An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps takeoff and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport. An airport consists of at least one surface such as a runway for a plane to takeoff and land, a helipad, or water for takeoffs and landings, and often includes buildings such as control towers, hangars and terminal buildings.
Larger airports may have fixed base operator services, seaplane docks and ramps, air traffic control, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services. A military airport is known as an airbase or air station. The terms aerodrome, airdrome, airfield, and airstrip may also be used to refer to airports, and the terms heliport, seaplane base, and STOLport refer to airports dedicated exclusively to helicopters, seaplanes, or short take-off and landing aircraft.
In colloquial use, the terms airport and aerodrome are often interchanged. However, in general, the term airport may imply or confer a certain stature upon the aviation facility that an aerodrome proper may not have achieved. In some jurisdictions, airport is a legal term of art reserved exclusively for those aerodromes certified or licensed as airports by the relevant governing organization (e.g. the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), or Transport Canada) after meeting specified certification criteria or regulatory requirements. That is to say, in the purest sense, all airports are aerodromes, but not all aerodromes are airports. Other jurisdictions define an airport as one that is furnished with the customs offices expected of a port of entry, though the more general term for such aerodromes is airport of entry. In jurisdictions where there is no legal distinction between aerodrome and airport, the terms are often used according to the users' or managers' preference.
Infrastructure
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| The passenger terminal buildings a tIncheon International Airport, Incheon, South Korea |
Smaller or less-developed airports—which represent the vast majority—often have a single runway shorter than 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Larger airports for airline flights generally have paved runways 2,000 m (6,600 ft) or longer. Many small airports have dirt, grass, or gravel runways, rather than asphalt or concrete.
In the United States, the minimum dimensions for dry, hard landing fields are defined by the FAR Landing And Takeoff Field Lengths. These include considerations for safety margins during landing and takeoff. Heavier aircraft require longer runways.
The longest public-use runway in the world is at Qamdo Bangda Airport in China. It has a length of 5,500 m (18,045 ft). The world's widest paved runway is at Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport in Russia and is 105 m (344 ft) wide.
As of 2009, the CIA stated that there were approximately 44,000 "... airports or airfields recognizable from the air." around the world, including 15,095 in the US, the US having the most in the world.
Airport ownership and operation
Most of the world's airports are owned by local, regional, or national government bodies who then lease the airport to private corporations who oversee the airport's operation. For example, BAA Limited (BAA) operates seven of the commercial airports in the United Kingdom, as well as several other airports outside of the UK. Germany's Frankfurt Airport is managed by the quasi-private firm Fraport. While in India GMR Group operates, through joint ventures, Indira Gandhi International Airport and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Bengaluru International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport are controlled by GVK Group. Rest of Indian airports are managed by Airports Authority of India.
In the United States and Canada, commercial airports are generally operated directly by government entities or government-created airport authorities (also known as port authorities).
Many US airports still lease part or all of their facilities to outside firms, who operate functions such as retail management and parking. In the US, all commercial airport runways are certified by the FAA under the Code of Federal Regulations Title 14 Part 139, "Certification of Commercial Service Airports" but maintained by the local airport under the regulatory authority of the FAA.
Despite the reluctance to privatize airports in the US (despite the FAA sponsoring a privatization program since 1996), the government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) arrangement is the standard for the operation of commercial airports in the rest of the world
Airport structures
Airports are divided into landside and airside areas. Landside areas include parking lots, public transportation train stations, tank farms and access roads. Airside areas include all areas accessible to aircraft, including runways, taxiways, ramps and tank farms. Access from landside areas to airside areas is tightly controlled at most airports. Passengers on commercial flights access airside areas through terminals, where they can purchase tickets, clear security, check or claim luggage and board aircraft through gates. The waiting areas which provide passenger access to aircraft are typically called concourses, although this term is often used interchangeably with terminal.
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| The apron from the top floor observation room, Halifax International Airport, Canada |
The area where aircraft park next to a terminal to load passengers and baggage is known as a ramp (or "the tarmac"). Parking areas for aircraft away from terminals are called aprons.
Airports can be towered or non-towered, depending on air traffic density and available funds. Due to their high capacity and busy airspace, many international airports have air traffic control located on site.
