ft (50 m) from

2250-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

2325-478: The airport was served by Braniff, Cascade, Continental, Eastern, Hughes Airwest, Northwest Orient, Pan Am, United and Western, and the Seattle route was served by seven airlines with aircraft as large as Boeing 747s . In 1974, the south runway was extended to 11,000 feet (3,400 m) to service the newest jumbo jets. The terminal building was renovated and expanded in 1977. United was the dominant carrier at PDX during

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2400-403: The airport's baggage claim area. Prior to 2001, TriMet service to the airport consisted of bus route 72-82nd Avenue from 1970 to 1986, and route 12-Sandy Blvd. from 1986 to 2001. Pacific Crest Lines also offers daily service to Union Station , Salem and Bend . C-Tran route 67 bus connects the airport to Fisher's Landing Transit Center in east Vancouver, Washington . By road, the terminal

2475-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

2550-546: The brunt of the water because a larger portion of the city lies at a lower elevation compared to Pasco and Richland . While Kennewick's downtown was being cleaned up, many businesses relocated to a temporary building set up for them to continue to operate despite the damage. The Richland Wye, adjacent to Bateman Island and parts of downtown Richland also flooded. Closures on U.S. Route 410 caused problems for commuters, especially people living in Kennewick and Pasco but working on

2625-489: The carrier offered nonstop service to Tokyo, Seoul, Nagoya, and Taipei, with the Taipei flight continuing on to Bangkok. It also flew to eight domestic cities, such as Atlanta, New York, and San Francisco. However, Delta faced obstacles to the success of its operation in Portland. These included the 1997 Asian financial crisis and complaints about the treatment of Asian passengers at the immigration facility in Portland, which led to

2700-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

2775-447: The company established a "Pacific gateway" in Portland, a small hub for routes to Asia. Delta began service from Portland to Tokyo in March 1987. By the 1980s, the terminal building began an extensive renovation in order to update PDX to meet future needs. The ticketing and baggage claim areas were renovated and expanded, and a new Concourse D for Alaska Airlines was added in 1986. Concourse E

2850-465: The curbside were finished in the late 1990s. Although hailed by architectural critics, the canopy blocked views of Mount Hood from the curbside. On July 31, 1997, during construction, the garage addition collapsed due to inadequate bolts holding girders together and inadequate securing of structural members, killing three steelworkers. Delta added domestic flights to Portland to feed the Asia routes. In 1995,

2925-919: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

3000-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

3075-474: The flood (the phrasing suggests these were deaths from the Vanport community); estimates for total deaths from the flood go as high as 102. Among the damage was the complete destruction of Vanport , in the Portland metropolitan area, which was the second largest city in Oregon at the time. The flood was largely caused by rapid melting of above-average snowpack by heavy precipitation and warm temperatures. It remains

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3150-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

3225-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

3300-434: The interior of North America. This brought warmer and more moist conditions with rain and thunderstorms. Heavy rain caused the Columbia and its tributaries to rise, reaching 8 feet (2.4 m) above flood stage in the Portland area by May 25. At this point, levees generally contained the rivers, but another round of heavy rain and thunderstorms the following week brought another rise. One of these occurred on May 27, causing

3375-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

3450-521: The larger aircraft and passenger loads expected to become common to Portland. Plans immediately were conceived to relocate the outdated airfield to a larger site. The Swan Island area is now used by the Port of Portland as an industrial park . The Portland City Council purchased the present PDX site in 1936. It was 700 acres (280 ha) bordered by the Columbia River in the north and the Columbia Slough in

3525-481: The most part serves as the present facility. The new terminal is located to the east of the original runways, and north of the then-new 8,800 ft (2,700 m) runway. Construction of a second east–west runway to the north made this a midfield terminal. At this point, all but the NE-SW (3/21) runway in the original "X" were abandoned and turned into taxiways. 3/21 was extended for use as a cross-wind runway. "International"

3600-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

3675-450: The newly expanded Concourse E, alongside United Airlines . With the relocation of Southwest Airlines to Concourse E, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways became the primary users of Concourses B and C. Construction on this project began in the spring of 2017 and opened to passengers on July 15, 2020. Concourse A was demolished in November 2019 due to the age and space of

