Chicago Midway International Airport was first established in 1927 as a small, local airfield. It was developed by the Chicago City Council and the US Army Corps of Engineers as an auxiliary airport for Chicago’s main airport – now known as O’Hare International Airport. The original runway was only 1,700 feet long and accommodated smaller planes such as biplanes and single-engine aircraft. In 1931, the airport was re-designated as a commercial airfield and renamed Chicago Municipal Airport. During World War II, the airport served as a major flight training center for the United States Army Air Corps.
Over the next few decades, Chicago Midway International Airport underwent significant expansion and modernization to become a major hub of commercial aviation in the Midwest region. In 1945, it became one of the first airports in America to offer scheduled international flights with service to Canada via Trans-Canada Air Lines (now Air Canada). The following year, Midway opened its new terminal building which featured large public areas with restaurants and shopping outlets. During this period, several airlines began operating out of Midway including American Airlines, United Airlines, TWA (later acquired by American), Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines (now United).
MDW is the abbreviation code for Chicago Midway International Airport. According to Abbreviation Finder, MDW can also mean:
- Chicago, IL, USA – Midway
- Marketing Data Warehouse
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- Measured Day Work
- Medical Wing
- Memorial Day Weekend
- Midway Airport
- Military District of Washington
- Minnesota, Dakota, and Western Railroad
- More Developed World
- Municipal Dataworks
- Municipal Drinking Water
Chicago Midway International Airport, IL (MDW)
The Chicago Midway International Airport is after Chicago – O’Hare International the second most important and also the second largest commercial airport in the US state of Illinois. In addition, the Chicago Rockford International Airport is located about 140 kilometers further north-west near the city of Rockford in the greater Chicago area. Gary International
Airport, about 35 kilometers southeast of downtown, between East Chicago and the city of Gary, which, like Midway and O’Hare, is administered by the Chicago Airport Authority, is currently not used for regular scheduled air traffic; it is currently only taking off and landing from here some private charter flight operators. Efforts are being made to reactivate it as an alternative for low-cost carriers in the near future.
- URL: Chicago Midway International Airport, IL (MDW)
- Time zone: GMT -6
- Service phone: +1 773 838-0600; 773 686-2200
- Address: Midway International Airport, 5700 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago, IL 60638, USA
- Operator: Chicago Airport System
- Parking spaces: yes, subject to a charge; Short-term and long-term parking spaces, parking garage
- Nearby cities: Chicago (11 km), Naperville (33 km), Joliet (40 km), Aurora (47 km)
- Accessibility: Interstate I-88, I-290, I-294, I-55
- Train connections: Union Station in Chicago is the start and destination of numerous Amtrak routes, such as the California Zephyr, Empire Builder, Capitol Limited, Texas Eagle or the Wolverine.
- Flight distribution on the days of the week: Monday (14.85%), Tuesday (13.31%), Wednesday (14.62%), Thursday (16.04%), Friday (16.42%), Saturday (9.58%), Sunday (15.17%)
- other spellings: Midway Airport, Chicago-Midway International Airport, Чикаго-Мидуэй, 시카고 미드웨이 국제 공항, נמל התעופה שיקגו מידוויי, シ カ ゴ ・ ミ ッ ド ウ ウ ェ ー, شيكا مท่าอากาศยาน طيناغ تي لي ن تغชิคาโก ف
Most popular destinations from Chicago Midway International Airport, IL (flights per week)
- Baltimore – Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, MD (183, 5.20%)
- Denver International Airport, CO (180, 5.12%)
- Las Vegas – McCarran International Airport, NV (146, 4.15%)
- Atlanta International Airport (139, 3.95%)
- Dallas – Love Field, TX (137, 3.89%)
- Orlando International Airport, FL (119, 3.38%)
- Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport, MN (118, 3.35%)
- Louis – Lambert International Airport (113, 3.21%)
- Nashville International Airport, TN (105, 2.98%)
- Houston – Hobby Airport, TX (99, 2.81%)
- Other (61.96%)
Top airlines (share of take-offs / landings)
- Southwest Airlines (6853, 86.48%)
- KLM (172, 2.17%)
- Delta Air Lines (153, 1.93%)
- Virgin Atlantic Airways (153, 1.93%)
- Air France (131, 1.65%)
- Aeroméxico (123, 1.55%)
- Porter Airlines (88, 1.11%)
- Volaris (60, 0.76%)
- Westjet (39, 0.49%)
- Qatar Airways (20, 0.25%)
- Other (1.68%)
Location
The airport, which was first opened for postal traffic as Chicago Air Park in 1923, is located on 63rd Street West, near the Bedford Park district, about 15 kilometers southwest of downtown (Chicago Loop). The quickest way to get to the terminal is either on Interstate Highway I-55 at Exit 286, on Illinois State Route 50 or on Illinois State Route 43 and 63rd Street West.
The “Orange Line” express train of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) runs regularly between the Chicago Loop and the airport (Midway Station), and there are also several regular buses from the airport to the surrounding area, such as the 379, 382, 383, 384, 385 or the 390.
Passengers who have to change between Midway and O’Hare use the “Orange Line” between Midway and the Transit Center in Downtown and then change to the “Blue Line”, otherwise there is the option of various private transfer shuttle companies or taxis to drive.
Furthermore, numerous regional bus shuttles run from the airport to the surrounding communities in the greater area, e.g. to Crestwood, Michigan City, Mishawaka, Omega and Rockford.
History
Originally opened in 1928 under the name Chicago Municipal Airport for commercial air traffic, the airport was the main airport in the metropolitan area of the same name until the opening of Chicago-O’Hare. As early as 1932, Midway had more than 100,000 passengers flown annually and was also awarded the title “World’s Busiest Airport”, which he retained until 1961. The renaming to the current name, Chicago-Midway, took place in 1949 in honor of the fallen soldiers in the battle of the same name for the Pacific Midway Islands (Midway Atoll) in June 1942.
Chicago – Midway was also one of the central hubs of several well-known US airlines and one of the busiest airports in the world for many years and was only replaced by Chicago-O’Hare in the late 1950s. Nowadays, Midway is a very important hub of the low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines, which also offers most of the destinations from here.