Dayton International Airport (DAY): A Traveler’s Guide
Dayton International Airport is small, and that is its best feature. Two concourses, a single security checkpoint, and a terminal you can cross in a few minutes mean that a flight out of DAY takes far less of your day than the same flight out of Columbus or Cincinnati. This guide covers what is actually inside the terminal, when the checkpoint is open, how to get to and from the curb, and where to park — with the specific hours, phone numbers and gate locations you need rather than generalities.
Park-N-Go has operated across the street from the terminal since long before most of these amenities existed, so we have written the guide we wish someone had handed us: practical, current, and honest about when the airport’s own facilities are the better choice.
Dayton International Airport at a Glance
| Airport code | DAY |
|---|---|
| Location | Nine miles north of downtown Dayton, in Vandalia, Ohio, at the junction of Interstates 70 and 75 |
| Address | 3600 Terminal Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45377 |
| Airport phone | (937) 454-8200 or 1-877-FLY-DAY-1 |
| Owner and operator | City of Dayton |
| Terminal hours | Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week |
| TSA checkpoint hours | 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., varying with the flight schedule |
| Concourses | Two, A and B, both with elevator access |
| Airlines | Four: Allegiant, American, Delta and United |
| Nonstop destinations | Twelve |
| Runways | Three: 6L/24R at 10,901 feet, 18/36 at 8,502 feet, and 6R/24L at 7,285 feet |
| Field elevation | 1,009 feet |
| Opened | Dedicated in December 1936; FAA activation date October 1937 |
| Customs | A customs landing rights airport, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the general aviation area |
| Tobacco policy | Tobacco-free campus since January 2019, with signed designated smoking areas outside |
Airlines and Nonstop Destinations from DAY
| Destination | Code | Airline |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | ATL | Delta |
| Charlotte | CLT | American |
| Chicago O’Hare | ORD | United |
| Dallas/Fort Worth | DFW | American |
| Denver | DEN | United |
| Myrtle Beach | MYR | Allegiant |
| Orlando Sanford | SFB | Allegiant |
| Philadelphia | PHL | American |
| Punta Gorda | PGD | Allegiant |
| St. Pete–Clearwater | PIE | Allegiant |
| Washington Dulles | IAD | United |
| Washington Reagan National | DCA | American |
Route maps change with the season. Allegiant in particular runs its Florida and Myrtle Beach flights on a limited weekly schedule rather than daily. Always check the airport’s own flight page before you plan around a route.
Security, Timing and the Checkpoint
DAY has one security checkpoint, and it does not run around the clock. The airport lists the TSA checkpoint as open from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., with hours flexing to match the departure schedule. The terminal itself is open 24 hours a day, so you can arrive early, but there is no point clearing security before four in the morning because it will not be staffed.
How early to arrive
This is our advice rather than airport policy: 90 minutes before a domestic departure is comfortable at DAY, and 60 minutes is usually survivable if you are not checking a bag. That is meaningfully less than the two hours you would want at a large hub, because the walk from the checkpoint to the farthest gate is short and the queue rarely stretches. Two exceptions are worth planning around. The first is the early-morning bank of departures between 6:00 and 7:15 a.m., when four or five flights push at once and the single checkpoint carries all of them. The second is Allegiant’s leisure flights, which fill with families and travelers who check bags.
TSA PreCheck and identification
TSA PreCheck is available at DAY. On identification, the rule is the familiar one: travelers 18 and older must present acceptable ID at the checkpoint, and no identification is required for children.
One thing DAY does not have
There is no currency exchange at the airport. If you are flying out on an international itinerary and want foreign cash in hand, get it from your bank before you leave home.
Inside the Terminal: Food, Shops and Amenities
| Place | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Dunkin’ | Terminal | Daily, 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. |
| 12th Fairway Bar and Grill | Concourse A, next to gate A15 | Daily, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. |
| MVP Bar & Grill | Concourse B | Daily, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. |
| Market @ DAY | Terminal | Daily, 4:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. |
| Wright Stop TravelMart | Concourse A, next to gate A20 | Daily, 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or the last departure |
| Dayton Marketplace | Concourse B, next to gate B14 | Mon, Thu, Fri 4:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Tue, Wed 4:00 a.m. to noon; Sat, Sun 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
| The Wright Stuff, in the Business Travelers Center | Terminal | Mon to Fri 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., closed weekends |
The 12th Fairway is decorated with murals of local golf courses, and the Dayton Marketplace stocks regional gourmet food and gifts rather than the usual airport merchandise. Hours are set by the concessionaires and change; the airport notes that all amenity information is subject to change.
