Bolstered by an 18 percent increase in weekly international departures this year over 1999, Washington Dulles International Airport ranks fifth in the nation for transatlantic service this summer, according to analysis prepared by Simat, Hellienson and Eichner (SH&E), an aviation consulting firm.

Dulles service to these transatlantic destinations has increased significantly since last summer -- 18% additional departures a week with 16.5% more seats. The average increase for all U.S. airports was 7%. Dulles offers 169 weekly transatlantic departures and more than 48,000 weekly seats providing nonstop service to various destinations across the Atlantic Ocean.

New destinations added for this summer include: Vienna, Austria on Austrian Airlines; a second nonstop flight to Brussels on Sabena (a new airline at Dulles); and Zurich, Switzerland on Swissair.

Other major transatlantic destinations with direct service from Dulles include: Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Frankfurt and Munich, Germany; Madrid, Spain; Milan, Italy; London, England; Moscow, Russia; Paris, France; Saudi Arabia; Delhi, India; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This is the second year in a row that Dulles ranks as the fifth largest transatlantic gateway, only behind JFK, Newark, Chicago-O’Hare and Los Angeles.

In 1999, Dulles Airport served more than 3.5 million international passengers, a 13% increase from 1998.

(See chart)

Top Ten U.S. Transatlantic Gateways 
Summer 2000