3750-488: The nickname "Deportland." Moreover, airlines were introducing more flights from the United States to Asia, allowing travelers to bypass the Portland hub. Delta reduced the number of Asian destinations to two, Tokyo and Nagoya. It finally closed the hub in March 2001 due to financial losses. The move left the airport without transpacific air service. The present H-shape of the PDX terminal, designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership ,

3825-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

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3900-424: The opening date for the new terminal was delayed by 3 months due to construction incidents on site. Phase one of the new terminal opened to the public August 14, 2024. As of September 2024, total construction is expected to wrap up in early 2026. The airport has one passenger terminal composed of four concourses, which are designated B, C, D, and E. There are 60 gates in total. The international section of Concourse D

3975-412: The past for the area. The average spring discharge of the Columbia River in 1948 was 540,000 ft³/sec (15,000 m³/sec), but during the flooding values peaked around 1.01 million ft³/sec (28,600 m³/sec) and remained high for several weeks. Gauges on tributaries generally did not approach records, as smaller waterways see greater flooding from more localized events than is seen in most regional events like

4050-595: The pre-security area and an expansion of 150 feet toward the west. The Concourse Connector was closed in January 2021 and the Clocktower Plaza closed 3 months later to make room for the expansion. During construction, the remains of the concourse connector was reused for passengers to bypass the construction zone to get to concourses C and D. Construction of phase one of the new main terminal was expected to be complete by May 2024. One month before its scheduled opening, however,

4125-605: The regulated era and through the 1980s. Air Oregon started short-haul service from Portland following deregulation in 1978, and by 1979 had routes to seven other cities in Oregon. In April 1983, United Airlines began a flight from Chicago to Tokyo's Narita Airport that stopped in Seattle–Tacoma six days a week and in Portland once a week. The company operated the service with Boeing 747s. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines wanted to add Tokyo to its network, but it lacked aircraft that could fly there nonstop from its Atlanta base. Consequently,

4200-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

4275-624: The second largest flood recorded on the river. Above average snowfall was recorded in the mountains of the Columbia River watershed during the winter of 1947–48 resulting from more low pressure systems traversing the Pacific Northwest than normal. In early April, scientists at the University of Washington reported that snowpack was 20 to 40 percent deeper than average. Unusually cold temperatures were recorded in Eastern Washington during

4350-462: The security checkpoints and upgraded security on both sides of the terminal. In the latter half of 2016, the Port of Portland and several airlines at PDX approved a project intended to balance the use of the terminal and concourses at Portland International Airport. The subsequent project extended Concourse E by 750 feet (230 m) and added 6 new gates to the facility. After the project, Southwest Airlines relocated its operations from Concourse C to

4425-424: The south. The city council issued US$ 300,000 and asked the Port of Portland to sponsor a US$ 1.3 million Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant to develop the site into a "super airport". The project provided badly needed Great Depression -era jobs. Construction of the airport steadily employed over 1,000 men, and was described by historian Neil Barker as "Portland's most significant public works improvement during

4500-576: The spring months, helping deep snow to remain in place into May. During this time, the flood risk was noted by several government agencies, including the Department of Lands and Forests in British Columbia and the U.S. Weather Bureau . From March 1 to May 1, the mean temperature at the Tri-Cities was recorded as 47.4 °F (8.6 °C), compared to a 30-year average of 50.7 °F (10.4 °C) at

4575-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

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4650-436: The structure and was replaced by an expanded Concourse B. The extension featured 4 jet bridges, 6 ground loading zones, and improved concession stands. All Horizon operations that operated out of Concourse A was temporarily moved to Concourse C until the expanded Concourse B was completed. The new concourse opened on December 8, 2021. In March 2020, the main terminal began a 5-year expansion process to generate more open space in

4725-471: The time were operational by 1941. The airport was designated "Portland–Columbia Airport" to distinguish it from then-operating Swan Island Airport. During World War II , the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces . The "super airport" had a terminal on the north side, off Marine Drive, and five runways (NE-SW, NW-SE, and an E-W runway forming an asterisk ). This configuration

