Highway 59 with direct access to the Hardy Toll Road expressway, George Bush Intercontinental Airport has scheduled flights to a large number of domestic destinations, and is the second busiest airport in Texas.
The airport, originally named " Houston Intercontinental Airport ", was later renamed after George H. Bush , the 41st President of the United States in In , the airport served 45,, passengers, making it the 47th busiest airport in the world , and the 14th busiest airport in the United States. IAH covers 10, acres It served as a hub for Houston-based Texas International Airlines and commuter air carrier Metro Airlines , which was also based in the Houston area and started its first flights when Intercontinental opened in The airport also serves as a hub for Atlas Air , which hosts a crew base, maintenance, and cargo logistics.
IAH became the first airport in North America to have nonstop flights to every inhabited continent in , with the addition of Air New Zealand , but lost this claim when Atlas Air ended their nonstop flight to Luanda.
A group of Houston businessmen purchased the site for Bush Intercontinental Airport in to preserve it until the city of Houston could formulate a plan for a new airport as a replacement for William P.
Hobby Airport at the time known as Houston International Airport. The holding company for the land was named the Jet Era Ranch Corporation, but a typographical error transformed the words "Jet Era" into "Jetero" and the airport site subsequently became known as the Jetero airport site.
