The airport is a place imbued with something romantic with a touch of modern technology. It is a place where real human feelings are expressed and tears are often shed during farewells and greetings, all against the backdrop of taking-off and landing planes. At first glance, an airport looks like an ordinary building, but it is not so. It is a powerful mechanism where everything has to work as precisely and smoothly as possible, like a Swiss watch, and the price of one mistake can be expensive. Each airport is fascinating and unique in its own way and has its own history, which not everyone knows, so let’s get to know it. More at houston-future.
Houston and aviation
As one of the largest cities in the United States with a population of more than 2 million, it’s no surprise that Houston is among the cohort that boasts its own airport. It’s hard to find a resident who hasn’t at least heard of George Bush Airport, and how many have ever wondered about its beginning and the history of our city’s aircraft.
Official sources indicate that Houston Intercontinental was founded in June 1969, but the history of flights in our region has a somewhat longer history.
The first flight in the sky of our city was made in 1910 by Frenchman Louis Paulhan, though it was a biplane.
But the first airport was opened in 1928 and 10 years later it was named after the famous Howard Hughes, who became known after his trip around the world. But it’s hard to call it an airport because it was a municipal terminal and hangar. It so happened that in the same year, because of financial issues, the airport again received the old name “Municipal Airport”.
Years passed, generations changed, and the history of the airport changed with them, but the newest page of air transport in our city was turned in 1969.
The history of the Houston Intercontinental, or George W. Bush Airport
All the flights that the airport had been receiving since the aforementioned year were transferred to a new location, where the subject of our conversation was built. At first, there were only two terminals: Terminal A and, oddly enough, Terminal B. Terminal C was opened 12 years after the first two were opened. In 1990, Terminal D was opened, named after Mickey Land, who died a year earlier while helping victims of famine in Africa.
In 1997, a memorable event in the history of the airport took place when it was named after the 41st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush. It was quite rare for an object to be named after a living person, but it happened anyway.
7 years later, Terminal E was opened on the territory of the airport.
Another remarkable page in the airport’s book was turned in 2015, when an international terminal was opened by Hobby Airport, while Houston continued to serve international flights.
In 2019, the airport set a personal record that most can only dream of. That year, passenger traffic reached 59 million passengers.
At the time of the 1920s, Houston was the only US city with two airports operating on the principle of biometric boarding for passengers from abroad.
It was during these years that the airport began to set record after record for various indicators, including being among the top ten busiest in North America, one of the most developed airports in the United States and the aforementioned.
The airport has five runways.
The average annual passenger traffic of the airport reaches well over 40 million passengers and every year the figure is increasing exclusively and most likely the limit is still far away.
For more than fifty years, our airport has managed to achieve tremendous success and, most likely, this is a story worth being proud of. But we have a feeling that the greatest achievements are still ahead and we sincerely wish our giant a successful flight.
