IAD was established in 1959, just five years after Dulles Air Force Base opened. The airport handled nearly 60 million passengers in 2003, with nearly 40 million arriving flights and 20 million departing flights. The airport consists of four passenger terminals and eight cargo terminals.
It has a capacity to handle 10 million passengers per year. Today, IAD has become one of the biggest airports in the world. The airport has the capacity to dulles airport handle more than 90% of the commercial air traffic in the world. More than 150 airlines operate at Dulles.
About 2.65 million people fly through Dulles International Airport every year. The airport is operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, a government agency which is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the airport.
It is one of the busiest airports in North America, and it ranks fifth in the world for total number of passengers handled.