Miami's main airport traces its roots to Pan American Field, opened in 1928 as a base for Pan American Airways' pioneering services to Cuba and Latin America. Eastern Air Lines arrived soon after, the adjacent municipal fields were gradually merged.
After the Second World War the combined property became Miami International Airport under county control. Through the postwar decades Miami grew into the great interchange between the United States, the Caribbean, and South America, serving as a home base for both Pan Am and Eastern until each carrier collapsed in 1991.
American Airlines stepped into that vacuum, establishing a Miami hub in 1989 and building it into its premier gateway to Latin America. The airport answered with decades of construction: the South Terminal opened in 2007, the mile-long North Terminal for American was completed in phases around 2011 after famous cost overruns.
The MIA Mover people mover connected the terminals to the rental car and rail center. Alongside the passenger boom, Miami became the leading international freight airport in the United States, its warehouses processing flowers, seafood, and high-value goods flowing between hemispheres. Today it ranks among the busiest US gateways for both international passengers and cargo.