Airports with international flights have customs and immigration facilities. However, as some countries have agreements that allow travel between them without customs and immigrations, such facilities are not a definitive need for an international airport. International flights often require a higher level of physical security, although in recent years, many countries have adopted the same level of security for international and domestic travel.
Some airport structures include on-site hotels built within or attached to a terminal building. Airport hotels have grown popular due to their convenience for transient passengers and easy accessibility to the airport terminal. Many airport hotels also have agreements with airlines to provide overnight lodging for displaced passengers.
"Floating airports" are being designed which could be located out at sea and which would use designs such as pneumatic stabilized platform technology.
Shops and food services
The prices charged for food are generally higher than prices found outside the airport. However, some airports now regulate food costs to keep them comparable to "street prices". This term is misleading as prices often match the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) but are almost never discounted.
Some airport restaurants offer regional cuisine specialties for those in transit so that they may sample local food or culture without leaving the airport.
Premium and VIP services
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| Shahjalal International Airport's VIPTerminal, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Airports may also contain premium and VIP services. The premium and VIP services may include express check-in, dedicated check-in counters, separate departures and/or arrivals lounge, priority boarding, separate air bridges, and priority baggage handling.
These services are usually reserved for First and Business class passengers, premium frequent flyers, and members of the airline's clubs. Premium services may sometimes be open to passengers who are members of a different airline's frequent flyer program. This can sometimes be part of a reciprocal deal, as when multiple airlines are part of the same alliance, or as a ploy to attract premium customers away from rival airlines.
Sometimes these premium services will be offered to a non-premium passenger if the airline has made a mistake in handling of the passenger, such as unreasonable delays or mishandling of checked baggage.
Airline lounges frequently offer free or reduced cost food, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Lounges themselves typically have seating, showers, quiet areas, televisions, computer, wi-fi and Internet access, and power outlets that passengers may use for their electronic equipment. Some airline lounges employ baristas, bartenders and gourmet chefs.
Airlines sometimes operate multiple lounges within the one airport terminal allowing ultra premium customers, such as first class customers, additional services, which are not available to other premium customers. Multiple lounges may also prevent overcrowding of the lounge facilities.
Cargo and freight services
In addition to people, airports move cargo around the clock. Cargo airlines often have their own on-site and adjacent infrastructure to transfer parcels between ground and air. Cargo Terminal Facilities International airports need areas where export cargo has to be stored after customs clearance and prior to loading on the aircraft. Similarly import cargo that is offloaded needs to be in bond before the consignee decides to take delivery. Areas have to be kept aside for examination of export and import cargo by the airport authorities. Designated areas or sheds may be given to airlines or freight forward ring agencies. Every cargo terminal has a landside and an airside. The landside is where the exporters and importers through either their agents or by themselves deliver or collect shipments while the airside is where loads are moved to or from the aircraft. In addition cargo terminals are divided into distinct areas - export, import and interline or transhipment
Support services
Aircraft maintenance, pilot services, aircraft rental, and hangar rental are most often performed by a fixed base operator (FBO). At major airports, particularly those used as hubs, airlines may operate their own support facilities.
Some airports, typically military airbases, have long runways used as emergency landing sites. Many airbases have arresting equipment for fast aircraft, known as arresting gear – a strong cable suspended just above the runway and attached to a hydraulic reduction gear mechanism. Together with the landing aircraft's arresting hook, it is used in situations where the aircraft's brakes would be insufficient by themselves.
Airport access
Many large airports are located near railway trunk routes for seamless connection of multimodal transport, for instance Frankfurt Airport, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, London Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport and London Stansted Airport. It is also common to connect an airport and a city with rapid transit, light rail lines or other non-road public transport systems, for instance the AirTrain JFK at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and the Silver Line T at Boston's Logan International Airport by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Such a connection lowers risk of missed flights due to traffic congestion. Large airports usually have access also through expressways from which motor vehicles enter either the departure loop or the arrival loop.
