Are you trying to find out more about Ohio airports, such as where these airports are located and what destinations and airlines they serve?
In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know about the major airports in Ohio. I’ll go over how long it will take you to get to these airports from the heart of the nearby cities and give you some insight into which airlines serve these airports along with some info on lounges and terminal maps.
Table of Contents
Major Ohio airports overview
Ohio is not home to one of the top 25 (or even top 40) busiest airport in the US. So, as you might expect the service is going to be quite limited when it comes to international destinations. If you are trying to fly internationally there is a good chance that you will have to connect through a neighboring state or somewhere else, so keep that in mind.
The good news is that these airports won’t be as busy and difficult to navigate as other larger airports. In many cases, you can pop in and out of these airports very efficiently.
How many airports are in Ohio?
There are approximately 37 airports in Ohio but there are only a hand full of major airports for passenger traffic on commercial airlines. Below, I’m going to focus on the major airports although I’ll also list some relevant airports nearby the cities that you might want to also check out.
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Airports near Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport (CLE)
Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport (CLE) is the busiest airport in the entire state of Ohio with over 4,000,000 enplanements per year. Depending on the traffic, you can make it up from the center of the city of Cleveland to the airport in about 15 to 20 minutes.
Hopkins is a focus city for Frontier Airlines, which is one of the ultra low cost carriers in the US. They offer very low fares to various destinations across the country but they are known for having some of the more expensive baggage fees. So in many cases, it can be very cheap to get to Cleveland from other cities across the US.
CLE is the only airport in Ohio that offers nonstop transatlantic flights to Europe (Iceland), so if you are trying to get to Iceland efficiently and you live in the state of Ohio, CLE is probably the option you want to go with.
2020 Update: This route is no longer available.
CLE does not have many lounges but they do have a United Airlines United Club along with a USO Lounge, and Bar Symon. They also have an Airspace Lounge, which is one of the lounges that you can access with the Amex Platinum.
If you’re curious about what the CLE terminal map looks like, I’ve included it below. The airport consists of three main concourses: A, B, and C.
- Concourse A: Air Canada, American, JetBlue, and United
- Concourse B: Southwest, Delta
- Concourse C: Allegiant, Frontier, IcelandAir, Spirit
There are three security checkpoints you might use and their hours are below:
- North Checkpoint: 4:15am to 8:00am
- Central Checkpoint (TSA Pre-Check Only): 4:00am to 8:00pm
- South Checkpoint: Sun to Fri 4:00am to 8:00pm / Sat 3:30am to 7:15pm
If you don’t know what TSA Pre-Check is, you can read more about it here.
As for restaurants, you can look up the CLE restaurants and shopping here. You’ll notice that they have many familiar eating establishments like Chick-fil-A, Subway, Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, etc.
Other nearby airports:
Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL)
Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF)
Airports near Columbus, Ohio
John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH), formerly known as Port Columbus International Airport, is the second busiest airport in the state of Ohio, not too far behind CLE. The airport is located only 6 miles east of downtown Columbus, Ohio. Depending on traffic, you could get to the city in under 15 minutes and to Ohio State University in under 20 minutes via automobile.
It’s also about 75 miles from Athens, Ohio so if you’re looking for an airport near Athens, CMH is only about 1.5 hours away.
You can find direct flights from CMH to approximately 140 destinations with various airlines. If you are trying to fly to an airline hub for a major carrier like Delta, American, United, Southwest, Alaska, etc., you should have plenty of options to choose from.
This is especially the case if you are flying Southwest Airlines. While Columbus is not a Southwest hub or even a focus city, it does serve several Southwest locations, including:
- Atlanta
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Chicago–Midway
- Dallas–Love
- Denver
- Fort Lauderdale
- Fort Myers
- Houston–Hobby
- Las Vegas
- Nashville
- Orlando
- Phoenix–Sky Harbor
- St. Louis
- Tampa
- Washington–National
While this is technically an international airport the only international arrivals come from Cancun, Punta Cana (seasonal?), and Toronto.
The only lounge currently found at this airport is the Jake Brewer USO Lounge.
