Phoenix Airport: A Sprawling Transportation Hub

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is a civil-military public airport located three miles southeast of downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and one of the largest commercial airports in the United States. Covering 3,400 acres, PHX served 46,288,337 passengers in 2019. The airport has three terminals, with Terminal 4 being the largest and busiest, featuring 86 gates and seven satellite concourses. Terminal 3 also sets new standards in air terminals, with 880,000 square feet of space and 23 gates on two concourses.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is Arizona's largest and busiest airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is Arizona's largest and busiest airport. It is also one of the largest commercial airports in the United States, serving 46,288,337 passengers in 2019. The airport covers 3,400 acres and is located three miles southeast of downtown Phoenix.

PHX has three terminals, with 106 active aircraft gates. Terminal 3 has 880,000 square feet of space and 23 gates on two concourses. Terminal 4 is the largest and busiest, with 86 gates divided into seven satellite concourses. A new concourse opened in Terminal 4 in March 2005, providing an additional eight gates and a new checkpoint. This concourse comprises an area of 180,000 square feet and is 140 feet wide—50 feet wider than the other concourses.

The airport is a hub for American Airlines, with over 250 daily departures to 102 destinations in five countries. It is also a base for Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines. PHX is home to the 161st Air Refueling Wing, an Air Mobility Command-gained unit of the Arizona Air National Guard.

It is among the largest commercial airports in the United States

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is among the largest commercial airports in the United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, serving 46,288,337 passengers in 2019. Covering 3,400 acres, the airport has three parallel concrete/grooved runways and 106 active aircraft gates in three terminals. Terminal 3 has 23 gates and 880,000 square feet of space, while Terminal 4 is the largest and busiest, with 86 gates and seven satellite concourses. In 2005, a new concourse opened in Terminal 4, providing an additional eight gates and a new checkpoint. The concourse comprises an area of 180,000 square feet and is 140 feet wide.

The airport is located 3 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona. It is a civil-military public airport and the sixth-largest hub for American Airlines, with over 250 daily departures to 102 destinations in five countries. In 2021, PHX was the 14th busiest airport in the United States and the 33rd busiest in the world.

The airport covers 3,400 acres at an elevation of 1,135 ft

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is a civil-military public airport located three miles southeast of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in the United States. The airport covers 3,400 acres at an elevation of 1,135 ft. To put that into perspective, that's the equivalent of around 2,500 American football fields.

The airport has three parallel concrete/grooved runways and 106 active aircraft gates in three terminals. Terminal 3 is particularly notable, boasting 880,000 square feet of space and 23 gates on two concourses. The terminal is designed with convenience in mind, with airline ticket counters and baggage claim on the ground level, and shops, restaurants, and gate access on the second level. Terminal 4, designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., is the largest and busiest of the two terminals with 86 gates divided into seven satellite concourses connected behind security. In March 2005, a new concourse opened in Terminal 4, providing gates D1 to D8 and a new checkpoint. This concourse is the seventh in this terminal and comprises an area of 180,000 square feet, making it an impressive 50 feet wider than the other concourses.

The airport's private airplane area is one of eight service centres for the Medevac Airline Air Evac. It is also home to the 161st Air Refueling Wing (161 ARW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the Arizona Air National Guard. In 2019, PHX served 46,288,337 passengers and was the sixth-largest hub for American Airlines, with over 250 daily departures to 102 destinations in five countries.

It has three parallel concrete/grooved runways

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has three parallel concrete/grooved runways. Runways are the areas of an airport where aircraft can land or take off. Their length is determined by the size of the airport and the type of aircraft expected to land there. Runways are oriented to the direction of the wind that blows the most in the area. The wind direction is converted to magnetic direction and then rounded up or down to the closest magnetic heading in multiples of 10 up to 360. Each end of a runway is numbered with its magnetic opposite, so if there is a change in wind, the runway best suited for flight can be used.

There are three main types of runways: visual, non-precision, and precision. Visual runways are used in more general aviation airports where aircraft landings are small and light in weight and where instrument approaches are not available. Non-precision runways are in small-to-medium-sized airports where there can be commercial and general aviation traffic. There can be non-precision or precision approaches into the airport, but the runway only identifies markings for non-precision approaches. At precision runways, there can also be commercial or general aviation traffic, and visual, non-precision, or precision approaches can be made into the airport. Precision runways are identified by yellow arrows on the precision end along with a displaced threshold and usually have an ILS landing system located on the same side of the runway.

Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally the magnetic azimuth of the runway's heading in decadegrees. If there is more than one runway pointing in the same direction (parallel runways), each runway is identified by appending left (L), centre (C) and right (R) to the end of the runway number to identify its position (when facing its direction). For example, runways one-five-left (15L), one-five-centre (15C), and one-five-right (15R).

Terminal 4 is the largest and busiest terminal with 86 gates

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is Arizona's largest and busiest airport. It is also one of the largest commercial airports in the United States. The airport covers 3,400 acres and has three parallel concrete/grooved runways. It has 106 active aircraft gates in three terminals. Terminal 4 is the largest and busiest of the two terminals with 86 gates, divided into seven satellite concourses connected behind security. The terminal was designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc. In March 2005, a new concourse opened in Terminal 4, providing gates D1 to D8 and a new checkpoint. The concourse, the seventh in this terminal, comprises an area of 180,000 square feet and is 140 feet wide—50 feet wider than the other concourses. Terminal 3 set new standards in air terminals, with 880,000 square feet of space and 23 gates on two concourses.

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