Internal transport
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| A sign in the Vancouver airport pointing to the direction of the American part of the airport. In the Vancouver Airport, depending on the flight, travelers can "pre-clear" U.S. customs and border control inside the airport before flying to the United States and avoid doing this at the destination |
The distances passengers need to move within a large airport can be substantial. It is common for airports to provide moving walkways and buses. The Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has a tram that takes people through the concourses and baggage claim. Major airports with more than one terminal offer inter-terminal transportation, such as Mexico City International Airport, where the domestic building of Terminal 1 is connected by Aerotrén to Terminal 2, on the other side of the airport.
History and development
The first use of the term "airport" originated in Southampton, England, when the flying boats landed and departed from the port of Southampton, it was named ‘air-port’ by the Mayor of Southampton.
The earliest aircraft takeoff and landing sites were grassy fields. The plane could approach at any angle that provided a favorable wind direction. A slight improvement was the dirt-only field, which eliminated the drag from grass. However, these only functioned well in dry conditions. Later, concrete surfaces would allow landings, rain or shine, day or night.
The title of "world's oldest airport" is disputed, but College Park Airport in Maryland, US, established in 1909 by Wilbur Wright, is generally agreed to be the world's oldest continually operating airfield,[6] although it serves only general aviation traffic.
Another claim to the world's oldest airport is from Bisbee-Douglas International Airport, Douglas, Arizona, US, which had the first airplane in the state. In 1908 the Douglas Aeronautical Club was formed, starting with a glider made from mail order plans. This glider was pulled into the air by two horses and flown behind the Douglas YMCA building. In 1909 a motor and propeller were put on the airplane, making it the first powered airplane in Arizona. The airport's status as the first international airport in the US is confirmed by a letter from President Roosevelt declaring it "the first international airport of the Americas".
Albany International Airport is the oldest municipal airport in the United States.
Shoreham Airport was created near Brighton, Sussex, England in 1910 and is Britain's oldest municipal airport today.
Bremen Airport opened in 1913 and remains in use, although it served as an American military field between 1945 and 1949. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol opened on September 16, 1916 as a military airfield, but only accepted civil aircraft from December 17, 1920, allowing Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia—which started operations in January 1920—to claim to be one of the world's oldest continually operating commercial airports. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, opened in 1920 and has been in continuous commercial service since. It serves about 35,000,000 passengers each year and continues to expand, recently opening a new 11,000 foot (3,355 meter) runway. Of the airports constructed during this early period in aviation, it is one of the largest and busiest that is still currently operating. Rome Ciampino Airport, opened 1916, is also a contender. Increased aircraft traffic during World War I led to the construction of landing fields. Aircraft had to approach these from certain directions and this led to the development of aids for directing the approach and landing slope.
Following the war, some of these military airfields added civil facilities for handling passenger traffic. One of the earliest such fields was Paris РLe Bourget Airport at Le Bourget, near Paris. The first international airport to open was the Croydon Airport, in South London, although an airport at Hounslow Heath had been temporarily operating as such for nine months. In 1922, the first permanent airport and commercial terminal solely for commercial aviation was built at K̦nigsberg, Germany. The airports of this era used a paved "apron", which permitted night flying as well as landing heavier aircraft.
The first lighting used on an airport was during the later part of the 1920s; in the 1930s approach lighting came into use. These indicated the proper direction and angle of descent. The colours and flash intervals of these lights became standardized under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In the 1940s, the slope-line approach system was introduced. This consisted of two rows of lights that formed a funnel indicating an aircraft's position on the glideslope. Additional lights indicated incorrect altitude and direction.
Following World War II, airport design became more sophisticated. Passenger buildings were being grouped together in an island, with runways arranged in groups about the terminal. This arrangement permitted expansion of the facilities. But it also meant that passengers had to travel further to reach their plane.
An improvement in the landing field was the introduction of grooves in the concrete surface. These run perpendicular to the direction of the landing aircraft and serve to draw off excess water in rainy conditions that could build up in front of the plane's wheels.
Airport construction boomed during the 1960s with the increase in jet aircraft traffic. Runways were extended out to 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The fields were constructed out of reinforced concrete using a slip-form machine that produces a continual slab with no disruptions along the length. The early 1960s also saw the introduction of jet bridge systems to modern airport terminals, an innovation which eliminated outdoor passenger boarding. These systems became commonplace in the United States by the 1970s.
