Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport is a major public airport located in unincorporated Broward County, Florida, United States, roughly southwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale and north of Miami. The second busiest of the Miami metropolitan area's commercial airports, it is located off I-595, I-95, Highway 1, SR A1A, and SR 5, and is bounded by the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Dania Beach."Zoning Map ." City of Dania Beach. Retrieved on May 12, 2010.
With over 700 daily flights to 135 domestic and international destinations, the airport has become an intercontinental gateway since the late 1990s, although Miami International Airport still handles most long-haul flights in and out of South Florida. It serves as a primary airport for the Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood areas, and a secondary airport for parts of Miami and areas north of West Palm Beach. The airport is a base for Allegiant Air and JetBlue. It is also the primary South Florida airport for Southwest Airlines. Spirit Airlines had its primary hub at FLL prior to May 2026, when the airline ceased operations.
The airport is classified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a "major hub" facility serving commercial air traffic.
History 1926–1959 World War I aviator Merle Fogg purchased an abandoned nine-hole golf course that was destroyed in the 1926 Miami hurricane for $1,200 (about $22,000 in 2025) in 1928. On May 1, 1929, the airport officially opened as Merle Fogg Field, with two criss-cross unpaved runways. At the start of World War II, it was commissioned by the United States Navy and renamed Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale. The runways were paved, and a control tower was built. The base was initially used for refitting civil airliners for military service before they were ferried across the Atlantic to Europe and West Africa. NAS Fort Lauderdale later became a main training base for Naval Aviators and enlisted naval air crewmen flying the Grumman TBF and TBM Avenger for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aboard aircraft carriers and from expeditionary airfields ashore. NAS Fort Lauderdale was the home base for Flight 19, the five TBM Avengers that disappeared in December 1945, leading in part to the notoriety of the Bermuda Triangle.
NAS Fort Lauderdale closed on October 1, 1946 and was transferred to county control, becoming Broward County International Airport.
Commercial flights began on January 2, 1953 on Mackey Air Transport to Nassau. Domestic flights began in 1958–1959: Northeast Airlines and National Airlines DC-6Bs flew nonstop to New York–Idlewild, and Northeast flew nonstop to Washington–National. In 1959, the airport opened its first permanent terminal building and assumed its current name.
1960–1980 In 1966, the airport averaged 48 airline operations a day; in 1972, it averaged 173 a day.
The Feb 1966 Official Airline Guide shows three nonstop departures to New York–JFK and no other nonstop flights beyond Tampa and Orlando. Five years later, FLL had added nonstop flights to Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago–O'Hare, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–LaGuardia, Newark, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. (Northeast's nonstop to Los Angeles had already been dropped.)
By 1974, the airport was served by Braniff International Airways, Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines, Northwest Orient Airlines, Shawnee Airlines and United Airlines. Delta and Eastern were the dominant carriers, with 12 and 14 routes from FLL respectively. By 1979, following deregulation, Air Florida, Bahamasair, Florida Airlines, Mackey International Airlines, Republic Airlines, Trans World Airlines and Western Airlines also served the airport.
1980–2000 Passenger facilities at the airport were expanded in the 1980s. Much of the current terminal complex (present-day Terminals 2, 3, and 4) were built by 1986 to replace the 1959 terminal. Additionally, both U.S. Route 1 and the Florida East Coast Railway at the airport's entrance were shifted further east to make room for the expansion.
Low-cost airline traffic grew in the 1990s, with Southwest opening its base in 1996; Spirit in 1999; and JetBlue in 2000. Spirit Airlines made FLL a hub in 2002. In 2003, JetBlue made FLL a focus city. US Airways also planned a hub at Fort Lauderdale in the mid-2000s as part of its reorganization strategy before its merger with America West Airlines. Eventually, low-cost competition forced several major legacy airlines to cut back service to FLL, with United pulling out of the airport entirely in 2008 and American Airlines moving its New York and Los Angeles services to West Palm Beach in 2013.
2000–2014 In January 2000, South African Airways (SAA) introduced service from Cape Town to Atlanta via Fort Lauderdale on a Boeing 747. The flight from Atlanta to Cape Town operated nonstop. Fort Lauderdale served both as a refueling stop and as a place to pick up passengers. SAA had just started code-sharing with Delta Air Lines, which offered several flights from the airport. Changes to security regulations following the September 11 attacks forced SAA to eliminate the stop.
During the 2005 hurricane season, FLL was affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma. Katrina struck land in late August as a Category 1 and made landfall on Keating Beach just two miles from the airport (near the border of Broward and Miami–Dade counties) with winds but caused only minor damage; however, the airport was closed for about a 48-hour period. However, when Hurricane Wilma made landfall in October roof damage was reported along with broken windows, damaged jetways, and destroyed canopies. The airport was closed for a period of five days. Hurricane Wilma was a Category 2 when its center passed to the west of FLL. In February 2007, the airport started 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.
