Jun 28th 2022 | Posted in Transportation by Texas Government Insider

A Dallas Love Field Airport economic impact study presented to the Dallas City Council Transportation Committee on June 21 hinted at an expansion of the country’s busiest medium-hub airport.
In his presentation to the committee, the airport’s consultant advocated starting expansion discussions and said that the addition of five to 10 gates would not impact growth at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

Dallas Love Field

Additional gates could increase competition and attract more carriers to the airport commissioned as a training base in 1917 during World War I. The city of Dallas purchased it in 1927, clearing the way for civilian use. Its first paved runways were completed in 1932, and commercial air service grew throughout the 1930s.

For decades, federal restrictions in the Wright Amendment limited operations of passenger aircraft at Dallas Love Field to locations within Texas and the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The amendment, which was drafted to end legal battles between Love Field and DFW, expired in 2014.
Despite a federally mandated cap of 20 gates and barring of international travel, Love Field continues to see dramatic passenger growth and moved more passengers per gate than any other airport domestically from January 2021 to April 2022, according to the study.
Love Field’s economic impact reached nearly $5 billion in fiscal year 2018-19 and exceeded $4.2 billion in FY 2020-21.