Airport

Sample infrastructure of a typical airport. Larger

airports usually contain more runways and terminals.
Airport distribution in 2008

Passenger Terminal of the Kolkata Airport

Terminal 3 of the Dubai International Airport

Solar panels at the international airport at Kochi, India,

the world's first airport to be fully powered by solar
energy.

An airport is an aerodrome with extended

facilities, mostly for commercial air
transport.[1][2] Airports often have facilities
to store and maintain aircraft, and a
control tower. An airport consists of a
landing area, which comprises an aerially
accessible open space including at least
one operationally active surface such as a
runway for a plane to take off[3] or a
helipad,[4] and often includes adjacent
utility buildings such as control towers,
hangars[5] and terminals. Larger airports
may have airport aprons, taxiway bridges,
air traffic control centres, passenger
facilities such as restaurants and lounges,
and emergency services. In some
countries, the US in particular, airports also
typically have one or more fixed-base
operators, serving general aviation.

An airport solely serving helicopters is

called a heliport. An airport for use by
seaplanes and amphibious aircraft is
called a seaplane base. Such a base
typically includes a stretch of open water
for takeoffs and landings, and seaplane
docks for tying-up.

An international airport has additional

facilities for customs and passport control
as well as incorporating all the
aforementioned elements. Such airports
rank among the most complex and largest
of all built typologies, with 15 of the top 50
buildings by floor area being airport
terminals.[6]
Commercial jets wait for the "7am hold" to pass
before departing from John Wayne Airport, February
14, 2015

Terminology

Air bridges at Oslo Airport from an Icelandair Boeing

757-200

The terms aerodrome, airfield, and airstrip

also refer to airports, and the terms
heliport, seaplane base, and STOLport refer
to airports dedicated exclusively to
helicopters, seaplanes, and short take-off
and landing aircraft.

In colloquial use in certain environments,

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 other
aerodromes 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 national aviation
authority after meeting specified
certification criteria or regulatory
requirements.[7]

That is to say, all airports are aerodromes,

but not all aerodromes are airports. In
jurisdictions where there is no legal
distinction between aerodrome and airport,
which term to use in the name of an
aerodrome may be a commercial decision.
In US technical/legal usage, landing area is
used instead of aerodrome, and airport
means "a landing area used regularly by
aircraft for receiving or discharging
passengers or cargo".[8]

Management
Kuala Lumpur's Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Main Terminal

Smaller or less-developed airfields, 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 of 2,000 m
(6,600 ft) or longer. Skyline Airport in
Inkom, Idaho has a runway that is only
122 m (400 ft) long.[9]
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.

The longest public-use runway in the world

is at Qamdo Bamda 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.[10][11]

Airport ownership and operation …

The Berlin Brandenburg Airport is publicly financed by

the states of Berlin and Brandenburg and the Federal
Republic of Germany.

Most of the world's large 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, in the UK the state-owned British
Airports Authority originally operated eight
of the nation's major commercial airports
– it was subsequently privatized in the late
1980s, and following its takeover by the
Spanish Ferrovial consortium in 2006, has
been further divested and downsized to
operating just Heathrow. 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. The rest of
India's airports are managed by the
Airports Authority of India. In Pakistan
nearly all civilian airports are owned and
operated by the Pakistan Civil Aviation
Authority except for Sialkot International
Airport which has the distinction of being
the first privately owned public airport in
Pakistan and South Asia.

In the US, commercial airports are

generally operated directly by government
entities or government-created airport
authorities (also known as port
authorities), such as the Los Angeles
World Airports authority that oversees
several airports in the Greater Los Angeles
area, including Los Angeles International
Airport.

In Canada, the federal authority, Transport

Canada, divested itself of all but the
remotest airports in 1999/2000. Now
most airports in Canada are owned and
operated by individual legal authorities or
are municipally owned.

Many US airports still lease part or all of

their facilities to outside firms, who
operate functions such as retail
management and parking. All US
commercial airport runways are certified
by the FAA[12] under the Code of Federal
Regulations Title 14 Part 139,
"Certification of Commercial Service
Airports"[13] but maintained by the local
airport under the regulatory authority of
the FAA.