In May 2008, Zoom Airlines launched a seasonal link to London's Gatwick Airport via Bermuda. The airline shut down three months later. In May 2010, Condor began a seasonal flight to Frankfurt. Norwegian Air Shuttle introduced routes to Copenhagen and Oslo in November 2013 and to Stockholm the following month. The company expanded its operations in Fort Lauderdale over the next few years. By 2017, Norwegian had established a crew base at the airport and added flights to three more cities in Europe, as well as seasonal service to two Caribbean destinations.
2015–present
Emirates launched a flight to Dubai using a Boeing 777-200LR in December 2016. While major airlines tended to prefer flying into Miami, Emirates chose Fort Lauderdale as its gateway to South Florida because of its codeshare agreement with JetBlue and the airport's central location in the region.
On January 6, 2017, a lone gunman opened fire inside Terminal 2 with a semi-automatic handgun, killing five people. The shooter was arrested by a BSO deputy within 85 seconds of when he began shooting. He was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences plus 120 years in prison.
In 2018, NORAD announced that it would be stationing fighter jets at the airport during President Donald Trump's trips to Mar-a-Lago. That same year, the airport had started going through an extensive renovation and expansion project worth approximately $3 billion, adding gates, new parking, stores, and shops. The master plan calls for the construction of an Intermodal center, a people mover, a hotel, an increase in the number of gates from 62 to 95, and widening of the terminal access road.
Emirates ended service to Fort Lauderdale in 2020. In 2021, it began flying to Miami instead, which had more cargo traffic and connecting flights to other countries. In the same year, Norwegian decided to discontinue all of its flights to the United States, leaving the Fort Lauderdale airport without transatlantic service. Norse Atlantic Airways launched a direct flight to Oslo in June 2022.
In April 2023, historic flooding in the area caused severe disruptions at the airport, culminating in a complete closure as rainwater flooded parts of the tarmac and airport property. Norse Atlantic relocated to Miami in pursuit of more passengers and cargo in September 2023. The airline was also flying to London-Gatwick and had a crew base in Fort Lauderdale at the time. In the same month, El Al commenced a seasonal route to Tel Aviv for the Jewish High Holidays. It transitioned to year-round service in April 2024 despite the ongoing Gaza war and an Iranian attack on Israel two days prior. After Miami, Fort Lauderdale was El Al's second destination in South Florida, which has a large Jewish population. In October 2023, one month following El Al's commencement of service at the airport, officials broke ground on FLL's new Terminal 5, which is expected to be completed by mid-2026.
In 2024, Southwest shifted its international flights from Fort Lauderdale to its operating base in Orlando.
In May 2026, Spirit Airlines ceased operations after 34 years.Spirit Airlines says it’s going out of business after 34 years and is ending operations immediately
The airport is predicted to become a hub for football (soccer) fans transiting for the World Cup 2026 in the Miami metropolitan area, with seven games being hosted at Hard Rock Stadium, 15 miles south of the airport.
Future Several airport projects are planned or underway as of 2026 and are expected to be completed by the end of the decade, in line with the airport's master plan. These include the construction of airside terminal connections between Terminals 1, 2, and 3, the intermodal center, Terminal 5, and an automated people mover connecting the terminals, garages, and the intermodal center. Additionally, the Palm Garage is to be reconstructed, with an on-site hotel & conference center built adjacent to the reconstructed garage, while Terminal 3 will be rebuilt & expanded and a station on the proposed Broward Commuter Rail section of the FEC Coastal Link is established.
An elevated light rail service known as PREMO Light Rail linking the airport, the Broward County Convention Center, and Port Everglades is also proposed. As of 2024, this first phase of the light rail system is anticipated to be completed by 2028.
Facilities
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, located in an unincorporated area, covers and has two runways: FAA data effective January 22, 2026.
10L/28R: 9,000 x 150 ft (2,743 x 46 m), asphalt 10R/28L: 8,000 x 150 ft (2,438 x 46 m), concrete (extension completed September 18, 2014) The former crosswind runway, 13/31, was closed and decommissioned in 2013 as part of the Airport Expansion Program, which also extended runway 10R/28L to its current length.
Silver Airways previously had its headquarters in Suite 201 of the 1100 Lee Wagener Blvd building."Contact Us ." Silver Airways. Retrieved on May 8, 2014. "1100 Lee Wagener Blvd, Suite 201 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315.""Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport > Business > Tenant Directory ." Broward County. Retrieved on December 17, 2011. "1100 Lee Wagener Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, FL33315" When Chalk's International Airlines existed, its headquarters was on the grounds of the airport in an unincorporated area."Administration." Chalk's International Airlines. March 31, 2004. Retrieved on December 17, 2011. "Chalk's International Airlines 704 SW 34th Street Ft Lauderdale, Fl. 33315" Spirit Airlines used to have its headquarters in nearby Dania Beach, using FLL as their primary hub.
Terminals