CLE is the primary and major airport in Ohio, and the upper midwest-region of the US, despite Ohio…read morehaving at least two other semi-major airports in the state, Cincinnati and the state capital of Columbus. Located between the Greater Cleveland metropolitan suburbs of Berea and Brooklyn Heights (in the outer suburb of Brookpark) and on the grounds of the new Cleveland Browns stadium, and about 8.7 miles directly southwest of downtown Cleveland, in the designated neighborhood of Hopkins (known as Riverside until 2015).
Cleveland-Hopkins covers an area of 1,717 acres in Brookpark's Hopkins neighborhood, and has three "standard" (for the US) runways, though unlike San Diego, it has no EMAS arrestor system for aircraft. Hopkins and San Diego are actually about the same geographic size.
One of NASA's ten designated field research sites, the Glenn Research Center, is on airport grounds but not airport property as NASA is a federal department paid by US taxes each year.
I wasn't exaggerating when I mentioned that Cleveland-Hopkins has been at the forefront of pioneering innovations. CLE was the first airport with an air traffic control tower (ATC) and a two-level/split design separating arrivals from departures. Both of which are now ubiquitous at nearly every airport in the US, and most airports around the world today. In fact, it is now mandated by FAA regulations to have some type of true air traffic control tower. Cleveland-Hopkins was also the first airport in North America to be directly connected with a rail transit line, connected directly to the red line train of the Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority (GCRTA) with a built-in train station beneath the airport-proper that connects to departures through a quick escalator or elevator ride.
Cleveland-Hopkins was a hub for United Airlines from the post-World War II era until the mid-1980s. After United moved out, Continental Airlines moved in, making it the dominant carrier at the airport in the 1990s and 2000s. In 2010, United and Continental merged, keeping the United name and eliminating the Continental name, resulting in Cleveland becoming a United hub again. However, in 2014, United discontinued its hub, though it still has a flight attendant base, pilot base, and maintenance facilities at the airport and is its largest carrier by passenger count.
When United stopped using CLE as a hub in 2014, they closed Concourse D (a separate satellite terminal connected to the main facility via underground walkway) but United kept paying rent on the lease to the satellite. Even in 2026, United is still the largest carrier at Cleveland-Hopkins despite the prevalence of Low-Cost Carriers who found a new home at CLE; with the shutdown of Spirit Airlines, United closed the metaphorical door on Low-Cost Carriers expanding or coming into Cleveland-Hopkins. Most LCCs have, for the most part, aside from Allegiant Air, Sun Country (until their merger with Allegiant is finalized though Allegiant likely is not moving out), and Southwest Airlines, pulled out of Cleveland-Hopkins to center their operations further south at Akron-Canton Regional Airport, which is more affordable for Low-Cost Carriers per gate rental.
Some context for the "Hopkins" moniker; CLE airport was named after its founder, former city manager William R. Hopkins, which the city dedicated to him on Hopkins' 82nd birthday in 1951, 26 years after the airport itself was founded by Hopkins; Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport (CLE) turns 101 years old this month.
Decent, but looking forward to the improvements.