Modern runways are thickest in the area where aircraft move slowly and are expected to have maximum load, i.e. runway ends. A common myth is that airplanes produce their greatest load during landing due to the "impact" of landing. This is untrue as much of the aircraft weight remains on the wings due to lift. Runways are constructed as smooth and level as possible.
Airport designation and naming
Airports are uniquely represented by their International Air Transport Association airport code and ICAO airport code. An International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code is often an abbreviation of the airport's common name, particularly older ones, such as PHL for Philadelphia International Airport. An airport sometimes retains its previous IATA code when its name, or even when its location is changed. Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut retains the IATA code BEY, from its former name of Beirut International Airport (BEY is from its French name, Aéroport International de Beyrouth). Hong Kong International Airport retained both its name and its IATA code when moved from Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok in 1998.
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| Larnaca International Airport in the European island of Cyprus |
The name of the airport itself can be its location, such as San Francisco International Airport. It can be named after some public figure, commonly a politician, e.g. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, or a person associated with the region it serves or prominent figures in aviation history, such as Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, Will Rogers World Airport, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, or more recently, Belfast City Airport was renamed George Best Belfast City Airport in memory of the football star born in Northern Ireland.
Some airports have unofficial names, possibly so widely circulated that its official name is little used or even known.
Airport names may include the word "International", reflecting their ability to handle international aviation traffic, although the airport may not actually operate any such flights; an example is Texel International Airport. Some airports with international immigration facilities may also choose to drop the word from their airport names (e.g. Perth Airport, Singapore Changi Airport).
Low cost airports
In the early years of the 21st century, low cost terminals, or even entire airports have been built to cater for discount airlines such as Ryanair.
Airport security
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| Baggage is scanned using X-ray machines, passengers walk through metal detectors |
Main article: Airport security
Airport security normally requires baggage checks, metal screenings of individual persons, and rules against any object that could be used as a weapon. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, airport security has been dramatically increased.
See also: Airport security repercussions due to the September 11 attacks
Airport operations
Air traffic control
The majority of the world's airports are non-towered, with no air traffic control presence. However, at particularly busy airports, or airports with other special requirements, there is an air traffic control (ATC) system whereby controllers (usually ground-based) direct aircraft movements via radio or other communications links. This coordinated oversight facilitates safety and speed in complex operations where traffic moves in all three dimensions. Air traffic control responsibilities at airports are usually divided into at least two main areas: ground and tower, though a single controller may work both stations. The busiest airports also have clearance delivery, apron control, and other specialized ATC stations.
Ground Control is responsible for directing all ground traffic in designated "movement areas", except the traffic on runways. This includes planes, baggage trains, snowplows, grass cutters, fuel trucks, and a wide array of other vehicles. Ground Control will instruct these vehicles on which taxiways to use, which runway they will use (in the case of planes), where they will park, and when it is safe to cross runways. When a plane is ready to takeoff it will stop short of the runway, at which point it will be turned over to Tower Control. After a plane has landed, it will depart the runway and be returned to Ground Control.
Tower Control controls aircraft on the runway and in the controlled airspace immediately surrounding the airport. Tower controllers may use radar to locate an aircraft's position in three-dimensional space, or they may rely on pilot position reports and visual observation. They coordinate the sequencing of aircraft in the traffic pattern and direct aircraft on how to safely join and leave the circuit. Aircraft which are only passing through the airspace must also contact Tower Control in order to be sure that they remain clear of other traffic.
Traffic pattern
Airfield traffic pattern
All airports use a traffic pattern (often called a traffic circuit outside the U.S.) to assure smooth traffic flow between departing and arriving aircraft. Generally, this pattern is a circuit consisting of five "legs" that form a rectangle (two legs and the runway form one side, with the remaining legs forming three more sides). Each leg is named (see diagram), and ATC directs pilots on how to join and leave the circuit. Traffic patterns are flown at one specific altitude, usually 800 or 1,000 ft (244 or 305 m) above ground level (AGL). Standard traffic patterns are left-handed, meaning all turns are made to the left. Right-handed patterns do exist, usually because of obstacles such as a mountain, or to reduce noise for local residents. The predetermined circuit helps traffic flow smoothly because all pilots know what to expect, and helps reduce the chance of a mid-air collision.
