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Miami International Airport (IATA Airport Code MIA), is located in Miami, Florida. It has flights to airports throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. Along with Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, MIA is one of the largest aerial gateways into the American South. The airport has long enjoyed such a lofty status because of Miami's proximity to tourist attractions, local economic growth, and large Latin American and European population.
The airport is currently a hub of American Airlines, American Eagle, cargo airline Fine Air, and charter airline Miami Air. In the past, it has been a hub of Eastern Airlines, Air Florida, the original National Airlines, and the original Pan American World Airways. Iberia also has a large operation at Miami for connecting flights between Spain and Latin America.
Gulfstream International Airlines operates regular flights between MIA and several airports in Cuba, the only commercial air links between the two countries. However, these flights must be booked through agents with special authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and are only generally available to government officials, journalists, researchers, professionals attending conferences, or expatriates visiting Cuban family.
Airline tragedies involving MIA include the 1972 crash of an Eastern Airlines L-1011 in the Everglades (the subject of Hollywood movie, The Ghost Of Flight 411), the 1983 crash of a Miami-bound Air Florida Boeing 737 in Washington, DC, the 1995 crash of American Airlines Flight 965 into a mountain while en route from Miami to Cali, the 1996 crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in the Everglades, and the 2000 crash of a Miami-bound Air France Concorde in Paris. Another flight that almost ended in tragedy was Miami-bound American Airlines Flight 63, the target of "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.
The main terminal at MIA has eight pier-shaped concourses, lettered A through H. The current "Capital Improvement Plan" calls for concourses A and D to be merged by 2005, with concourses B and C removed. A new concourse, Concourse J, will also be constructed with the support of Star Alliance carriers.
MIA's only direct public transport link is to the Metrobus network, although free shuttles are provided to the Tri-Rail Miami International Airport station. A light rail line will eventually connect MIA to the Miami Intermodal Center, allowing quick transfers to the Metrorail system as well.
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