There are three main concourses at CMH:
- Concourse A: Southwest
- Concourse B: Air Canada, American, Spirit, and United
- Concourse C: Delta, Frontier, Vacation Express
If you want to view a terminal map, I suggest checking out the interactive map here. You can also view the different shops and restaurants in the airport which include:
- American Craft Tavern
- Auntie Anne’s Pretzels
- Bob Evans Express
- Burger King
- Charley’s Philly Steaks
- Chili’s Too
- Eddie George’s Grille 27
- PGA TOUR Grill
- And many others
Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK)
Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) is yet another airport located in the city of Columbus. This airport receives significantly less traffic than John Glenn, however. You’ll mostly find flights with Allegiant flying out of this airport, and it primarily serves airports in the Southeast US, including Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Other nearby airports:
Ohio State University Airport (OSU)
Airports near Dayton, Ohio
James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY)
James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY), formerly Dayton Municipal Airport and James M. Cox-Dayton Municipal Airport, is located 10 miles north of downtown Dayton. James Cox is the third busiest airport in the state of Ohio.
This airport is known as a primary commercial service airport and is home to the annual Vectren Dayton Air Show. There are not many airlines served at this airport and service is limited to Allegiant Air, American Eagle, Delta, and United Express. With such limited service, there are only a few direct routes to places in the US mostly along the East Coast and central US.
There are two lounges at DAY: a USO Lounge and a Business Travelers Center.
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Other nearby airports:
Montgomery Co Airport (MGY)
Airports near Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport (LUK)
Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport (LUK) is a very small airport, Located just 3 miles south east of downtown Cincinnati. The airport serves a lot of private aircraft in the fleet of local corporations although it does serve a few commercial flights.
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) is a larger and close by airport that is located about 20 to 25 minutes outside of downtown Cincinnati in the city of Hebron, Kentucky, about 45 to 50 minutes south of Mason, Ohio and an hour south of Oxford, Ohio.
It is known for Housing the headquarters for Amazon Air, Delta Private, DHL Americas, and Southern Air. But the airport is also a focus city for Allegiant Air, Delta Air Lines, and Frontier Airlines and serves many hubs around the US, making it a prime choice for those in the Cincinnati area with real travel needs. CVG also has a direct flight to Paris via Delta.
There are five lounges at this airport, including two USO lounges. You can also find a Delta Airlines Delta sky club, Graycliff Divans Lounge, and The Club at CVG Lounge. You can check out the terminal maps here.
Airports near Akron, Ohio
Akron-Canton Regional Airport (CAK)
Akron-Canton Regional Airport (CAK) is a commercial airport in the city of Green, in southern Summit County, Ohio. This airport considers it to be a “reliever” airport, meaning that travel through here is easier than nearby Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which is significantly larger.
The airlines is served here are significantly limited to only a handful which include: American Eagle, Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection, Spirit Airlines, and United Express. These airlines only serve a few states in the surrounding area but service with United does stretch as far as Houston, Texas.
There is one lounge at this airport: the Ohio Desk Business Center.
Airports near Toledo, Ohio
Toledo Express Airport (TOL)
Toledo Express Airport (TOL) is a smaller airport with fewer than 100,000 enplanements each year. It is actually a joint civil-military airport in the Swanton and Monclova townships ten miles to the west of Toledo in western Lucas County, Ohio. It’s also about 55 minutes north of Findlay, Ohio.
This airport is used by both passenger and cargo airlines and is home to Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing. The airport also serves as a secondary airport to Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW).
Other nearby airports:
Toledo Airport (TDZ)
Airports near Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport (YNG)
Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport (YNG) is a public and military airport in Vienna Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, 11 miles north of Youngstown and 10 miles east of Warren. It is home to the Youngstown–Warren Air Reserve Station.
Final word
As you can tell, there are several different airports that you can choose from when flying into and out of Ohio. None of the airports offer significant international travel opportunities so in many cases you will need to connect to another airport if that is your goal. However, a few of these airports are well-connected to other major airline hubs all across the US.
Cover photo by bk via Flickr.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.