4800-463: The time. Snow was recorded in places like Pullman into late April. This air was generally sourced from around 60°N in latitude, which is much further north than what is expected for the time of year, driven by persistent low pressure over the Canadian Rockies . The weather pattern shifted in mid-May as low pressure set up off the coast of Northern California and a ridge of high pressure in

4875-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

4950-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

5025-540: Was a regional flood that occurred in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada. Large portions of the Columbia River watershed were impacted, including the Portland area , Eastern Washington , northeastern Oregon , Idaho Panhandle , northwestern Montana , and southeastern British Columbia . A publication of the U.S. Geological Survey in 1949 stated property damage reached $ 102.7 million (1949 value), 250,000 acres of farmland were flooded, 20,000 acres of land were damaged or destroyed, and at least 16 died in

5100-497: Was added to the airport's official designation after the 1950s-era improvements. The first international nonstop was Western's 720B to Vancouver , British Columbia , in 1967. Plans made in 1968 to add a third runway by means of filling in parts of the Columbia River were met with vocal public opposition and scrapped. The airport switched from screening passengers at individual gates to screening all visitors at concourse entrances in 1973 as new FAA regulations went into effect. By 1974,

5175-522: Was adequate until a new terminal and a longer, 8,800-foot (2,700 m) east–west runway were constructed in 1952. View airport diagrams: 1955 and 1965 In 1948 the entire airport grounds were flooded during the Vanport Flood , forcing scheduled airline services to reroute to nearby Troutdale Airport . The grounds were under water for several months. Portland's first jets were Pan Am 707-321s about October 1959. A new terminal opened in 1959, which for

5250-573: Was completed on September 10, 2001, when the new A, B and C concourses, as well as the light rail line, were finished. Probably the most stunning portion of PDX's interior, the new concourses reflect a Northwest theme, focusing heavily on the nearby Columbia River. A huge celebration was to be held the following weekend, but the September 11 attacks interceded. The new concourses, designed to be public spaces, were closed to non-passengers. Lufthansa started direct flights to Frankfurt in March 2003. The route

5325-412: Was designed to stylize the criss-crossing north and south runways. Beginning in 2014, a new design replaced the original pattern. In response, many residents created products to celebrate the carpet as a local icon. In December 2016, The Port of Portland renovated the security checkpoints and immigration facilities as part of its PDXNext project. This included the relocation, and wider of the exit lanes by

5400-502: Was first to be reconstructed in 1992, and featured PDX's first moving sidewalks. The Oregon Marketplace, a small shopping mall, was added in the former waiting areas behind the ticket counters. The early 1990s saw a food court and extension added to Concourse C, and the opening of the new Concourse D in 1994. This marked the first concessions inside secured areas, allowing passengers to purchase items without having to be re-screened. An expanded parking garage, new control tower, and canopy over

5475-405: Was operated by Airbus A340s. In June 2004, Northwest Airlines introduced nonstop service to its hub at Tokyo-Narita aboard a McDonnell Douglas DC-10. In order to funnel passengers from other American cities onto the flight, Northwest made use of its partnerships with four other carriers instead of adding its own domestic routes to Portland. This strategy was less costly than Delta's. In August 2005,

5550-484: Was renamed the Governor Victor G. Atiyeh International Concourse to honor the former Oregon governor, who was also known as "Trader Vic" for launching international tourism and trade initiatives during his gubernatorial term. The Port of Portland requires all airport shops and restaurants to practice fair retail pricing—businesses are not allowed to charge more than at off-airport locations. Unique amenities include

5625-554: Was the Swan Island Municipal Airport , northwest of downtown Portland on the Willamette River . The Port of Portland purchased 256 acres (104 ha) and construction began in 1926. Charles Lindbergh flew in and dedicated the new airfield in 1927. By 1935 it was becoming apparent to the Port of Portland that the airport was becoming obsolete. The small airfield couldn't easily be expanded, nor could it accommodate

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