WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Washington-area airports greatly expanded flights to foreign destinations this year, though the area’s international offerings still rank behind those of several major cities.

2007 is proving to be a banner year for Dulles Airport’s international service, Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority spokesman Rob Yingling said. The airport added six new cities, including Beijing, Rome and Madrid, bringing its total international destinations to 44. This adds up to 70 new flights and more than 16,000 seats filled per week, Yingling said.

“Serving our passengers is really our top priority, and lately growth in international service has been the top demand,” Yingling said.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport now serves 13 foreign cities with the addition this year of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.

Reagan National Airport flies to four foreign cities, but most are connections for travel elsewhere, Yingling said. The D.C. area still lags behind the country’s leaders, such as New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, which flies to 91 cities, Newark Liberty International Airport, which reaches 77, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which flies to 82.

But when considering all three of its airports, D.C.’s 61 destinations put it close behind places like Los Angeles International Airport, which flies to 65 cities, and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, which reaches 63.

Dulles ranked ninth among U.S. airports in terms of foreign destinations in 2005 and eighth in 2006, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. BWI ranked 24th in 2005 and 25th in 2006.

Because of the war, the Middle East has been a top destination for business travelers from D.C., according to Goran Gligorovic, executive vice president of Fairfax-based Omega World Travel, so many of his business customers have been pleased by the recent addition of flights to Qatar and Kuwait. But while Gligorovic expects Dulles’ pending Dublin service to be popular among tourists, leisure travelers in D.C. still struggle to find direct flights to Caribbean destinations, he said. D.C. also is lacking in direct flights to South America.

“Hopefully, since United Airlines has a hub here, maybe they or some other foreign airlines will add a bit more frequency,” Gligorovic said.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com