# What cities have airports within the city? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985 "2011-04-19T18:52:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/61 "2011-04-20T05:44:15Z")
Oakland International Airport, Oakland, CA. Big airport, located on a sort of peninsula – the airport half is part of Oakland, while the residential half is part of Alameda (the rest of Alameda is an island, mostly landfill from the dredging of the canal that turned it from a marshy peninsula into an island; similarly, the airport is constructed on fill that turned Bay Farm Island into a peninsula). ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/62 "2011-04-20T06:05:00Z")
> [@bump](#): > > On the flip side, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is in neither Dallas nor Fort Worth. It’s technically in “DFW Airport, Texas”. Similarly, Seattle Tacoma Int’l Airport is in neither Seattle nor Tacoma, but rather in the incorporated town of Seatac. Since the airport is often abbreviated that way, you could say SeaTac airport is in Seatac. Also, I’m pretty sure Entebbe (Uganda’s int’l airport) is actually in Entebbe. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/63 "2011-04-20T07:42:27Z")
Irvine, CA (John Wayne/Orange County/SNA) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/64 "2011-04-20T08:00:46Z")
> [@lukeinva](#): > > Reagan National is in Arlington county. The mailing address is Washington, DC. It is literally on the banks of the Potomac river. Swim across and you will be in DC proper. You don’t have to swim across; the river there is itself part of the District. > [@lukeinva](#): > > Actually there is no Alexandria county, only the city of Alexandria (which is in Fairfax county). It has the “independent” label because it has its own jurisdiction. The same thing applies to the City of Fairfax. Say you were arrested in the jurisdiction of the City of Fairfax you would appear in city court. However, you could literally be across the street and outside the City limits and (if arrested) would have to go to county court. Funny thing is both courts are under the same roof. (I’m not trying to be nitpicky with you…) Many old maps call present-day Arlington “Alexandria County.” This was the correct designation from 1801 (It was a county in DC; the Maryland side was called “County of Washington”) until 1870, when it was renamed “Arlington County.” ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/65 "2011-04-20T08:21:34Z")
[Stockholm airport](http://www.theairdb.com/airport/SMP.html) is in Papua New Guinea. 😛 There is, however, an airport within the Stockholm city boundaries, [Bromma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm-Bromma_Airport). ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/66 "2011-04-20T11:50:57Z")
Cape Town International is within the limits of the City of Cape Town, and both of Durban’s airports, old and new, are within the city limits of Durban. However, that’s sort of cheating, because South African cities have giant mega-municipalities which govern the whole metro area. Johannesburg-OR Tambo Int’l is actually not in the City of Johannesburg, though; it’s in the neighbouring Ekurhuleni municipality. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/67 "2011-04-20T14:37:09Z")
Salt Lake City airport is within the city limits. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/68 "2011-04-20T14:40:29Z")
> [@xash](#): > > Irvine, CA (John Wayne/Orange County/SNA) The OP’s question is a little muddled, but I think they’re interested in the idea of major airports within the core city limits of the major urban area they serve. I’m not sure how your example works versus the OP as interpreted. SNA was originally Santa Ana Army Airfield way back in the WWII days. And it was in unincorporated Orange County. It was later (early 1960s?) renamed “Orange County Airport”. Eventually (1970s) the name “John Wayne” was attached. The airport is currently unincorporated county territory which borders the incorporated cities of Santa Ana, Irvine, Newport Beach, & Costa Mesa along (roughly) the N, E, S, & W edges of the airport respectively. As tangible evidence of which jurisdiction is where, the Irvine PD is much in evidence writing speeding tickets on the roads leading to the terminal, but the county Sheriffs provide all LE services on the airport property, including the terminal roads & parking structures. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/69 "2011-04-20T15:07:30Z")
Austin’s airport used to be in the city limits. Despite voter’s voting against it several times, they moved it to the old Bergstrom AFB outside of town a few years ago. The old Mueller Airport has since been turned into a ‘planned community’. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/70 "2011-04-20T15:22:26Z")
I flew into Hong Kong Kai Tak airport before they closed it in 1998 and moved to Chek Lap Kok. You used to fly past residential tower blocks on the way in and be able to see people cooking and watching TV. Not so much “within the City Limits” as “within your front yard”. Hard to see how Gibraltar beats it to the “closest to the city” prize. Oh well… ---
