KFLL

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is a major public airport in Broward County, Florida, and is one of three airports that serves the Miami metropolitan area.

Airport history

Originally established as The Merle Fogg Field in May of 1929, it was named for a World War I aviator who moved to Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s. In 1942, the airfield changed names to Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station. During World War II, the U.S. Navy built three runways and a control tower as a training facility on the property. In January of 1948, Broward County took over control of the facility, and in 1953, the county formally took ownership of it. Three years later, Mackey Airlines would provide FLL with their first scheduled airline service. By 1971, FLL had non-stop flights to New York, Tampa, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis, Newark, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Braniff International Airways, Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines, Northwest Orient Airlines, Shawnee Airlines, and United Airlines were providing service to the airport by 1974. Five years later, Air Florida, Bahamasair, Florida Airlines, Mackey International Airlines, Republic Airlines, Trans World Airlines and Western Airlines also served the airport. In January 2000, South African Airways introduced a Boeing 747 flight from Cape Town to Atlanta via the Florida city; the flight from Atlanta to South Africa operated non-stop. In early 2007, the airport started assessing fees to all users, including private aircraft. FLL is one of the few airports to administer fees to private pilots. A minimum charge of $10 is assessed on landing private aircraft. On October 11, 2016, Emirates announced a daily flight from Dubai to Ft. Lauderdale. As of 2018, FLL has been undergoing an extensive renovation and expansion project worth approximately $3 billion. The project includes additional gates, new parking, stores, and shops.

Airport location

The airport sits off Interstate 595 in Broward county, bounded by Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Dania Beach, three miles southwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale and 21 miles north of Miami. 

Airport facts

● The Wall Street Journal ranked FLLt third on its "Best Large U.S. Airport" list of 2019. The airport scored high for categories such as on-time arrivals, reliability, value, and Wi-Fi speed. 

● The airport has four terminals with 56 gates and sits on approximately 1,400 acres of land. 

● The top three destinations from FLL are Atlanta, Newark, and New York (LaGuardia Airport)

What to dress for

Fort Lauderdale forecast