At extremely large airports, a circuit is in place but not usually used. Rather, aircraft (usually only commercial with long routes) request approach clearance while they are still hours away from the airport, often before they even takeoff from their departure point. Large airports have a frequency called Clearance Delivery which is used by departing aircraft specifically for this purpose. This then allows airplanes to take the most direct approach path to the runway and land without worrying about interference from other aircraft. While this system keeps the airspace free and is simpler for pilots, it requires detailed knowledge of how aircraft are planning to use the airport ahead of time and is therefore only possible with large commercial airliners on pre-scheduled flights. The system has recently become so advanced that controllers can predict whether an aircraft will be delayed on landing before it even takes off; that aircraft can then be delayed on the ground, rather than wasting expensive fuel waiting in the air.
Navigational aids
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| Standard Visual Approach Slope Indicator,. |
There are a number of aids available to pilots, though not all airports are equipped with them. A Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) helps pilots fly the approach for landing. Some airports are equipped with a VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) to help pilots find the direction to the airport. VORs are often accompanied by a distance measuring equipment (DME) to determine the distance to the VOR. VORs are also located off airports, where they serve to provide airways for aircraft to navigate upon. In poor weather, pilots will use an instrument landing system (ILS) to find the runway and fly the correct approach, even if they cannot see the ground. The number of instrument approaches based on the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) is rapidly increasing and may eventually be the primary means for instrument landings.
Larger airports sometimes offer precision approach radar (PAR), but these systems are more common at military air bases than civilian airports. The aircraft's horizontal and vertical movement is tracked via radar, and the controller tells the pilot his position relative to the approach slope. Once the pilots can see the runway lights, they may continue with a visual landing.
Guidance signs
Airport guidance signs provide direction and information to taxiing aircraft and airport vehicles. Smaller airports may have few or no signs, relying instead on airport diagrams and charts.
There are two classes of signage at airports, with several types of each:
Operational guidance signs
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| Location sign for a taxiway. |
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| Direction sign to taxiway Bravo. |
Location signs – yellow on black background. Identifies the runway or taxiway currently on or entering.
Direction/Runway Exit signs – black on yellow. Identifies the intersecting taxiways the aircraft is approaching, with an arrow indicating the direction to turn.
Other – many airports use conventional traffic signs such as stop and yield signs throughout the airport.
Mandatory instruction signs
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| No entry sign. |
Mandatory instruction signs are white on red. They show entrances to runways or critical areas. Vehicles and aircraft are required to stop at these signs until the control tower gives clearance to proceed.
Runway signs – White text on a red background. These signs simply identify a runway intersection ahead.
Frequency Change signs – Usually a stop sign and an instruction to change to another frequency. These signs are used at airports with different areas of ground control.
Holding Position signs – A single solid yellow bar across a taxiway indicates a position where ground control may require a stop. If two solid yellow bars and two dashed yellow bars are encountered, this indicates a holding position for a runway intersection ahead; runway holding lines must never be crossed without permission. At some airports, a line of red lights across a taxiway is used during low visibility operations to indicate holding positions. An "interrupted ladder" type marking with an "ILS" sign in white on red indicates a holding position before an ILS critical area.
Lighting
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| Flood lights in front of the control tower at Sialkot International Airport, Pakistan |
Many airports have lighting that help guide planes using the runways and taxiways at night or in rain or fog.
On runways, green lights indicate the beginning of the runway for landing, while red lights indicate the end of the runway. Runway edge lighting consists of white lights spaced out on both sides of the runway, indicating the edge. Some airports have more complicated lighting on the runways including lights that run down the centerline of the runway and lights that help indicate the approach (an Approach Lighting System, or ALS). Low-traffic airports may use Pilot Controlled Lighting to save electricity and staffing costs.
Along taxiways, blue lights indicate the taxiway's edge, and some airports have embedded green lights that indicate the centerline.
