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Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (IATA: CLE, ICAO: KCLE) is a public airport located 9 miles (14 km) southwest
of downtown Cleveland, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA and is the largest airport in the state of Ohio. The airport lies
just within the city limits of Cleveland.
The airport was named for former City Manager William R. Hopkins. It was founded in 1925, making it the first municipally
owned airport in the United States. The airport has been the site of many airport firsts: the first airfield lighting
system and the first air traffic control tower, both in 1930; and the first U.S. airport to be directly connected
to a local or regional rail transit system, in 1968.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport handled 11,460,002 passengers in 2005, a growth of nearly 2% over 2004. It
is a major hub for both Continental Airlines and its regional carrier ExpressJet. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport,
along with Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL) comprise the Cleveland Airport System operated by the
City of Cleveland.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport recently celebrated its 80th anniversary and unveiled a new logo and marketing
plan to better associate the airport with its mother city, Cleveland. There was discussion of dropping "Hopkins" from
the airport's name and changing its FAA airport designator to CIA - Cleveland International - but the city ultimately
kept the name as a result of discussions with the namesake's descendants.
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