Dulles Beats Reagan In Airport Traffic: Report

Dulles International Airport had more passengers in 2018 than Reagan National Airport for the first time in four years, according to a report.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said in a statement that Dulles had 24.1 million passengers last year, compared to 23.5 million at Reagan. Dulles had 1.4 million more passengers than in 2017, while Reagan declined by 400,000.

Total combined traffic for the two airports was up 1.6 percent from 2017, at 47.5 million passengers.

Dulles had a couple of things working in its favor: a boost in international flights and more domestic routes.

"Looking forward to 2019, numbers at Dulles International are expected to get another upward bump with new airlines and routes, including United Airlines three times a week nonstop service to Tel Aviv, Israel, in May 2019; Alitalia, with five times a week nonstop service to Rome, also in May 2019; and TAP Portugal, with five times a week nonstop service to Lisbon, Portugal, in June 2019," the statement adds.

(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)