The Airchive-Miami Planespotting

	Miami Terminal Airport The exterior of Miami International Airport’s 1959 terminal in September 2002. When it opened in 1959, it was the world's largest single terminal. A haven for plane spotters the world over, MIA still has the most diverse collection of airlines and equipment of any U.S. Airport. However, MIAs high landing fees, sometimes chaotic operations, and population growth in Broward Country to the North caused the airport's traffic to decline until 2004. Since that time, MIA’s traffic has grown each year and surpassed 31 million passengers in 2006 – a five percent increase over 2005 and the airport’s best year since pre-9/11. MIA is desperately trying to attract LCCs like Southwest and Jet Blue to stem the loss of traffic, pax, and revenue.The area above curbside is the in-terminal hotel and the glass-enclosed elevator which leads to a pool and observation deck. The airport is currently undergoing a 6 billion dollar renovation and expansion to bring it out of the aviation dark ages, the most extensive in its history and the most extensive of any operating airport. Still for me, MIA has its definite charms and is my favorite airport anywhere in the world.


	MIA Ticketing Hall (2005) The ticket counters in the Central Terminal area of MIA look much like they have for the last 20 years. The carpet was removed to reveal the original terrzo flooring on the floor from the terminal’s 1959 opening. New ticketing areas have opened near Concourse A as the airport undergoes a massive renovation. Eventually, this area as well will undergo major changes following completion of the new South Terminal.




	MIA New Airport Signage in Main Ticket Hall As part of MIA's Capital Improvement Plan, new clearer signage is being installed throughout the main ticket hall.
	Delta Airlines Ticket Counter On the other end of this wall is the new South Terminal. It came down in late 2007 to reveal MIA's sparkling new world class terminal.

	MIA Master Plan Model MIA as it is scheduled to appear by 2011 is shown in this model near terminal E.

	MIA Aerials (Central Terminal Complex and Ramp)
	MIA Hotel The Miami International Airport Hotel is one of the few hotels in the U.S. actually built into the airport. Reportedly, the hotel may eventually be moved off-site, but in the meantime a renovation is in progress.
	Moving Walkways Walkways encircle the perimiter above the ticketing area, acting as a sort of expressway between parking and ticketing.
	Flamingo Garage Terminal Entrance at Level 3
	Concourse A (2006) Concourse A was the first re-development of MIA's current $5.2 billion construction project. Phase I opened in 1995 and Phase II was completed in 1999. It is temporarily closed while work continutes on the North Terminal, years behind schedule.

	British Airways Boeing 747-400 BA operates double daily non-stops from MIA to London Heathrow from Terminal A.
	Lan Chile Boeing 767-300 Lan Chile is the most profitable and successful airline in South America. It operates a very high-level service from Terminal A at MIA to Santiago, Chile. Lan Chile is an early member of the One World Alliance.
	C Concourse Gates A few of American's gates were on the old Concourse C, which is among the oldest at the airport, dating back to the 1959 opening. This is due to be demolished to make way for the new North Termina. Eastern occupied these at one time.
	Terminal Ramp The MIA Hotel deck seen from the American Airlines gates. Some of these gates were forermly occupied by Pan Am.
	Concourse B These gates have been demolished to make way for the completion of the North Terminal. At one time, Eastern occupied these gates.
	MIA American Airlines Concourse D- 2003
	MIA Terminal North - 2003 AA's new North Terminal North seen under construction, first phase occupancy at Concourse D occurred in 2004.
	American Airlines Terminal North, A to D - 2005 The state of the art, renovated Concourse D extension opened in 2004. In style and layout, it is an extension of terminal A. It is composed of the former terminal D. The new North Terminal ramp operations tower is seen in the background. The original D concourse that was demolished to make way for this terminal were some of Eastern's gates until the 1988 strike paired back operations.
	American Airlines Terminal North, A through D - 2006 The final completion of the link between A & D to form the new Terminal North is delayed due to budget over runs and charges of mismanagement between the Aviation Department, American Airlines, and the construction firm. The construction firm was fired from the project, and a new one has been appointed resulting in a delay. The original D concourse that was demolished to make way for this terminal were some of Eastern's gates until the 1988 strike paired back operations.

