Chicago O’Hare Airport Guide: Eight Runways, Two Hubs
Chicago O'Hare Airport has more runways and more aircraft movements than any other civilian airport. How ORD works, from United and American to the Blue Line.
By The Aviation Hub
7 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
Chicago O’Hare Airport lies on the northwestern edge of the city, about 17 miles (27 km) from the Loop, and has more runways than any other civilian airport in the world, with eight. United and American both run major hubs from the same field, which is why the airport records more aircraft movements than anywhere else on earth, around 857,000 in 2025. Passenger numbers that year reached roughly 84.9 million. For much of the jet age this was the busiest airport anywhere, and it remains the crossroads of American domestic aviation.
Chicago O’Hare Airport at a Glance
The IATA code is ORD, a relic of the field’s original name, and the ICAO code is KORD. The terminals sit around 17 miles (27 km) northwest of downtown Chicago, inside the city limits thanks to a narrow strip of annexed land along Foster Avenue. The elevation is 680 feet (207 m).
Eight runways serve four terminals with nine concourses and 215 gates. Passenger traffic was around 84.9 million in 2025, with cargo at roughly 2.2 million tonnes. United Airlines and American Airlines operate hubs here, Frontier has a base, and Atlas Air uses the field heavily for freight. The Chicago Department of Aviation owns and runs the airport on behalf of the city. Terminal maps, parking rates and security wait times are published on the airport’s official website.
How Chicago’s Airport Came to Be
The site began life in 1942 as a Douglas Aircraft plant and airfield at Orchard Place, where C-54 transports were built for the war effort. After the factory closed the city took it over as Orchard Field, giving the IATA code that survives today. In 1949 it was renamed in honour of Lieutenant Commander Edward “Butch” O’Hare, a Chicago born naval aviator and the first Medal of Honor recipient of the Second World War in the US Navy.
Scheduled flights started in 1955, and within a decade the new airport had absorbed almost everything from the overloaded Midway. The world’s first jet bridge was installed here in 1958. The Helmut Jahn designed Terminal 1, with its vaulted glass concourses and neon lit tunnel, opened in 1987 and became the signature of the United hub. Terminal 5 opened in 1993 to consolidate international arrivals.
The darkest day came on 25 May 1979, when American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, lost an engine on takeoff and crashed, killing 273 people. It remains the deadliest single aircraft accident in the United States. The O’Hare Modernization Plan, approved in 2005, then reshaped the whole airfield over the following 15 years.
Runways at Chicago O’Hare Airport
Chicago O’Hare Airport has eight runways, six of them parallel east west and two crosswind. The longest is 10L/28R at 3,962 metres (13,000 feet), a concrete runway on the southern side used for heavy long haul departures. Runway 09R/27L is 3,432 metres (11,260 feet) of asphalt, 09C/27C is 3,427 metres (11,245 feet) of concrete, and 10C/28C is 3,292 metres (10,800 feet) of concrete.
The shorter parallels are 09L/27R at 2,286 metres (7,500 feet) and 10R/28L, also 2,286 metres (7,500 feet). The two remaining crosswind runways are 04R/22L at 2,461 metres (8,075 feet) and 04L/22R at 2,286 metres (7,500 feet). The modernisation plan swept away the old tangle of intersecting runways and replaced it with this parallel layout, with the final new runway opening in 2020 and an extension finished in 2021. The result allows quadruple simultaneous arrival streams in good weather, which is how the field handles more than 2,300 movements a day.
Terminals and Airlines
Terminal 1 is United’s showcase, with Concourses B and C joined by the underground tunnel and its famous neon ceiling. Lufthansa and All Nippon Airways share the building through the Star Alliance. Terminal 2 handles most United Express regional flights on Concourses E and F, along with Air Canada and JetBlue, and is the oldest and plainest of the three domestic terminals.
Terminal 3 at Chicago O’Hare Airport belongs to American and its oneworld partners. Concourses G, H, K and L host American and American Eagle, plus Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Japan Airlines. Parts of Home Alone were filmed here. Terminal 5, on the far side of the airfield, houses Delta, Frontier and almost every other international carrier, together with the customs hall and gates able to take the Airbus A380. The Airport Transit System people mover links all the terminals with the parking and rental car complex.
Routes and Destinations
With nonstop service to around 249 destinations, the network from Chicago O’Hare Airport is among the widest in the world. New York LaGuardia, Los Angeles and Denver were the busiest domestic routes in the year to May 2026, with both hub airlines running hourly frequencies on the trunk routes to the coasts. Regional jets from United Express and American Eagle fan out across the Midwest to dozens of small cities.
London Heathrow is the leading international route, served by United, American and British Airways with several daily wide bodies. Toronto and Cancun follow. Long haul highlights include Tokyo, Hong Kong, Delhi, Doha, Istanbul and Addis Ababa, and United’s Boeing 787-9 service to Auckland is among the longest flights from the airport. Winter weather, with lake effect snow and extreme cold, is the main seasonal constraint. Cargo is substantial, led by Atlas Air, Cathay Cargo and the Asian freight carriers at the south cargo area.
Getting to and from Chicago O’Hare Airport
The CTA Blue Line is the cheapest sensible option and runs around the clock. Trains leave from a station beneath the parking garage near Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and reach the Loop in about 45 minutes for a few dollars. Terminal 5 passengers take the Airport Transit System to the station. Metra’s North Central Service stops at O’Hare Transfer, but only in weekday peak periods, with a shuttle bus to the terminals.
By road the Kennedy Expressway, Interstate 90, runs straight to the terminals and is notoriously slow in rush hour. A taxi to downtown costs around 50 dollars (£40) and takes 40 to 60 minutes, and rideshares collect from designated points. Pace buses serve the suburbs. The Multi Modal Facility handles rental cars, long stay parking and coach services, and is a short people mover ride from the terminals.
Spotting and Photography
Chicago O’Hare Airport has no official viewing area, but spotters have well established spots around the perimeter. Scenic Park at the eastern end of the parallel runways, off Lawrence Avenue, sits under arrivals to runway 27 and departures on 09, with aircraft passing low. The Hilton Chicago O’Hare, inside the terminal loop, offers rooms overlooking the apron and runways on the upper floors.
Westerly winds are the norm, so arrivals typically come in from the east on the 27s and 28s. Morning light is best on the eastern approach paths and afternoon light suits the western side near Bensenville. Expect a steady diet of United and American narrow bodies, Embraer E175s and CRJ-900s, broken up by wide bodies from Europe, the Gulf and East Asia. Chicago police and airport security take an interest in people with cameras along Mannheim Road, so stay on public pavements, do not loiter near gates or fences, and keep your car legally parked.
What Comes Next
O’Hare 21 is the 8.5 billion dollar terminal programme adopted in 2018. Its centrepiece, the Global Terminal designed by Studio Gang, will replace Terminal 2 and let international and domestic connections happen under one roof for United and American. Costs rose sharply and both airlines pushed back in 2023, but a May 2024 agreement kept it alive with the Terminal 2 replacement brought forward. Ground was broken on Concourse D, a 19 gate satellite, in August 2025 with completion due in late 2028.
The airfield itself is finished, so future growth depends on these terminals and on the two hub carriers’ appetite for the market. Chicago O’Hare Airport will keep its crown for aircraft movements and is likely to edge back towards the top five for passengers once the new gates open. Compare it with other hubs on our Airports of the World map.
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