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Airport Treks – Which is the Longest?

a camel with colorful saddles

Remember the old slogan, “I’d Walk a Mile for a Camel?” This came to mind today reading Travel Leader’s report titled Survey Reveals Preferred Domestic Airports for Connections, Amenities, Dining, Kids and More.  The survey lists the best and worst airports for connecting flights, based on their reader responses. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson was ranked the best for connecting flights while Chicago’s O’Hare was ranked worst.

Changing this slogan to “I’d Walk a Mile for a Connection” had me wondering which US domestic airports require the most walking gate to gate? For me, it’s Newark, Minneapolis and Dallas where I usually hike the farthest between flights. Chicago can be a trek if changing terminals from Terminal 1 (B and C gates) to Terminal 2 (E gates) – though there is a 5-minute bus ride between gates E1 and C9 which helps if you are in this vicinity. Atlanta has efficient train service between concourses (well, usually) but it is not uncommon to hike from Gate 1 of one concourse to Gate 32 of another.

What are your favorite airports to connect through, and how many gates and terminals justify “too-far”?

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17 Comments

  1. International Arrival for Atlanta Passengers exiting in atlanta from an end gate in concourse E to customs in concourse F can run a good 3/4 mile with only a few moving walkways for the entire trip. Not bad if you want the exersise, but a haul if you are still half asleep from an early-morning arrival from South America.

  2. I think Charlotte is the worst. US Airways and US Airways Express are on opposite ends of the airport, there’s no tram, and US likes to schedule ridiculously short connections and apparently not arrive on time.

  3. Atl International like pointed out above is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen, plus they have to pay people to stand around along the route to guide you which way to go. Instead of all the marble and art work they should have thought about something practical like, em, moving sidewalks. Guess this is what happens when you take the low bid on a project. And, its a real shame because it is brand new and could have and should have been the best in the country. Now everybody is ticked off, grumbling in disbelief and unimpressed based on what I have overheard along the trek.

  4. I think DTW McNamara Terminal A is the longest single terminal in the USA at 4850 feet (nine tenths of a mile) from gate A1 to A78.

  5. Going from terminal to terminal, MSP A14 to F14 is 1.1 miles.

    And if you did walk it (which seems unreasonable with the train) from gate E15 to T1 at ATL is 1.4 miles.

  6. And while likely a long trek, from CLT gate A11 to E32A, it’s only 3800 feet or seven tenths of a mile.

  7. i know it’s not all that far but for me it seems everytime I fly AA into JFK my plane pulls in to Gate 48. The schlep from there out to the taxis is always flummoxing.

  8. Not sure if it is still true but the walk from the American Airlines gates at Heathrow to customs, even with all the people movers had to have been close to a mile.

  9. The transfer between Air Canada domestic and Air Canada US departures is at least a 45 minute walk in Toronto YYZ.

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