Everything at DAY hangs off one terminal with two concourses, A and B, both served by elevators. American and United ticket from one end of the ticketing lobby, and the rental car counters, information desk and Business Travelers Center sit on the main level. Baggage claim, the Airport Police office and Lost and Found are on the B side.
Amenities worth knowing about
- Free WiFi throughout the terminal. Connect to the Fly DAY Public network; it is an open network, so turn off encryption and use a VPN if you are working.
- Power at every gate. Charging stations are built into the seating at each gate, and there are wall charging areas in both concourses, plus a FuelRod mobile charging kiosk.
- Water bottle refilling stations next to the restrooms in each concourse.
- Hydro Hero Kids Zone in both Concourse A and Concourse B, an interactive floor-projection play area about water. This is a real advantage over comparable airports, several of which have no children’s area at all.
- Mother’s Room for nursing travelers.
- Business Travelers Center, Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., recently remodeled for meetings, with The Wright Stuff dining room attached.
- Visitor Information and Military Welcome Center, open daily 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Cultural arts galleries in both concourses, profiling regional museums and parks.
- A Hands-Only CPR training kiosk in Concourse A, with a touchscreen, a short video and a practice torso.
- ATMs in the ticketing lobby and outside the Business Travelers Center, plus Ready Credit cash-to-card kiosks.
- SmarteCarte luggage carts throughout the terminal and at the curb, $6 per cart.
- Courtesy phones with free local calls, and vending machines by the Visitor Information Center and through the concourses.
- A post office mail drop past security, across from Dunkin’. FedEx has a drop box plus a full-service office at 3605 Concorde Drive in Vandalia.
- Lost and Found in the Airport Police offices in Concourse B, (937) 898-6786, Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Accessibility at DAY
Companion-assisted restrooms are available before security and across from the bookstore, and both concourses have elevators. Wheelchair assistance is arranged through your airline rather than the airport, so make the request when you book and confirm the note is attached to the ticket. Accessible spaces exist in the Garage and in the Long Term, Short Term and Economy lots, and travelers with an official disabled plate or permit can ask the cashier for the lowest hourly or daily rate on the way out. The terminal curb is accessible at all points, including the three walkway entrances, and the DAYrider shuttles, hotel shuttles and taxis all have wheelchair accessible vehicles available.
Ground Transportation at DAY
| Option | Where to find it | Hours and details |
|---|---|---|
| Rental cars | Rental car facility adjacent to the Garage, with counters in the terminal | Contact each company directly; Alamo and Enterprise are among the on-airport brands, and accessible vehicles can be requested when you book |
| Taxi | Next to the valet booth, directly in front of the terminal | 7:00 a.m. to midnight, or 30 minutes past the last arrival, 365 days a year. Dayton Express Cab Co. is the airport’s exclusive operator at (937) 226-9999, with a wheelchair accessible vehicle on request |
| Uber and Lyft | The marked TNC commercial ground transportation pick-up zone at the first crosswalk entrance to the terminal, near the booth | Both companies are permitted to operate at DAY |
| DAYrider courtesy shuttle | Marked shuttle stops at the terminal | Daily, 4:30 a.m. to midnight or the last arriving flight. Wheelchair accessible |
| Hotel shuttles | See the kiosk at the terminal entrance | Airport-approved courtesy shuttles include the Clarion Inn Dayton, Crowne Plaza, Hampton Inn & Suites Dayton Airport and Super 8 Vandalia/Dayton. Call the hotel to confirm hours |
| Public bus | Marked RTA stop at the terminal | Greater Dayton RTA Route 43 runs between the airport, Vandalia, Northwoods Boulevard and Peters Pike |
| Van and car service | Prearranged pickup | Charter Vans at (937) 898-4043 serves downtown Dayton, hotels, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the wider region, and runs one-way trips to Columbus and Cincinnati |
| Off-airport parking shuttles | The signed off-airport parking shuttle zone on the terminal curb | Where the Park-N-Go shuttle collects and drops off. Our shuttle runs on demand rather than on a loop |
Parking at Dayton Airport
There are seven ways to park at DAY, five of them run by the airport and two by Park-N-Go across the street. Daily rates run from $9.00 to $24.00. We keep the full side-by-side breakdown, including the exit fees and the AAA and military rates, on our Dayton airport parking rates page.
