The Longest & Shortest Airport Walks in the U.S.

by SharonKurheg

The other day we wrote about Salt Lake City International Airport, what they’re planning to do about their long, LONG walk to certain gates, but the humorous thing they’re doing in the interim.

Orlando International Airport is another airport with a very long walk to the furthest gates, currently used by jetBlue, at its new Terminal C.

I was positive one of those airports would be a contender for the longest airport walk in the country, but it turns out that I was wrong.

Kuru Footwear is a U.S. based shoe store that’s been around for more than a decade. They obviously know a whole lot about walking long distances, so they decided to determine which airports in the U.S. offer the longest – and the shortest – walks.

a group of brown shoesFrom KURU Footwear:

The team at KURU Footwear measured the longest and shortest airport terminal walking distances in the US and surveyed 800 people to learn about air travel experiences so you can be prepared the next time you lace up your sneakers on travel day.

Fun facts about peoples’ walking preferences in airports, according to Kuru

  • 19% of their respondents prefer smaller airports to larger one
  • 27% say they are deterred if it’s an airport that has a long walk to the gate
  • 35% prefer to fly out of larger airports rather than smaller ones
  • 40% are annoyed by a long walk to an airport departure gate
  • 41% has specificlly booked travel out of a smaller airport, for convenience
  • 45% don’t care about how big an airport is – they choose based on convenience
  • 46% say their feet usually hurt after a trip
  • 49% are frustrated by airport construction
  • 66% wear sneakers while traveling
  • 74% feel they walk more when traveling

Their methodology

To find this data, the team at KURU Footwear first measured the top 10 largest and smallest airports by land area in the US. We then analyzed airport maps and Google Maps to determine the length of the journey from each terminal to the nearest and farthest gates.

We also surveyed 800 Americans in February 2024 to learn more about their air travel habits and experiences. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3% and a confidence level of 95%.

Airports with the longest walks

Not surprisingly, the airports with the longest walks are big, well-established hubs that, let’s face it, know they have a long walk. Happily, most of them offer moving walkways, concourse trains and carts to transport passengers who can’t walk a mile or two.

  1. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas – 2.16 miles
  2. Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia – 1.62 miles
  3. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas – 1.52 miles
  4. Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado – 1.45 miles
  5. John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, New York – 1.38 miles

Airports with the shortest walks

  1. Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky – 0.11 miles
  2. Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York – 0.12 miles
  3. Harrisburg International Airport in Middleton, Pennsylvania – 0.13 miles
  4. Lihue Airport in Kauai, Hawaii – 0.18 miles
  5. Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California – 0.20 miles

Check out this page of KURU Footware to see more interesting facts about walking in airports.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

1 comment

Rene March 27, 2024 - 3:41 pm

Looks like someone hasn’t been to the DL terminal at LGA

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