Matteo Legnani visits Orlando International Airport – Florida’s largest airport and the Sunshine State’s first to attract 50m passengers – uncovering a proud military past and a promising future.

Orlando, like many cities following the end of World War Two, benefited from the vast number of surplus airfields when creating an international airport. However, during the conflict, the Floridian city was deprived of not one, but two airports. Initially, Orlando Municipal Airport (now Orlando Executive Airport) was taken over by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) and a new facility was required to handle the city’s flights.