Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport owned by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (IATA: DCA, ICAO: KDCA, FAA LID: DCA), referred to colloquially as National Airport, Reagan, Reagan National, or simply DCA, is an airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is the smaller of two airports owned by the federal government and operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) that serve the Washington metropolitan area around Washington, D.C.; the larger is Dulles International Airport about 25 miles (40 km) to the west in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. The airport is 5 miles (8.0 km) from downtown Washington, D.C.
The airport opened in 1941 and was originally named Washington National Airport. Part of the original terminal is still in use as Terminal 1. A larger second terminal, now known as Terminal 2, opened in 1997. In 1998, Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed, a bill renaming it Ronald Reagan National Airport in honor of President Ronald Reagan. MWAA operates the airport with close oversight by the federal government due to its proximity to the national capital.
Long distance flights to and from the airport are limited by a perimeter rule which generally prohibits flights longer than 1,250 statute miles (2,010 km) in any direction nonstop, in an effort to send coast-to-coast and overseas traffic to Dulles International Airport, though there are 40 slot exemptions to this rule. Planes are required to take unusually complicated paths to avoid restricted and prohibited airspace above sensitive landmarks, government buildings, and military installations in and around Washington, D.C., and comply with some of the tightest noise restrictions in the country.Reagan National currently serves 91 nonstop destinations and is a hub for American Airlines. It has no immigration and customs facilities. Therefore, it is used predominantly for domestic flights with the only international flights being to and from those with U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance facilities, including major airports in Canada and some destinations in the Caribbean. International passenger flights to and from the Washington metropolitan area typically utilize Washington Dulles International Airport or Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
The airport served 24.5 million passengers in 2022, the most of any of the three airports and a new passenger record for the airport. The airport's main runway is the busiest in the nation.