	North Terminal, Under Construction 2006 This project, though excellent midway through completion, is years overdue and millions of dollars over-budget. Due to poor management especially on the part of American Airlines, the contractor was fired and the project stopped while a new contractor was secured. Responsibility shifted back to MDAD. Completion is now pushed back to 2010, some 4 years behind schedule.
	American Airlines MD-80 and Terminal North - 2005
	American Airlines Airbus A300-600 - September, 2007 American began flying A300-600s in 1989. They are the only Airbus products flown by AA. American has a love/hate relationship with the jet. CFOs and cargo personell love it due to its high lift cargo and passenger capability, especially for its chosen mission in the East Coast and Carribbean. Flight crews and passengers deride it for its high capacity, low service ceiling (a definite disadvantage for dealing with storms in the area), and rigid wings which provide a rough ride in turbulent weather. Following the November 2001 crash in Queens, there are safety concerns as well on the part of some crew and passengers. American and Airbus publicly pointed fingers at each other following the crash.



	Pan Am Boeing 314 Flying Boat "The Dixie Clipper" Hanging above the low E gates is an awesome 1970s vintage Pan AM Boeing 314 model. The zenity of Flying Boats, the 314 never operated into MIA. Pan Am operated 3 of these incredible Flying Boats from 1939-45. This one of a kind model has whirling props and illuminated lights.


	Concourse E Concourse E was originally the location of Pan Am, Braniff, BWIA, British, Cayman, Varig among other international carriers before the airport allowed AA to take it over in 1990, displacing other carriers to Concourse B once Eastern vavated it.. The E-Satellite gates are connected by a people mover. The new midfield terminal opened in 1977, but busses were the original form of transportation years before the people mover was completed.




	Concourse F This concourse is one of the original 1959 one's, though an extension was added in the 1970s. At one time, this was Pan Am, and before that National territory before United moved its Latin American hub here following PA's 1991 demise. As AA consolidated its position at MIA, UA shifted its Latin operations to Chicago and Dulles closing its Miami hub completely. Now, mainline service has been discontinued leaving only Ted in South Florida. There are no plans for their renovation as the North Terminal Project still has years before its completed.

	MIA Remodeled Baggage Claim
	Concourse G Concourse F, G & H are the only original, basically unaltered concourses form the 1959 terminal. With the opening of the South Terminal, these will be earmarked for future LCCs and largely vacant as airlines depart them. There are no plans for their renovation as the North Terminal Project still has years before its completed.

	Concourse H


	New South Terminal and South Ramps seen from Dolphin Expressway 836

	New South Terminal Under Construction This striking "flying wing" terminal is part of MIA's massive redevelopment project. This became home base for the Star Alliance and SkyTeam carriers. The new terminal will also act as a temporary home to carriers in concourse A, when this facility temporary closes to allow the completion of the North Terminal. As the Central Terminal remodels, airlines will locate temporarily here as well. It boasts world class architecture and ergonomics in line with Miami's emergence as a world class city. The concourse actually feels very similar to Charles De Gualle in Paris. It opened in August, 2007. Airchive.com was fortunate to be invited to tour the new terminal with the GMAA (Greater Miami Aviation Association) while under construction in February, 2007.

