In 1784 a thirteen year old, Edward Warren, manned an air balloon over the city of Baltimore, becoming the first individual to do so in the United States. College Airport, the oldest in the country, went on to launch its operations in 1906. In 1921, Logan Field, the state's original aviation facility opened in Baltimore. 1929 marked the beginning of regular air mail service, and the Eastern Air Transport Company (later Eastern Airlines) launched its first scheduled passenger service here in 1930. The construction of yet another airport, Friendship International, began in 1947. It was inaugurated by President Harry S. Truman on June 20, 1950. Later on, in 1972, the airport was purchased from Baltimore by the state of Maryland for $36 million. Renvotions on the facilities began in 1974 and were completed in 1979. When over 1 million passengers a month began pouring into to the airport in 1989, its previous traveler record was broken. In 1997, a $139 million international terminal with six new gates, more ticket counter space, and an expanded U.S. Customs, Immigration and Naturalizatin Service is scheduled to open.

Located on 3,158.43 acres in the of State of Maryland, the Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) is currently operated by the Maryland Aviation Administration. In 2019 the airport had 26,993,896 passengers

Among the airport's facilities are a 5,000 foot lighted runway and a 903,000 foot passenger terminal with 5 piers and 53 jet gates.