Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (IATA: DCA, ICAO: KDCA, FAA LID: DCA), is located in Arlington, Virginia, next to the border of Washington, D.C. It is the smaller of two airports operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that serves the National Capital Region around Washington. The airport is 5 miles (8.0 km) from downtown Washington D.C.. The airport’s original name was Washington National Airport. Congress adopted the present name to honor President Ronald Reagan in 1998. The airport served almost 24 2million passengers in 2019.
Flights into and out of the airport are generally not allowed to exceed 1,250 statute miles (2,010 km) in any direction nonstop, in an effort to send coast-to-coast and overseas traffic to Washington Dulles International Airport, though there are 40 slot exemptions to this rule. Planes are required to take unusually complicated paths to avoid restricted and prohibited airspace above sensitive landmarks, government buildings, and military installations in and around Washington, D.C., and to comply with some of the tightest noise restrictions in the country.
