World City Guide

Getting There By Air

Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Tel: (407) 825 2001.
Website: www.orlandoairports.net

Located 9 miles (14km) south-east of Orlando city centre and some 22 miles (35km) east of Walt Disney World, Orlando International has grown in pace with the city in the last 15-20 years, from handling just 8 million passengers in 1983 to more than 31 million in 2004, making it the 15th-ranked airport in the US. It serves some 55 airlines to 82 domestic destinations and 19 internationally.

Main airlines include Delta (tel: 1800 221 1212; website: www.delta.com), Continental (tel: 1800 523 3273; website: www.continental.com) and American Airlines (tel: 1800 222 2377; website: www.aa.com), plus US Airways, United and Northwest Airlines, and low-cost carriers Spirit, Jetblue, Independence Air, Zoom, Song and Southwest. British Airways operate daily flights from London Gatwick, and Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick and Manchester. Other international carriers with weekly services are Lufthansa, Martinair, Alitalia, Iberia and Icelandair.

The airport is consistently voted No. 1 for customer satisfaction in the US and on-airport services include a 446-room Hyatt hotel, 40 shops and restaurants, a full service bank, a hair salon and spa and a post office. Six car hire companies (including Alamo, Avis and Budget) operate direct from the airport, with another 15 operating off-airport. Mears Transportation offers a shuttle service from the airport to all the area’s hotels.

Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB)
Tel: (407) 585 4000.
Website: www.orlandosanfordairport.com

This satellite airport 32 miles (51km) to the north of Orlando has become a major UK gateway for many of the main British tour operators, including Travel City Direct, MyTravel, Thomson, First Choice and Thomas Cook, and in the last few years has also been developed by various US low-cost carriers, including TransMeridian, Vacation Express and PanAm. It is much more limited in its scope and services but processes new arrivals extremely quickly compared to Orlando International. There are five car hire companies operating on-airport, notably, Alamo, Dollar and Hertz, and another four based off-airport, while there are several dozen offering round-trip transportation to the hotels, including Mears.