Obstruction Lighting
Used to mark hazards
Gives pilots a visual aid (usually creates a lane)
Meant to be visible to pilots and not a disturbance to people on ground
Weather observations
Surface weather observation, Weather station, Automated airport weather station, and Automatic weather station
Weather observations at the airport are crucial to safe takeoffs and landings. In the US and Canada, the vast majority of airports, large and small, will either have some form of automated airport weather station, whether an AWOS, ASOS, or AWSS, a human observer or a combination of the two. These weather observations, predominantly in the METAR format, are available over the radio, through Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS), via the ATC or the Flight Service Station.
Planes take-off and land into the wind in order to achieve maximum performance. Because pilots need instantaneous information during landing, a windsock is also kept in view of the runway.
Safety management
Air safety is an important concern in the operation of an airport, and almost every airfield includes equipment and procedures for handling emergency situations. Commercial airfields include one or more emergency vehicles and their crew that are specially equipped for dealing with airfield accidents, crew and passenger extractions, and the hazards of highly flammable aviation fuel. The crews are also trained to deal with situations such as bomb threats, hijacking, and terrorist activities.
NASA air safety experiment (CID project)
Hazards to aircraft include debris, nesting birds, and reduced friction levels due to environmental conditions such as ice, snow, or rain. Part of runway maintenance is airfield rubber removal which helps maintain friction levels. The fields must be kept clear of debris using cleaning equipment so that loose material does not become a projectile and enter an engine duct (see foreign object damage). In adverse weather conditions, ice and snow clearing equipment can be used to improve traction on the landing strip. For waiting aircraft, equipment is used to spray special deicing fluids on the wings.
Many airports are built near open fields or wetlands. These tend to attract bird populations, which can pose a hazard to aircraft in the form of bird strikes. Airport crews often need to discourage birds from taking up residence.
Some airports are located next to parks, golf courses, or other low-density uses of land. Other airports are located near densely-populated urban or suburban areas. In the 1980s, a conflict arose in San Jose, California, when a plane attempting to land at Reid-Hillview Airport (built in the 1930s) collided with a Macy's department store at the Eastridge Center. Many local residents tried to get the airport shut down, even though it had been there for fifty years: their neighborhoods (and the mall) were about a decade old.
An airport can have areas where collisions between airplanes on the ground tend to occur. Records are kept of any incursions where airplanes or vehicles are in an inappropriate location, allowing these "hot spots" to be identified. These locations then undergo special attention by transportation authorities (such as the FAA in the US) and airport administrators.
During the 1980s, a phenomenon known as microburst became a growing concern due to aircraft accidents caused by microburst wind shear, such as Delta Air Lines Flight 191. Microburst radar was developed as an aid to safety during landing, giving two to five minutes warning to aircraft in the vicinity of the field of a microburst event.
Some airfields now have a special surface known as soft concrete at the end of the runway (stopway or blastpad) that behaves somewhat like styrofoam, bringing the plane to a relatively rapid halt as the material disintegrates. These surfaces are useful when the runway is located next to a body of water or other hazard, and prevent the planes from overrunning the end of the field.
Airport ground crew
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| An aircraft tow tractor moving a KLM Boeing 777 |
Main article: Ground support equipment
Most airports have groundcrew handling the loading and unloading of passengers, crew, baggage and other services. Some groundcrew are linked to specific airlines operating at the airport.
Environmental concerns
Aircraft noise is major cause of noise disturbance to residents living near airports. Sleep can be affected if the airports operate night and early morning flights. Aircraft noise not only occurs from take-off and landings, but also ground operations including maintenance and testing of aircraft. Noise can have other noise health effects. Other noise and environmental concerns are vehicle traffic causing noise and pollution on roads leading the airport.
The construction of new airports or addition of runways to existing airports, is often resisted by local residents because of the effect on countryside, historical sites, local flora and fauna. Due to the risk of collision between birds and airplanes, large airports undertake population control programs where they frighten or shoot birds.
The construction of airports has been known to change local weather patterns. For example, because they often flatten out large areas, they can be susceptible to fog in areas where fog rarely forms. In addition, they generally replace trees and grass with pavement, they often change drainage patterns in agricultural areas, leading to more flooding, run-off and erosion in the surrounding land.
Some of the airport administrations prepare and publish annual environmental reports in order to show how they consider these environmental concerns in airport management issues and how they protect environment from airport operations. These reports contains all environmental protection measures performed by airport administration in terms of water, air, soil and noise pollution, resource conservation and protection of natural life around the airport.