	GMAA (Greater Miami Aviation Association) Board (Left to Right) Oscar S. Garcia, President, GMAA , Michael Mathews, Committee Member GMAA, Mansour Rasnavad, Director GMAA, Jon Batchelor, Director GMAA , Michael Van Dusen, Director GMAA , Benny Benitez, Director GMAA, Connie Devine, executive Secretary GMAA, Marc Henderson, Director GMAA (MDAD Host),
	GMAA (Greater Miami Aviation Association) Board (Left to Right) the head of South Florida operations for Michael Van Dusen Embry-Riddle Aviation; Jon Batchelor, president of BBC Aircraft; and Oscar Garcia, president of GMAA and Interflight Global.
	New South Terminal Connection to Existing 1959 era Central Terminal
	New South Terminal Curbside Under Construction

	New South Terminal Under Ticketing Hall Under Construction


	Tyrone D. Browne, Chief Architect of Airport Design Displays new Rotunda Area of South Terminal
	Oscar Garcia (left), GMAA Interflight Global President and Chris Sloan (right), webmaster of Airchive.com

	New South Terminal Shopping Mezzanine




	New South Terminal Sterile Area
	"Forever Everglades" Floor of New South Terminal This novel project is a unique visual and poetic story of the amazing Florida Everglades, runs along the entire floor area of the new concourse.

	New South Terminal Baggage Claim and Customs Under Construction


	New South Terminal Ramp Ops Tower
	Terminal Map 2005 Much has changed since the 1990 map below. Concourses B has been completely demolished. Concourse C will be the next to go. Eastern, which operated from C & D, has been replaced by American and One World carriers. Concourse H has also been complety renovated. The new Concourse J (above)will have 15, international-capable gates and is opened in 2007.
	Terminal Map - 1990 Pan Am operated from terminals E and F until its 1991 bankruptcy. Those terminals have since been occupied by dominant American Airlines. Eastern operated from B , C, D, and E gates.
	Concourse C - Continental Boeing 737-800 This, and Concourse G are the last of MIA's original 1959 concourses.
	Aeropostal Boeing 727-200 (2003) The Venezuelan based carrier has taken over many routes from former flag carrier, VIASA.
	Monarch and Air France (2003)
	Terminal Ramp (2003) The MIA Hotel and Pool/Observation deck seen from the American Airlines gates of concourses E & F. Some of these gates were formerly occupied by Pan Am.
	Terminal Ramp (2005) Concourse G (old 2) was long-term leased to Northwest, Air Canada, United and TWA, and Northwest sub-leased to Continental and American.
	MIA Airport Hotel Rooftop View from Pool (2003) American Airlines currently operates from 3 concourses at MIA. This concourse, E was built in the mid-70s, and used for a variety of international carriers, Eastern, and Braniff. It is the only concourse with train service from airside to landside.
	F Concourse Ramp (2003) An American 757-200 blocks out of its gate while an Air Jamaica A-320 and an ALM MD-80 undergo their turns.
	COPA Boeing 737-800 at Concourse F (2003) COPA is the national airline of Panama. Continental owns a minority stake in the carrier, hence COPA's variation on the Continental "1964 World's Fair Globe" logo.
	American Airlines Boeing 777-200 on approach AA, controls over 60% of the traffic at MIA. The airline uses 777s on extensive long-haul services to the U.S. West Coast, Europe, and South America from MIA.
	British Airways Boeing 747-400 BA operates a daily Heathrow to MIA flight which arrives around 3:30pm and leaves again around 6:30pm.
	MIA Airport Hotel Rooftop Pool (2003) To my knowledge, MIA is the only airport in the world with an outdoor pool/observation deck. The pool is surrounded by a jogging track and health club, all located on top of the in-terminal hotel. On a hot tropical day, there was nothing like wallowing in the pool and watching the action on the ramp. They are closed indefinately due to renovations.
	MIA Access Tunnel (1998) This tunnel runs north-south underneath MIA's diagonal runway 12-30.
	Control Towers (2003) MIA’s new and old control towers. The tall new structure’s control cab had to be demolished and re-built due to visibility problems. In a highly publicized snafu, this delayed the new tower’s opening by 2 years. The old 1984 tower is now demolished.
	American Airlines Boeing 727-200 (1999) American employed 727s extensively from 1964-2003. From Miami, they flew through throughout Latin America and the Caribbean as well as across the U.S. The 727s final flight for American was in April 2002 on a Miami flight to North Carolina.
	AmeriJet Boeing 727-200 (2003) Amerijet is a large cargo airline based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with extensive operations throughout Latin America and the Carribbean.
	Arrow Air Douglas DC-8-62 This elderly DC-8 was captured on finals in August, 2000. With its low bypass engines, they no longer regularly serve MIA due to the stringent noise regulations.
	Arrow Air Lockheed L1011 (1998) This ex-Eastern L1011 flies cargo for Miami based Arrow Air. The Tristars have all but replaced the DC-8s at Arrow.
	Atlas Airlines (2001) Atlas is the worlds largest operator of 747 Cargo Jumbos.
	Avianca Boeing 757-200 Avianca operates numerous services from Miami to Bogota and Cali, Colombia. This example was captured while in for maintenance checks in 2000.
	Boeing 707-200 These are now almost extinct at MIA. 2000 was the last year 707s regularly served MIA.
	Bahamasair Boeing 737-200 (2000) Taken from the taxiway for Runway 9R, this elderly 737 lifts off for Nassau. Bahamasair flies Dash 8s and 737-200s exclusively.
	CAC MD-10 (2000) Challenge Air Cargo, purchased by UPS, operates a mixed fleet of DC-10 and updated MD-10s.
	Commodore Aviation and DC-10 Trio (2000) These DC-10s lined up for maintenance are operated by freight airlines.
	Canadian DC-10 (2000) As Canadian was merged into Air Canada during 2000, some of their DC-10s were overhauled at MIA before being sold off to new customers.
	Douglas DC-3s (2000) Once a common site, now extremely rare, these DC-3s were photographed at MIA in August 2000 still flying cargo.
	Virgin 747-400 (1998) Virgin operated a twice daily non-stop to Gatwick from MIA with 747-400s, now once per day with A-340 to Heathrow. Miami was Virgin’s second destination, after New York, when it came on-line in 1988.
	Royal Jordanian L1011 Tristar (1998) This L1011 was being parted out at MIA in August 2000 when these images were taken. Jordanian replaced the Tristars with A330s.

