Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport (MEM) sits on a sprawling campus nine miles southeast of downtown Memphis, serving as the primary air gateway for western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas. It is a mid-sized hub with a single terminal and three concourses, handling around four million passengers annually. Once the world's busiest cargo airport due to FedEx's global hub, it remains a major freight center while offering a manageable passenger experience. The airport's layout is straightforward: check-in and security on the upper level, baggage claim below, and gates radiating from a central atrium. For travelers connecting to the city's music and barbecue heritage, MEM provides a solid entry point without the chaos of larger hubs.

Getting There

From downtown Memphis, the drive to MEM takes approximately 15 minutes via I-240 East and Airways Boulevard. A taxi or rideshare typically costs $20–$30. The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) runs Route 5—the Airport Flyer—from the Central Station downtown, with journey times around 40 minutes and a fare of $1.75. The route runs limited hours, so check the schedule in advance. For those coming from the suburbs or further afield, the airport is well connected to I-240 and Highway 78. Parking options include a free parking lot (economy) that requires a shuttle to the terminal, and paid parking options: a multi-storey garage adjacent to the terminal ($15–$20 per day) and a surface lot closer than economy ($12/day). The economy lot is a ten- to fifteen-minute shuttle ride; the garage is a short covered walkway. For rental cars, all major agencies operate from a consolidated facility accessed via a free shuttle from the baggage claim area.

Inside the Terminal

Memphis International Airport operates out of one terminal with three concourses: A, B, and C. Concourses A and B serve the bulk of mainline flights, while Concourse C handles regional jets and some low-cost carriers. Security is located at a single checkpoint on the upper level; during peak times (especially Monday evening and Thursday afternoon), wait times can reach 30 minutes. TSA PreCheck is available. The terminal is compact—walking from the security checkpoint to the farthest gate takes about ten minutes.

Facilities include free Wi-Fi throughout, a baggage storage office (located near the baggage claim on the lower level), and family restrooms with changing tables. Wheelchair-accessible entrances, toilets, and car parks are confirmed, and an assistive hearing loop is available at ticket counters and gate areas. On-site services include a USPS mailbox, a chapel, and a small business center. Dining options are limited: a few national chains (McDonald's, Starbucks, Wendy's) and local outlets like Rendezvous BBQ (famous for dry ribs) in Concourse A. Seating throughout the terminal includes power outlets, though older areas may have fewer. The atmosphere is calm relative to larger airports—clean, with ample natural light in the main atrium. The one notable quirk: the terminal is not open 24 hours a day. The building closes between roughly midnight and 4:00 AM, so overnight layovers are not permitted unless you have a connecting flight.

Memphis International Airport and Memphis

Memphis is not a city you pass through; it is that rare place where a specific term—“Memphis”—conjures music, barbecue, and the Mississippi. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, Memphis is the largest city in Tennessee by area, and its history as a cotton-trading hub, a civil rights landmark, and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll forms a dense patchwork. For the traveler arriving at MEM, the city's offerings are within easy reach.

Downtown Memphis is centered around Beale Street, the historic blues-and-bourbon strip where W.C. Handy wrote “Memphis Blues” and where music still pours from clubs most nights. Sun Studio, where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and B.B. King recorded, is a short walk away, and Graceland—Elvis’s white-columned mansion—lies five miles south of the airport, making it a convenient first stop. The Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, is now the National Civil Rights Museum, a deeply affecting museum that belongs on every visitor’s itinerary.

Memphis’s food scene is similarly singular: the city splits between dry-rub ribs (Rendezvous), wet ribs (many others), and a ranking of pulled-pork shoulders from dozens of barbecue joints. The Memphis Grizzlies play NBA basketball at FedExForum, and the city’s public parks and the Mississippi Riverfront offer walking trails, riverboats, and the iconic Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid, a shopping-and-entertainment complex inside a former sports arena.

People come to Memphis for pilgrimages—to gospel, to blues, to civil rights history—and the airport serves as the front door. It is not flashy, but it is functional, and its proximity to the city means you can be at Beale Street sixteen minutes after your wheels touch the runway.

Practical Information

The airport is located at 2491 Winchester Road, Memphis, TN 38116. Website: http://www.flymemphis.com/. Phone: +1 901-922-8000. The terminal is not open around the clock; it closes between the last arrival and approximately two hours before the first departure of the next day. Check the daily schedule to avoid being locked out. Busiest times: Monday through Wednesday at 10 PM (likely due to FedEx passenger crew flights) and Thursday at 2 PM. Security lines are shortest early morning (before 7 AM) and late evening after 9 PM. For early flights, allow 90 minutes to be safe. One concrete piece of advice: If you have a layover of two hours or more and it’s daytime, do not spend it all inside—walk outside to the lower-level parking area and feel the air. In the summer, the humidity will hit you like a Mississippi heat wave; in winter, it will clear the stale cabin air from your lungs. Then go grab some barbecue from Rendezvous to-go at the airport’s food court.