Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport locally, or simply DTW, is a major international airport covering 6,700-acre (10.5 sq mi; 2,700 ha) in Romulus, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It is Michigan's busiest airport.

Metro Detroit's airport is the second-largest hub for Delta Air Lines. Delta's McNamara World Gateway terminal contains both domestic and international gates and serves as the airline's primary gateway to Asia and its third-busiest gateway to Europe. The airport is also a major gateway for tourism in metropolitan Detroit. The airport is one of SkyTeam's major Midwestern hubs. It is the second-largest base for Spirit Airlines, where the airline was founded and once operated its largest base. Operated by the Wayne County Airport Authority, the airport is one of the nation's most-recently expanded and modernized airports, with six major runways, two terminals, 145 in-service gates, and an on-site Westin Hotel and conference center. The McNamara Terminal Concourse A is the world's second-longest airport terminal building at 1 mi (1.6 km) It is just surpassed by the 1.06 mi (1.71 km) long Kansai International Airport. The airport has maintenance facilities capable of servicing and repairing aircraft as large as the Boeing 747.

The McNamara Terminal, also known as the WorldGateway, opened on February 25, 2002. It was designed by SmithGroup. It was the replacement for the aged Davey Terminal, which was the principal hub for Northwest Airlines until its closing in 2002. During development, the terminal was known as the Midfield Terminal. The terminal is used exclusively by Delta and its SkyTeam partners. It has three concourses, "A", "B", and "C", which house 121 gates with shopping and dining in the center of "A" concourse (known as "the link"), as well as throughout the concourses. In addition to moving walkways spaced along the length of each concourse, the "A" concourse has a people mover, the ExpressTram, that transports passengers between ends of the 1 mi (1.6 km) Concourse A in just over three-minutes. Trams arrive almost simultaneously at the Terminal Station at the midpoint of the concourse and depart in opposite directions to the North Station and the South Station, then return. The McNamara Terminal opened a new baggage sorting facility in October 2008, which has improved the screening of baggage through 14 different x-ray machines with bomb detection devices implemented on the conveyor system. Northwest Airlines said that it reduced the amount of lost baggage, and it improved the timeliness of bags getting to their correct flight.

Wayne County authorities began planning for a new airport in the western portions of the county as early as 1927. The following year, the county acquired one square mile of land for an aviation facility, to be called Wayne County Airport, at the corner of Middlebelt and Wick Roads, the northeastern boundary of today's airport. Construction was completed in 1929, and the first official landing took place on February 22, 1930. That same year, Thompson Aeronautical Corporation, a forerunner of American Airlines, inaugurated service from Wayne County. From 1931 until 1945, the airport housed Michigan National Guard operations gained by the Army Air Force. It was also named Romulus Army Airfield during the war. The original runway (14/32) was later decommissioned. However, parts of it remain today as Taxiways M-4 and P-4, transversing from southeast of Runway 3R/21L through Runway 9L/27R and ending northwest of Runway 3L/21R.

Between 1947 and 1950, county officials expanded the small airport to become Detroit's primary airport. The airport was renamed Detroit-Wayne Major Airport in 1947 and over the next three years expanded in size threefold as three more runways were built. In 1949, runways 3L/21R and 9L/27R were built and in 1950 runway 4R/22L was added. During this time, most commercial traffic shifted from small Detroit City Airport (now Coleman Young International Airport) northeast of downtown Detroit to the larger Willow Run Airport over 20 mi (32 km) west of the city, and 10 mi (16 km) west of Wayne County Airport.

The North Terminal opened on September 17, 2008. It is the replacement for the aged Berry and Smith Terminals, which housed all non-SkyTeam airlines. As of October 2009, the North Terminal's name has not yet been finalized as its naming rights have been put up for to bid.

The terminal houses all non-SkyTeam airlines serving the airport. It is considered the "D" Concourse of the airport as the McNamara Terminal has Concourses A, B, and C. The concourse holds 26 gates, two of which opened in Summer 2009 to accommodate international widebody flights to and from the terminal. The two gates could not be used at the time of the building's opening due to their extremely close proximity to Smith Terminal's C Concourse. The concourse was demolished after flights moved to the new terminal and the gates were opened. The terminal features four long segments of moving walkways on the departures level and another on the lower level for international arriving passengers to access the Federal Inspection Services area.

The McNamara Terminal Parking Structure is an 89-acre (36-ha) 10-level facility, which opened in February 2002. It is one of the largest parking structures in the world. It includes a ground transportation center, pedestrian bridge, two luggage check-in locations, conveyors and bridges to transport luggage, six restrooms, three offices for parking officials, and two electrical substations. The structure can park 11,489 cars in seven user groups. Parking for the North Terminal is offered in a garage known as the Big Blue Deck. Two additional outdoor lots, named "yellow" and "red," serve as overflow parking. The October 9, 2008 edition of the Detroit Free Press noted that one of the two latter lots (not identified specifically) could be closed in the near future due to airport budget constraints. Four additional, privately owned parking lots are located outside airport grounds (Airlines Parking, Park 'N' Go, Qwik Park, U.S. Park). Motorcycle parking is free at the airport. Motorcycles can be parked in a separate covered area from cars at the McNamara Terminal Parking Structure.

The airport is accessible from I-94, which is the closest entrance to the North Terminal, and from I-275 via Eureka Road, which is closer to the McNamara Terminal. John D. Dingell Drive (named after John D. Dingell) is an expressway that runs from I-94 to Eureka Road. This expressway was built in 1999 for access to the McNamara Terminal. Many other local roads (including Goddard Road, Northline Road, Ecorse Road, Middlebelt Road, Merriman Road, and Wick Road) all have access to the airport and its surrounding property.

Most major rental car companies serve the airport. Taxis are provided by MetroCab, while limousine service and luxury vehicle service is provided by MetroCars

J.D. Power and Associates ranked Metro Airport #1 in overall customer satisfaction nationwide among large airports in 2009, up from #2 the previous year.

Airports Council International (ACI) ranked Metro Airport the #3 best airport in North America along with the Ottawa, Canada airport in 2006. ACI also named Metro Airport the #3 best airport with 25–40 million passengers in 2006.

Airports Council International (ACI) ranked Metro Airport the #5 best airport in North America in 2007. ACI also named Metro Airport the #3 best airport with 25–40 million passengers in 2007.

Besides its official name, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, the airport is known as

Detroit Metropolitan Airport

Detroit Metro Airport

Metro Airport (locally)

DTW (i.e. IATA/FAA Airport Code)

Metro (locally)