	Lan Chile Boeing 767-300 Freighter Lan Chile is the most successful airline in all of Latin America.
	Miami Heat Boeing 727-2000 (2004) The Miami NBA franchise, Home of Shaq, operates this Boeing in executive configuration. The Heat's owner formerly controlled Carnival Airlines.
	Boeing 707 Florida West (1999) The famed “Corrosion Corner” at the southwest side of MIA has shrunk but as of 1999 still had some scrapping operations. Today, it no longer exists. Much of this kind of work is now located 20 miles North at Opa Locka Airport. The tail and carcass of a 707 formerly belonging to freight operator Florida West is close to the end.
	American Commemorative 757 (2003) American painted one of its 757-200s in the 1959 livery to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Jet Service in 1999. American began jet service with a non-stop from LAX-New York Idelwild (now JFK) on January 20, 1959 with 707-100’s. This 757 flew the original crew on a flight repeating that event on January 20, 1999.American also operates a 737-800 in the 1964 livery which was there the same day.

	Fine Air L-1011 (1998) This ex-Eastern L-1011-200 Tri-Star is operated by the Miami based freight carrier Fine Air, now Arrow Air.
	Fine Air Douglas DC-8-62 (1998) A DC-8-62 similar to this and operated by Fine Air crashed on takeoff from MIA onto Milam Dairy Rd, just west of the threshold in August 1997. These are no longer operable legally into MIA without re-engining of high bypass turbofans.
	Varig 747-300 (1998) MIA hosted a “50th Anniversary Party” with a open house in 1998. Among the attendees open to the public was this Varig 747-300. The upper deck business class and first generation flightdeck is seen here. Varig no longer operates these aircraft.

