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Thread: Long haul flights not allowed from DCA / Washington National?
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Old Jul 9, 2020 | 11:14 am
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CZBB
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Originally Posted by AndyPatterson
Of course, before IAD, DCA did have long-haul international flights! I believe the first international flight out of DCA was a Sabena flight to Brussels; First Lady Mamie Eisenhower "inaugurated" that flight with a champagne bottle broken across the nose of the B-707. Yes, it was that long ago...

After IAD opened, it was several decades before a few international flights (Bermuda, eastern Canada) returned to DCA.
Are you sure about that, and that it wasn't BWI ? DCA has pretty short runways, and a 707 is ground hugger, you'd be hard pressed to take off from the 7000' with enough fuel to reach Europe.

According to the Wikipedia article on DCA there's no mention of overseas carriers at all; and the BWI wiki article states
"The early Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s could not use Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport did not open until 1962, so Baltimore became Washington's jet airport in May–June 1959 when American and TWA began transcontinental 707 flights"
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