In 1975, the final Air Force contingent departed McCoy AFB and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) was established as a state-chartered local governmental agency and an enterprise fund of the city of Orlando.
GOAA's mission was to operate, manage and oversee construction of expansions and improvements to both the Orlando International Airport and the Orlando Executive Airport.
 The airport gained its current name and international airport status a year later in 1976, but retained its old IATA airport code MCO and ICAO airport code KMCO.

The airport became a U.S. Customs Service Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in 1978, said zone being designated as FTZ #42.
In 1979, the facility was also designated as a large hub airport by the FAA based on flight operations and passenger traffic.

In 1978, construction of the current Landside Terminal and Airsides 1 and 3 began, opening in 1981.
In 1983 a small chapel was opened memorializing Michael Galvin who died during the construction of the airport's expansion.
The original International Concourse was housed in Airside 1 and opened in 1984.
 Funding to commence developing the east side of the airport was bonded in 1986, with Runway 17/35 (now 17R/35L) completed in 1989.
 Airside 4 opened in 1990 and also contains an International Concourse for the processing of international flights.
 Airside 2, which filled out what will become known as the North Terminal complex, was completed in 2000, with the last additional gates added in 2006.
 Runway 17L/35R was opened in 2003, providing the airport with a total of four runways.

In 1978, the airport handled 5 million passengers.
 By 2018, that number had risen to 47 million.
Today it covers 51 square kilometers (19.7 sq mi) and is the fifth-largest airport in the United States by land area after Denver International Airport which covers 136 square kilometers (52.4 sq mi), Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport which covers 70 square kilometers (26.9 sq mi), Southwest Florida International Airport which covers 55 square kilometers (21.2 sq mi), and Washington Dulles International Airport which covers 53 square kilometers (20.3 sq mi).
MCO has North America's fourth tallest control tower at 345 feet, replacing two earlier Air Force and FAA control towers.

Orlando was a designated Space Shuttle emergency landing site.
The west-side runways, Runway 18L/36R and Runway 18R/36L, were designed for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and due to their proximity to NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, were an obvious choice for an emergency landing should an emergency return to launch site (RTLS) attempt to land at KSC have fallen short.
 The runway was also an emergency divert site for NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Transport Aircraft when relocating orbiters from either west coast modification work or divert recoveries at Edwards AFB, California or the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

Eastern Air Lines used Orlando as a hub during the 1970s and early 1980s, and became "the official airline of Walt Disney World."
Following Eastern's demise, Delta Air Lines assumed this role, although it later pulled much of its large aircraft hub operations from Orlando and focused its service there on regional jet flights, before pulling down the hub entirely in the mid-2000's.

On February 22, 2005, the airport became the first airport in Florida to accept E-Pass and SunPass toll transponders as a form of payment for parking.
 The system allows drivers to enter and exit a parking garage without pulling a ticket or stopping to pay the parking fee.
 The two toll roads that serve the airport, SR 528 (Beachline Expressway) and SR 417 (Central Florida GreeneWay), use these systems for automatic toll collection.

The original terminal building, a converted hangar, was described as inadequate for the task at hand even when it was first opened as Orlando Jetport.
After its closure in 1981, it passed through several tenants, the last of which was UPS.
It was demolished in May 2006.

On February 1, 2010, Allegiant Air began operations at the airport.
The company moved one half of it
In 1975, the final Air Force contingent departed McCoy AFB and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) was established as a state-chartered local governmental agency and an enterprise fund of the city of Orlando. GOAA's mission was to operate, manage and oversee construction of expansions and improvements to both the Orlando International Airport and the Orlando Executive Airport.  The airport gained its current name and international airport status a year later in 1976, but retained its old IATA airport code MCO and ICAO airport code KMCO.
The airport became a U.S. Customs Service Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in 1978, said zone being designated as FTZ #42. In 1979, the facility was also designated as a large hub airport by the FAA based on flight operations and passenger traffic.
In 1978, construction of the current Landside Terminal and Airsides 1 and 3 began, opening in 1981. In 1983 a small chapel was opened memorializing Michael Galvin who died during the construction of the airport's expansion. The original International Concourse was housed in Airside 1 and opened in 1984.  Funding to commence developing the east side of the airport was bonded in 1986, with Runway 17/35 (now 17R/35L) completed in 1989.  Airside 4 opened in 1990 and also contains an International Concourse for the processing of international flights.  Airside 2, which filled out what will become known as the North Terminal complex, was completed in 2000, with the last additional gates added in 2006.  Runway 17L/35R was opened in 2003, providing the airport with a total of four runways.
In 1978, the airport handled 5 million passengers.  By 2018, that number had risen to 47 million. Today it covers 51 square kilometers (19.7 sq mi) and is the fifth-largest airport in the United States by land area after Denver International Airport which covers 136 square kilometers (52.4 sq mi), Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport which covers 70 square kilometers (26.9 sq mi), Southwest Florida International Airport which covers 55 square kilometers (21.2 sq mi), and Washington Dulles International Airport which covers 53 square kilometers (20.3 sq mi). MCO has North America's fourth tallest control tower at 345 feet, replacing two earlier Air Force and FAA control towers.
Orlando was a designated Space Shuttle emergency landing site. The west-side runways, Runway 18L/36R and Runway 18R/36L, were designed for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and due to their proximity to NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, were an obvious choice for an emergency landing should an emergency return to launch site (RTLS) attempt to land at KSC have fallen short.  The runway was also an emergency divert site for NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Transport Aircraft when relocating orbiters from either west coast modification work or divert recoveries at Edwards AFB, California or the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
Eastern Air Lines used Orlando as a hub during the 1970s and early 1980s, and became "the official airline of Walt Disney World." Following Eastern's demise, Delta Air Lines assumed this role, although it later pulled much of its large aircraft hub operations from Orlando and focused its service there on regional jet flights, before pulling down the hub entirely in the mid-2000's.
On February 22, 2005, the airport became the first airport in Florida to accept E-Pass and SunPass toll transponders as a form of payment for parking.  The system allows drivers to enter and exit a parking garage without pulling a ticket or stopping to pay the parking fee.  The two toll roads that serve the airport, SR 528 (Beachline Expressway) and SR 417 (Central Florida GreeneWay), use these systems for automatic toll collection.
The original terminal building, a converted hangar, was described as inadequate for the task at hand even when it was first opened as Orlando Jetport. After its closure in 1981, it passed through several tenants, the last of which was UPS. It was demolished in May 2006.
On February 1, 2010, Allegiant Air began operations at the airport. The company moved one half of it
Orlando International Airport