	Planet Boeing 727-200 (1998) Planet was a charter airline, operated by a former Eastern pilot and Kiwi CEO.
	Southeast Airlines Douglas DC-9 (1998) Southeast is a small scheduled airline serving resort areas in the South. The airline is most noteworthy for its use of the National Airlines "Sun god" logo.
	STAF MD-11F (1998) Staf is a Brasillian Cargo operator.
	TACA Airbus A-320 (2003) Taca is Central America's most successful airline, operating from its base in El Salvador.
	TWA McDonnell Douglas MD-80 This shot was taken at the twilight of TWAs life, just prior to the December 2000 takeover by American.
	Connie Calitta (1998) An American International Airways (formerly Connie Calitta) DC-8-61 sits under a threatening sky at MIA.
	BWIA British West Indies Airlines (known as Bee-Wees) operated 737’s into MIA to Port of Spain, Barbados. Bee-Wee was one of the last frontline operators of the TriStar which has finally been replaced by the A330’s. The airline closed on December 31, 2006.
	Fine Air Aerial Fine Air maintained it’s fleet of DC-8s and Tri-Stars from the former Pan American Base on the north side of MIA.
	SAA 747-400 South African Airways used to serve MIA from Capetown, South Africa non-stop making it one of the world’s longest routes. Their 747-400s would arrive in the morning and sit until the evening for their return voyage. Since this image was taken at the 1998 50th Anniversary of MIA, SAA has relocated services to Ft. Lauderdale and Atlanta.

	ATC DC-8 A DC-8-62 belonging to Latin American freight carrier, ATC. Miami is one of the few airports in America where first generation jets still call on.
	Faucett L-1011-1 (1999) This ex-Eastern L-1011 was transferred to Faucett Air Peru. It was reprocessed by it’s owners, Fine Air, at MIA when this photo was taken. This Tri-Star was later stripped for spares.
	ATR Mosquito Farm American Eagle operates a large fleet of ATR-42s and ATR-72s from it’s “Mosquito Farm” at MIA. Many of the ATR’s have been shifted from DFW and ORD as those operations shift to RJ’s.

	Miami Air Miami Air is a successful charter airline based at MIA operating 727-200s and 737 NGs.


	36th Street Scrapped Jets (2003) The old Pan Am maintenance hangers are now home to 2 overhaul operators. A variety of DC-8s, DC-9s, and other older jets can be found there in various states of repair.

	George Baker Aviation School (2003) The George Baker Aviation school at MIA has a rare 1960 vintage Boeing 720. This 720 was donated nearly 20 years ago after a career with many airlines such as United. Sadly, it was finally broken up in 2003-04.

	36th Street Maintenance Shops MIA's maintenance operators are located on the north field of the airport.
	Runway 9R and 27L (2003) Most approaches and departures are out of the west into prevailing winds. There is an excellent perimiter road for planespotting along the runway but post-911 is under constant watch.

	MIA Aerial View - 2000
	MIA Aerials (2006) These aerials show the former National Airlines hanger (now AA), which at one time was the world's largest cantilever building. This portion of the airport is a parking ramp for airliners between flights, as it is much less expensive to be parked here rather than at a gate between flights. This is a great location to see South American aircraft on their daytime layovers. Concourse A is seen below as well. Concourse A is closing temporarily to allow completion of the much delayed and massively over budgeted Terminal North.


	1974 Vintage American Airlines (formerly National) Cantilever Hanger
	British Airways Concorde Miami, until 1990 used to receive regularly scheduled weekly flights from London Heathrow. This image was taken in 1990. Special Thanks to: Jose Lauzardo
	Pan Am Airbus A-300 B4 Pan Am operated Airbus A-300s in its final 5 years. This image was taken in 1989. Special Thanks to: Jose Lauzardo
	Pan Am Airbus A-300 B4 and TWA Boeing 727-200 Pan Am operated Airbus A-300s in its final 5 years.This image was taken in 1989. Special Thanks to: Jose Lauzardo
	Pan Am Maintenance Shop GE CF-6 Engine Special Thanks to: Jose Lauzardo

	Miami International Airport - 1929 and 1959 Terminal For an amazing historical website on MIA, jump to Florida's Airports Historical Site.

	Jump to Miami International Airport Vintage