Despite the reluctance to privatize airports

in the US (contrary to 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 funding …

The Airport & Airway Trust Fund (AATF)

was created by the Airport and Airway
Development in 1970 which finances
aviation programs in the United States.[14]
Airport Improvement Program (AIP),
Facilities and Equipment (F&E), and
Research, Engineering, and Development
(RE&D) are the three major accounts of
Federal Aviation Administration which are
financed by the AATF, as well as pays for
the FAA's Operation and Maintenance
(O&M) account.[15] The funding of these
accounts are dependent on the taxes the
airports generate of revenues. Passenger
tickets, fuel, and cargo tax are the taxes
that are paid by the passengers and
airlines help fund these accounts.[16]

Airport revenue …

Airports revenues are divided into three

major parts: aeronautical revenue, non-
aeronautical revenue, and non-operating
revenue. Aeronautical revenue makes up
56%, non-aeronautical revenue makes up
40%, and non-operating revenue makes up
4% of the total revenue of airports.[17]

Aeronautical revenue …
Aeronautical revenue are generated
through airline rents and landing,
passenger service, parking, and hangar
fees. Landing fees are charged per aircraft
for landing an airplane in the airport
property.[18] Landing fees are calculated
through the landing weight and the size of
the aircraft which varies but most of the
airports have a fixed rate and a charge
extra for extra weight.[19] Passenger
service fees are charges per passengers
for the facilities used on a flight like water,
food, wifi and shows which is paid while
paying for an airline ticket. Aircraft parking
is also a major revenue source for airports.
Aircraft are parked for a certain amount of
time before or after takeoff and have to
pay to park there.[20] Every airport has his
own rates of parking but at John F
Kennedy airport in New York City charges
$45 per hour for the plane of 100,000
pounds and the price increases with
weight.[21]

Non-aeronautical revenue …

Non-aeronautical revenue is gained

through things other than aircraft
operations. It includes lease revenue from
compatible land-use development, non-
aeronautical building leases, retail and
concession sales, rental car operations,
parking and in-airport advertising.[22]
Concession revenue is one big part of non-
aeronautical revenue airports makes
through duty free, bookstores, Restaurants
and money exchange.[20] Car parking is a
growing source of revenue for airports, as
more people use the parking facilities of
the airport. O'Hare International Airport in
Chicago charges $2 per hour for every
car.[23]

Landside and airside areas …

Airports are divided into landside and

airside areas. The landside area is open to
the public, while access to the airside area
is tightly controlled. The airside area
includes all parts of the airport around the
aircraft, and the parts of the buildings that
are accessible only to passengers and
staff. Passengers and staff must be
checked by security before being
permitted to enter the airside area.
Conversely, passengers arriving from an
international flight must pass through
border control and customs to access the
landside area, where they can exit the
airport. Many major airports will issue a
secure keycard called an airside pass to
employees, as some roles require
employees to frequently move back and
forth between landside and airside as part
of their duties.

Facilities

Singapore's Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3

A terminal is a building with passenger

facilities. Small airports have one terminal.
Large ones often have multiple terminals,
though some large airports like
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol still have one
terminal. The terminal has a series of
gates, which provide passengers with
access to the plane.

The following facilities are essential for

departing passengers:

Check-in facilities, including a baggage

drop-off
Security clearance gates
Passport control (for some international
flights)
Gates
Waiting areas

The following facilities are essential for

arriving passengers:
 Passport control (international arrivals
only)
Baggage reclaim facilities, often in the
form of a carousel
Customs (international arrivals only)
A landside meeting place

For both sets of passengers, there must be

a link between the passenger facilities and
the aircraft, such as jet bridges or airstairs.
There also needs to be a baggage
handling system, to transport baggage
from the baggage drop-off to departing
planes, and from arriving planes to the
baggage reclaim.
The area where the aircraft park to load
passengers and baggage is known as an
apron or ramp (or incorrectly[24], "the
tarmac").

Terminal 2 at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji

International Airport.

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.

