It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a medium-hub primary commercial service facility.

[5] Built in 1951, the airport was served in the 1950s by Alaska Airlines, Northwest Orient, Pacific Northern Airlines and Reeve Aleutian Airways, using aircraft ranging from Douglas DC-3s to Boeing 377s,[6] and was also a refuelling stop for Canadian Pacific Air Lines service to the Far East (one such aircraft being involved in a 1951 disappearance).

Carriers using Anchorage for this purpose included: In the mid-1980s airport officials knew that the then-new Boeing 747-400, with a longer range than then-existing aircraft, would decrease stopovers.

They did not expect that Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost, towards the end of the Cold War, would open Soviet airspace to flights, causing the decrease to occur sooner than planned.

In the 1990s, Alaska Airlines and Aeroflot operated services from Anchorage to several destinations in the Russian Far East, including Khabarovsk, Magadan, Petropavlovsk, Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

[18] Alaska Airlines pulled out of these markets in 1998 due to insufficient demand,[19] while the Aeroflot services were primarily intended as technical stops en route to Seattle and San Francisco and were cancelled once newer aircraft and nonstop flights became available.

Reeve Aleutian Airways, Dalavia and MAVIAL Magadan Airlines also offered service between Anchorage and the Russian Far East at various times, catering to Kamchatka oil exploration and other niche markets.

[26] Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions on airlines, commercial flights between Japan and Western Europe once again overfly Alaska in the eastbound direction.

[28] Many of Alaska's North Slope workers live either in Anchorage or elsewhere in the Lower 48 states and fly through the airport to their jobs in Prudhoe Bay.

[32][7] FedEx Express and UPS Airlines operate major hubs at Anchorage International for cargo heading to and from the Far East.

FedEx Express is the airport's largest cargo facility and can handle as many as 13,400 packages per hour, employing more than 1,200 people and providing a full customs clearance system.

Both companies forecast a large growth in traffic over the next several years as trade with China and other Far East countries increases and plan to expand their Anchorage facilities comparatively.

[citation needed] The United States Postal Service also operates a large sectional center facility (SCF) for the 995xx ZIP Codes.

[33][34] Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport covers an area of 4,608 acres (1,865 ha) at an elevation of 151 feet (46 m) above mean sea level.

[1][35] For the 12 months ending April 30, 2019, the airport had 261,961 aircraft operations, an average of 718 per day: 38% scheduled commercial, 32% general aviation, 29% air taxi, and <1% military.

In 1969, the terminal underwent a major expansion, forming what is today Concourse B - notable new features included a curved arrival/departure structure with an elevated departure ramp for vehicles.

[37] A shuttle bus runs approximately every 15 minutes between the North and South terminals and the employee and long-term parking lots.

The depot opened in 2003 after funding was secured by United States Senator Ted Stevens, but commuter service never materialized.

The ambiguous images embedded within the sculpture address Alaska's continual balancing of the forces of technology with the vast powers of the natural world.

This volunteer, self-funded committee mystery shops at partnering companies provides awards of cash, free covered parking, and donated prizes to winning employees.