Just to confirm, the new airport served pretty much only international flights?It was a pretty common urban planning concept for a large city to have one airport devoted mostly or entirely to domestic flights, and one mostly or entirely for international flights.
New York domestic: EWR
New York international: JFK
New York freight: LGA
Chicago domestic: MDW
Chicago international: ORD
Houston domestic: HOU
Houston international: IAH
Dallas domestic: LUV
Dallas international: DFW
Paris international: CGD
Paris international: ORY
Washington domestic: DCA
Washington international: IAD
Notice how some airports (IAD, IAH) specifically have "International Airport" in their codes.
It worked fine for a very long time until the airlines optimized into the hub-and-spoke system we have today, where connecting flights has become normalized.
Because people think now it's normal to have connecting flights all the time, the domestic airports have added international flights, and vice-versa.
What was once orderly and predictable has become very messy, and had a number of other side-effects.
It was a pretty common urban planning concept for a large city to have one airport devoted mostly or entirely to domestic flights, and one mostly or entirely for international flights.
Notice how some airports (IAD, IAH) specifically have "International Airport" in their codes.It worked fine for a very long time until the airlines optimized into the hub-and-spoke system we have today, where connecting flights has become normalized.
Because people think now it's normal to have connecting flights all the time, the domestic airports have added international flights, and vice-versa.
What was once orderly and predictable has become very messy, and had a number of other side-effects.