Chicago Midway International Airport is a major commercial airport on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the city's Loop business district, and divided between the city's Clearing and Garfield Ridge communities. Established in 1927, Midway served as Chicago's primary airport until the opening of O'Hare International Airport in 1944. Midway is one of the busiest airports in the nation and the second-busiest airport both in the Chicago metropolitan area and the state of Illinois, serving 22,050,489 passengers in 2023.