A brief guide to Orlando's 3 main commercial airports

Orlando is a major city in central Florida, located between Jacksonville to the north, Miami to the south, Tampa to the southwest, and Daytona Beach to the northeast.

Given its geographical convenience, considerable catchment area, and useful proximity to various tourist attractions, it is perhaps unsurprising that three commercial airports bear the city's name. Let's take a look at how these differ.

Orlando International

Located to the southeast of the city, Orlando International (MCO) is the largest and busiest of the three, as well as being the closest to the metropolis with which it shares its name. In fact, this facility isn't just the busiest airport in the Orlando area, but also the busiest in Florida.

The airport's website notes that it handled 57.7 million passengers in 2023, compared to 52.3 million at Miami International.

These figures put both Orlando International and Miami in the top 10 when it comes to the busiest airports in the US, underlining the importance of Florida as a market in modern commercial aviation.

The former airport, whose MCO IATA code is derived from the facility's previous use as the McCoy Air Force Base, opened to commercial traffic in the early 1960s, and presently has four runways.

According to AirNav, these landing strips are between 12,005 feet (3,659 meters) and 9,001 feet (2,744 meters) long, making the airport more than capable of handling widebody airliners.

With this in mind, as well as the facility's proximity to Disney World and Universal which attract tourists from all over the world, it is unsurprising that seven airlines fly between Orlando International and Europe. These are:

• Virgin Atlantic (152 flights in November).
• Delta Air Lines (95).
• Discover Airlines (76).
• British Airways (61).
• Aer Lingus (60).
• Icelandair (50).
• Norse Atlantic (26).

Of course, Orlando International Airport also handles a considerable amount of domestic and short-haul traffic, with United Airlines having been present at the facility for some 46 years.

However, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Southwest Airlines has the largest market share (23.52%), followed by Spirit (15.78%), Delta (14.31%), Frontier (12.66%), and American (11.21%).

Melbourne Orlando

Also situated to the southeast of the city, admittedly much further away and almost by the coast, is Melbourne Orlando International (MLB). As its name suggests, this facility is actually located in the city of Melbourne, a good 70 miles (113 km) or so away from Orlando itself.

However, some passengers are happy to compromise on distant airports for cheaper flights, and Melbourne has a sizeable population.

While this airport has been open to commercial traffic longer than the larger Orlando International, it only got its big break in the relatively recent past.

This came in 2022, when British leisure carrier TUI Airways began operating several transatlantic routes to the facility using its Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' widebodies. These were the airport's first long-haul flights, and TUI serves Melbourne from:

• Belfast International (BFS).
• Birmingham (BHX).
• Glasgow (GLA).
• London Gatwick (LGW).
• Manchester (MAN).
• Newcastle (NCL).

In preparation for the arrival of these flights, the airport invested, as Spectrum News 13 noted at the time, $61 million in order to renovate and expand its facilities.

The airport is able to handle TUI 's twin-aisle Boeing 787 aircraft thanks to its 10,181-foot (3,103-meter) runway 09R/27L. Its other two runways are the parallel 09L/27R (6,000 feet / 1,829 meters) and the shorter 05/23 (3,001 feet / 915 meters).

Melbourne Orlando is also served domestically by a handful of US-based commercial airlines. Two of the 'big three' legacy carriers are present, with Delta serving Atlanta and American Airlines ' American Eagle regional brand connecting the facility to Charlotte.

At the low-cost end of the spectrum, Allegiant serves Allentown, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh, while Sun Country flies in from Minneapolis.

Orlando Sanford

Unlike the two facilities covered thus far, Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) is located to the northeast of the city. However, despite being located on the wrong side of the city for attractions such as the Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Studios Florida, it is, at least, closer to the metropolis than Melbourne.

Indeed, the drive from Sanford International to downtown Orlando is around 20 miles (32 km).

Historically, Sanford International was the airport of choice for low-cost and leisure airlines flying holidaymakers to Orlando from Europe. Indeed, our aforementioned coverage of TUI's Melbourne launch noted that, prior to serving that particular airport, it had also operated flights to Sanford.

Other European leisure carriers that flew to Sanford in years gone by include the likes of Monarch and Thomas Cook.

Sanford's longest runway (out of four landing strips) is 09L/27R, which clocks in at an impressive 11,002 feet (3,353 meters) in length. While this will have provided more than enough space for widebody jetliners full of European tourists, no such aircraft are presently serving the facility.

Indeed, the only carrier with any scheduled flights there at present is US-based ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air .

Sanford is a key operating base for Allegiant, with the airline operating both seasonal and year-round routes to domestic destinations.

These stretch as far west as Provo in Utah and El Paso in Texas, and as far east as Portsmouth in New Hampshire and Bangor in Maine. However, BTS data shows that the top route by passenger numbers serves Lehigh Valley International in Allentown, Pennsylvania.