The short version: the airport’s economy lot is its cheapest at $9.00 a day, its long-term lot is $14.00, short-term is $16.00 and the terminal garage is $23.00, each with a $0.99 exit fee or a $2.99 fee if you reserve the space online. Park-N-Go economy self-park is $9.99 a day and full-service valet is $12.99 with a reservation.
The difference is the shuttle, not the price
The airport publishes that its DAYrider parking shuttles run every 8 to 10 minutes to the Economy and Long Term lots, and operate from 4:30 a.m. to midnight. That is a genuinely good service for an airport this size. It is still a loop: you park, walk to a stop, and wait for the bus. At Park-N-Go the shuttle comes to your car, the driver loads your bags, and the ride to the terminal is about four minutes. If you are travelling with children, a lot of luggage, or in February, that difference matters more than a dollar a day.
Practical notes on the airport lots
- The Economy lot entrance is off Boeing Drive at the traffic light — not from Terminal Drive, which is where people usually go wrong.
- The parking garages are open 24/7.
- DAYrider parking shuttles stop running at midnight, so a late arrival can mean a long wait or a walk.
Picking someone up
You cannot wait at the curb. The airport is explicit that there is no parking or sitting in front of the terminal and that you must be actively loading or unloading. Use the free Cell Phone Lot instead: it has an arrivals and departures board and free WiFi, so you can watch the flight land and pull up when your passenger calls.
Parking with us? Reserve online for the lower valet rate and an automatic gate, or just drive up — walk-ins are always welcome. See every option and price on our Dayton airport parking rates page, or read the direct Park-N-Go versus airport parking comparison.
Driving to Dayton International Airport
DAY sits at what the region calls the Crossroads of America, where Interstate 70 crosses Interstate 75, which is why it is often quicker to reach from Springfield, Piqua, Troy, Richmond or Middletown than either of the bigger Ohio airports. The airport is nine miles north of downtown Dayton, physically in Vandalia, and the terminal is signposted from both interstates.
Two addresses are worth putting in your phone before you set off. The terminal is 3600 Terminal Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45377. If you are parking with us, search the business name rather than the airport: Park-N-Go, 1140 W National Road, Vandalia, Ohio 45377, across from the terminal between Airport Toyota and Beau Townsend Ford. Navigating to “Dayton Airport” will route you straight into the airport garage and past our entrance. Full turn-by-turn options are on our directions page.
What to See Near Dayton Airport
The airport curates galleries in both concourses highlighting the region’s attractions, which is a fair guide to what is worth your time if you have a spare afternoon on either end of a trip.
- National Museum of the United States Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world, and the single biggest reason people fly into Dayton who are not visiting family.
- Dayton History — Carillon Historical Park, the Carillon Brewing Company, Hawthorn Hill, the Patterson Homestead, the Old Court House and Memorial Hall.
- The Dayton Art Institute, on a hill above the Great Miami River.
- Boonshoft Museum of Discovery — hands-on science, a meerkat exhibit and a two-story slide, which is the correct order of priorities for anyone under ten.
- Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, an Audubon centre for environmental education and sustainable agriculture, and the closest of these to the airport.
- Five Rivers MetroParks — more than 15,000 acres, 150 miles of hiking trails and over 330 miles of bikeways, near enough that you are never more than ten miles from one anywhere in the Miami Valley.
How Dayton Got Its Airport
Dayton has a stronger claim on aviation than any city its size. Orville and Wilbur Wright started chasing powered flight here in 1896, flew the first machine to carry a person in 1903, and tested the first genuinely practical aeroplane, the Wright Flyer III, over Huffman Prairie just east of town in 1905.
The airport itself came later, and nearly did not happen. A group of local industrialists — among them the presidents of Frigidaire and National Cash Register and Charles Kettering of General Motors — bought roughly 311 acres near Vandalia in 1928 and built a private field with two hangars and three short macadam runways. Interest collapsed during the Depression so completely that by 1932 Robert Ripley ran a Believe It or Not cartoon pointing out that the birthplace of aviation had no municipal airport. James M. Cox, the former Ohio governor, 1920 presidential nominee and Dayton newspaper publisher, secured assurances of federal funding if the city owned the field, and a community fundraising drive reached $65,000 in 1936. The airport was sold to the City of Dayton for one dollar and dedicated on 17 December 1936 — thirty-three years to the day after the first flight at Kitty Hawk. TWA began service shortly afterwards, and the field grew rapidly through the Second World War, when the Army leased it as the Dayton Army Airfield.