**Author:** ![usar\_jag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@usar\_jag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usar_jag)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/71 "2011-04-20T15:41:47Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > I wonder if Tokyo’s Narita would count for the farthest from the city? Judging by the drive time into the city, I would vote for “yes”. Tokyo does have Haneda Airport within city limits, though it has very few international arrivals/departures, dealing primarily with domestic flights. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/72 "2011-04-20T15:45:32Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > DIA is in the Denver city limits, but the land was annexed from a neighboring county. The city limits of Denver are roughly a square, with a narrow corridor on the northeast corner connecting to another suare which is DIA. To add to this-- The city of Denver became 50% larger when they got the land, and it’s something like 20 miles away from the edges of actual Denver. The old airport was so much a part of the city that it was not uncommon to have to drive under runways just to get anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/73 "2011-04-20T15:49:50Z")
> [@notquitekarpov](#): > > I flew into Hong Kong Kai Tak airport before they closed it in 1998 and moved to Chek Lap Kok. > > You used to fly past residential tower blocks on the way in and be able to see people cooking and watching TV. > > Not so much “within the City Limits” as “within your front yard”. Hard to see how Gibraltar beats it to the “closest to the city” prize. Oh well… Yes, I’ve flow into and out of that old airport too. It would be a question of distance from the city centre. Where is the city centre in Hong Kong? If it’s the city hall, that’s on the other side of Victoria Harbour, about 5 kilometres from that airport in a straight line ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/74 "2011-04-20T16:05:12Z")
San Antonio too. It was out in the country when the land was developed as an airport just before World War II but the city grew around it long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/75 "2011-04-20T16:05:35Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > You don’t have to swim across; the river there is itself part of the District. > > Many old maps call present-day Arlington “Alexandria County.” This was the correct designation from 1801 (It was a county in DC; the Maryland side was called “County of Washington”) until 1870, when it was renamed “Arlington County.” That is all considerably before the airport was built. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/76 "2011-04-20T16:16:37Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Austin’s airport used to be in the city limits. Despite voter’s voting against it several times, they moved it to the old Bergstrom AFB outside of town a few years ago. The old Mueller Airport has since been turned into a ‘planned community’. Is it still outside of town? My wife’s family owns some property out that direction, and it’s well inside the city limits nowadays. And FWIW, the old-timers in her family all agree that Bergstrom airport is a big improvement over Mueller- apparently the longer runways are much easier on passengers and planes. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/77 "2011-04-20T16:47:47Z")
Apparently Sea-Tac is actually is Seattle! I thought the airport was in the City of Sea-Tac or Burien but it appears that a sliver of Seattle is gerrymandered to place the airport in the city limits similar to what happened with DIA and Denver. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyMarine2092](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8491ac/32.png) [@JerseyMarine2092](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyMarine2092)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/78 "2011-04-20T16:52:11Z")
> [@lukeinva](#): > > That is all considerably before the airport was built. I would still count Reagan National though. DC is unique in that it has heavy geographic restrictions, and pretty much has no room for a long runway needed for modern aircraft (the only runway in DC is at Bowling AFB, and hasn’t serviced fixed wing aircraft in 60 years or so). It is in the midst of high density urban development- there’s several residential high rises that are right next to the airport property. It’s also the only DC area airport that serviced via Metro rail (as of now). The drive across the 14th street bridge to the airport takes literally 3 minutes, barring traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/79 "2011-04-20T17:05:48Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Many old maps call present-day Arlington “Alexandria County.” This was the correct designation from 1801 (It was a county in DC; the Maryland side was called “County of Washington”) until 1870, when it was renamed “Arlington County.” Just to expand on this a bit, the City of Alexandria split off from Alexandria County in 1870. The remaining bit was called Alexandria County until 1920 when it changed it’s name to Arlington County to avoid confusion. While the Courts in Virginia tend to follow county lines and city lines, it isn’t absolute. For example, the City of Falls Church falls under the jurisdiction of the Arlington Circuit Court. The Nineteenth Judicial District has jurisdiction over both Fairfax County and Fairfax City ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985/80 "2011-04-20T17:18:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The OP’s question is a little muddled, but I think they’re interested in the idea of major airports within the core city limits of the major urban area they serve. I’m not sure how your example works versus the OP as interpreted… Hmm. There’s potentially two questions in the scope of the OP. 1. What cities have airports within the official, legal city limits? 2. What cities have airports in the Central Business District, or adjacent to the CBD? There are some cities whose legal boundaries stretch far into the suburbs or even into rural areas, in the sense of the legal city limits. Examples are Juneau, Alaska or Virginia Beach, Virginia. Thus, you could have “City Police” patrolling rural roads and investigating crop theft from Old Joe’s barn. There are some cities where the “urban” area stretches far beyond the city limits. Examples are Washington, DC (Adjacent urban areas a quick bridge ride across the Potomac in Virginia), and New York City (Newark, NJ). You can cross from Arlington, VA to Washington, DC quickly without “going into the suburbs” or “going into the country”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cities-have-airports-within-the-city/578985.md?page=5)