Huntsville International Airport Southern served Atlanta, Chattanooga, Memphis, Montgomery, Muscle Shoals, Nashville, New Orleans and Orlando nonstop from Huntsville using DC-9 aircraft. Southern had direct DC-9s from Huntsville to New York City (LaGuardia Airport), Washington, D,C. (Dulles Airport), Denver, St. Louis, Detroit and Wichita. In 1979 Southern merged with North Central Airlines to form Republic Airlines which continued to serve Huntsville, by that time having dropped Chattanooga and Montgomery service and having added Greenville/Spartanburg and Mobile/Pascagoula service. Republic was acquired by Northwest Airlines which later merged with Delta Air Lines. Service to Atlanta (ATL) hit a high point in early 1985 when 17
Norfolk International Airport which it is categorized as a small-hub primary commercial service facility. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 1,606,695 enplanements in calendar year 2011, a decrease of 3.4 percent from 1,663,294 in 2010. , Norfolk International was ranked as the 70th-busiest airport in the United States and the fourth-busiest in Virginia in terms of passengers served annually following Richmond International, Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport. Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines are the predominant users of the airport. Norfolk International Airport covers an area of 1,300 acres (526 ha) at an elevation of 27