Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (DFW) is the main sponsor for the U.S. Pavilion and it’s using its time in the Paris Air Show limelight to promote its aspirations to be a global hub. The Texas gateway is one of only seven airports worldwide to offer more than 200 destinations in its flight schedule. Just over a quarter of these are international routes with 14 new overseas destinations– including Dubai and Sydney–launched since the start of 2011.

A $2 billion investment program is focused on renewing DFW’s terminals A, B, C and E. The airport also now boasts a new 24/7 business-aviation facility. With seven runways and no gate or slot restrictions, it also lays claim to being the only airport in the world that can handle four simultaneous landings.

DFW has been a partner for NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration in developing the NextGen air traffic management network. It also offers a fire-training research center that has served more than 15,000 students from 24 countries.

Part of DFW’s appeal is its central location, with a flight time of less than four hours to every major North American city. It is also well positioned to serve as a throughway to Latin America.

Low-cost carriers have been a significant factor in DFW’s growth, accounting for 800,000 of its total passenger throughput last year. New low-cost carriers starting service at the airport since 2010 include Virgin America, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue and Canada’s WestJet.

Representing DFW here at Le Bourget this week are vice president of air service development Luis Perez, board chairman Robert Hsueh and board member Jeff Wentworth.