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District of Columbia, United States

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Latest comments on airports in District of Columbia

Mon, 12 May 2008
Flying in as pilot
 

I came to Dulles for the first time as pilot yesterday. The ADIZ was a total non-issue when I was IFR (just like any IFR flight). Potomoc approach and Dulles tower were friendly and co-operative, fitting me into the jet traffic in bad weather without any delays and giving me the runway I asked for. It was about a 3-minute taxi to Signature. They had a follow-me van waiting on their apron, and then a shuttle to take me about 50 meters to the FBO (in the rain). I waited 8 minutes for a Washington Flyer taxi to arrive from the terminal. All prices as quoted in a previous message -- cheap for a big airport (except for the fuel, of course).

Mon, 31 Mar 2008
Fees and customs info (March 2008)
 

I called Signature in late March 2008, and had the following fees quoted for a single-engine piston (PA-28):

$8 landing fee

$18.19/night parking

$28 handling fee, waived with purchase of 7 gal fuel

Customs will meet Canadian planes at the Signature FBO, and there is no extra charge. Their number is (703) 661-7100.

Finally, Signature's radio frequency (for when you're taxiing in) is 131.87 MHz.

Sat, 23 Feb 2008
Ground transportation
 

A taxi into DC should cost around $55-60. Here's a web site to estimate fares for specific destinations from DC to Dulles (the other way around you have to use Washington Flyer, which may charge differently):

http://citizenatlas.dc.gov/atlasapps/taxifare.aspx

A town car is probably about $10 more, but I haven't checked. The SuperShuttle costs around $27, with lots of extra stops -- it doesn't seem worth it (I remember being stuck on a SuperShuttle at LAX once, as it circled round and round for 15 minutes trying to get enough customers before it left: that's no fun after a long flight).

The cheapest option is take the WMATA 5A express bus from the airport to the L'Enfant or Rosslyn Metro stops. From what I've found online, it's $3.10 for the bus, and around $3 for the Metro. Here's the bus timetable:

http://www.wmata.com/timetables/dc/5a.pdf

And here's the trip planner on the WMATA site:

http://www.wmata.com/tripplanner_d/tripplanner.cfm

Mon, 21 Jan 2008
15 new gates in Concourse B
 

Dulles has just opened an extension with 15 new domestic gates in Concourse B. JetBlue, Virgin America, and AirTran are coming in first, and American and Delta will take some of the gates later:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/2008/01/airport-chec-11.html

Wed, 18 Jul 2007
Close In
 

One of the nation's better airports for the passenger, even though it's cramped and shows its age. Get right on the Metro, or if you're Pentagon-bound the hotels around the Puzzle Palace all have free 5 minute shuttles.

Not so much fun for aircrews because of the extensive security procedures and the "interesting" approach into 19.

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