Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. An international airport. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. Somewhere in Miami. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. In the final Episode 12, of the final Season 8, "Remember the Monsters?". This is the airport where Dexter attempts to leave Miami with Hannah & Harrison, hoping to escape to Argentina. Unfortunately, Elway shows up, looking for Hannah, and she's forced to hide in a restroom. In an attempt to get past him, Dexter plants a fake bomb in a suitcase and tells airport security that Elway left it there. That gets rid of Elway, but it also has the unintended effect of causing the evacuation of the entire terminal, ending Dexter & Hannah's plans to fly out of town. As they are leaving the terminal, Dexter gets a call from Matthews, telling him that his sister, Debra has been shot. He hurries to the hospital to be with Deb, while Hannah moves on to a bus terminal. Q. What is it actually in real life? A. An airport. Q. Where can I find it in real life? A. This is actually Ontario International Airport, serving the Los Angeles area from 2500 E. Airport Drive, in Ontario, CA. That's in the far northeast corner of Los Angeles County, about 10 miles east of the Pomona Fairgrounds. The scenes of Dexter & Hannah outside, leaving the airport were filmed on Terminal Way, at the United entrance, at the west end of Terminal 2. They are walking north as they exit.

They put up a lot of fake Miami / Florida signs, both inside and outside, for the shoot, as well as an Argentina poster and the usual palm trees.


Ontario Airport is used frequently for filming. It's less busy than LAX, and it has a very attractive, ultra-modern terminal (seen below).

But they also have an older passenger terminal, which closed in 2008 and is now used almost exclusively for filming.

It was seen in 2012's Best Picture, "Argo", where it played the Tehran airport, in Iran.

Also available for filming there is a Boeing 727 airliner with full cabin interior & cockpit, unoccupied hangars & buildings, aircraft parking areas, ticket counters, baggage claim areas, parking lots and curbside check-ins.


Here are two photos of Ontario Airport:



Here is an aerial photo of the airport.  Here is a Google StreetView.
  And here is a map link.

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  In the early seasons, I usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes, using clues from the various scenes.  By the now, though, I've developed a small group of fans, spies & tipsters who kept an eye out for Dexter filming in their neighborhoods, and let me know in advance when something is about to film there.

Between those reports, my own personal reconnaissance around town, and a few new resources I discovered, by the time the new first episode airs, I already know most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only need to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct locations.

This group of helpful fans includes Rick, Ellen, Suzi, Elaine, Mia, Julie, Kerry, Joel, Eric, Jeff, & others. My thanks to all of them.  This tip came from Rick.  But the Ontario Airport's terminal is distinctive, so I probably would have recognized it, despite all the fake Miami signs they put up.