Military airbase
A pilot's view of Edwards Air Force Base, California — main base area — located near Rogers Dry Lake
Main article: Military airbase
An airbase, sometimes referred to as a military airport or airfield, provides basing and support of military aircraft. Some airbases provide facilities similar to their civilian counterparts. For example, RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England has a terminal which caters to passengers for the Royal Air Force's scheduled Tristar flights to the Falkland Islands. Military airbases may also be co-located with civilian airports, sharing the same tower/air traffic control facilities, runways, taxiways and emergency services, but with separate terminals, parking areas, hangars and shelter areas. Examples of this are Bardufoss Airport/Bardufoss Air Station and Gardermoen Airport/Gardermoen Air Station, both in Norway. A special variant of a military airfield is the aircraft carrier.
Aircraft carriers
Main article: Aircraft carrier
The aircraft carrier is a warship that functions as a floating airport for military aircraft. Aircraft carriers allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for land-based aircraft. After their development in World War I, aircraft carriers replaced the battleship as the centrepiece of a modern fleet during World War II. Unescorted carriers are considered vulnerable to missile or submarine attacks and therefore travel as part of a carrier battle group that includes a wide array of other ships with specific functions.
Airports in entertainment
Washington Dulles International Airport, ostensibly the setting for Die Hard 2; the movie was actually filmed at Los Angeles International Airport
Airports have played major roles in films and television programs due to its very nature as a transport hub, and sometimes because of distinctive features of individual airports. One such example of this is The Terminal, a film about a man who becomes permanently grounded in an airport terminal and must survive only on the food and shelter provided by the airport. They are also one of the major elements in movies such as The V.I.P.s, Airplane!, Airport, Die Hard 2, Soul Plane, Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, Home Alone, Liar Liar, Passenger 57, Final Destination, Unaccompanied Minors, Catch Me If You Can, Rendition and The Langoliers. They have also played important parts in television series like Lost, The Amazing Race, America's Next Top Model, Cycle 10 which have significant parts of their story set within airports. In other programmes and films, airports are merely indicative of journeys, e.g. Good Will Hunting.
Several computer simulation games put the player in charge of an airport. These include Airport Tycoon and the sequels; Airport Tycoon 2 and Airport Tycoon 3. There is also a Japanese series of games called Air Traffic Controller.
Airstrip
A private airstrip at what used to be RAF Knettishall
An airstrip or airfield is a kind of airport that consists only of a runway with perhaps fueling equipment. They are generally in remote locations. Many airstrips (now mostly abandoned) were built on the hundreds of islands in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Sometimes a few airstrips become full fledged airbases as strategic or economic importance of a region increases over time.
Airport directories
See also: National aviation authority, List of civil aviation authorities, and Aeronautical Information Service
Each national aviation authority has a source of information about airports in their country. This will contain information on airport elevation, airport lighting, runway information, communications facilities and frequencies, hours of operation, nearby NAVAIDs and contact information where prior arrangement for landing is necessary.
Australia
Information can be found on-line in the En route Supplement Australia (ERSA)[11] which is published by Airservices Australia, a government owned corporation charged with managing Australian ATC.
Canada
Two publications, the Canada Flight Supplement (CFS) and the Water Aerodrome Supplement, published by NAV CANADA under the authority of Transport Canada provides equivalent information.
Europe
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) provides an Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), aeronautical charts and NOTAM services for multiple European countries.
Germany
Provided by the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Office for Civil Aviation of Germany).
France
Aviation Generale Delage edited by Delville and published by Breitling.
The United Kingdom and Ireland
The information is found in Pooley's Flight Guide, a publication compiled with the assistance of the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Pooleys also contains information on some continental European airports that are close to Great Britain. National Air Traffic Services, the UK's Air Navigation Service Provider, a public–private partnership also publishes an online AIP for the UK.
The United States
The U.S. uses the Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD), published in seven volumes. DAFIF also includes extensive airport data.
A comprehensive, consumer/business directory of commercial airports in the world (primarily for airports as businesses, rather than for pilots) is organized by the trade group Airports Council International.
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