"Floating airports" are being designed

which could be located out at sea and
which would use designs such as
pneumatic stabilized platform technology.

Airport security …
Baggage is scanned using X-ray machines as
passengers walk through metal detectors

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 attacks and the Real ID Act
of 2005, airport security has dramatically
increased and got tighter and stricter than
ever before.
Products and services …

Food court and shops, Halifax Stanfield International

Airport, Canada

Duty-free shop at Suvarnabhumi International Airport

in Bangkok, Thailand
Most major airports provide commercial
outlets for products and services. Most of
these companies, many of which are
internationally known brands, are located
within the departure areas. These include
clothing boutiques and restaurants and in
the US amounted to $4.2 billion in 2015.[25]
Prices charged for items sold at these
outlets are generally higher than those
outside the airport. However, some
airports now regulate costs to keep them
comparable to "street prices". This term is
misleading as prices often match the
manufacturers' suggested retail price
(MSRP) but are almost never discounted.
Apart from major fast food chains, some
airport restaurants offer regional cuisine
specialties for those in transit so that they
may sample local food or culture without
leaving the airport.[26]

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.
Major airports in such countries as Russia
and Japan offer miniature sleeping units
within the airport that are available for rent
by the hour. The smallest type is the
capsule hotel popular in Japan. A slightly
larger variety is known as a sleep box. An
even larger type is provided by the
company YOTEL.

Premium and VIP services …

Shahjalal International Airport's VIP Terminal, Dhaka,

Bangladesh
Ba g ades

Airports may also contain premium and

VIP services. The premium and VIP
services may include express check-in and
dedicated check-in counters. 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 service …

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 are areas where

international airports 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 transshipment.
Recife International Airport in Recife, Brazil.

Access and onward travel …

Airports require parking lots, for

passengers who may leave the cars at the
airport for a long period of time. Large
airports will also have car-rental firms, taxi
ranks, bus stops and sometimes a train
station.

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,
Tokyo Haneda Airport, Tokyo Narita
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. Some
examples of this would include the
AirTrain JFK at John F. Kennedy
International Airport in New York, Link
Light Rail that runs from the heart of
downtown Seattle to Seattle–Tacoma
International Airport, 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 controlled-access
highways ('freeways' or 'motorways') from
which motor vehicles enter either the
departure loop or the arrival loop.

Internal transport …

The distances passengers need to move

within a large airport can be substantial. It
is common for airports to provide moving
walkways, buses, and rail transport
systems. Some airports like Hartsfield–
Jackson Atlanta International Airport and
London Stansted Airport have a transit
system that connects some of the gates
to a main terminal. Airports with more
than one terminal have a transit system to
connect the terminals together, such as
John F. Kennedy International Airport,
Mexico City International Airport and
London Gatwick Airport.

Airport operations

The apron from the top floor observation room,

Halifax International Airport, Canada

There are three types of surface that

aircraft operate on:
 Runways, for takeoff and landing
Taxiways, where planes "taxi" (transfer
to and from a runway)
Apron or ramp: a surface where planes
are parked, loaded, unloaded or
refuelled.

Air traffic control …

Airport tower
Air traffic control (ATC) is the task of
managing aircraft movements and making
sure they are safe, orderly and expeditious.
At the largest airports, air traffic control is
a series of highly complex operations that
requires managing frequent traffic that
moves in all three dimensions.

A "towered" or "controlled" airport has a

control tower where the air traffic
controllers are based. Pilots are required
to maintain two-way radio communication
with the controllers, and to acknowledge
and comply with their instructions. A "non-
towered" airport has no operating control
tower and therefore two-way radio
communications are not required, though
it is good operating practice for pilots to
transmit their intentions on the airport's
common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF)
for the benefit of other aircraft in the area.
The CTAF may be a Universal Integrated
Community (UNICOM), MULTICOM, Flight
Service Station (FSS), or tower frequency.

The majority of the world's airports are

small facilities without a tower. Not all
towered airports have 24/7 ATC
operations. In those cases, non-towered
procedures apply when the tower is not in
use, such as at night. Non-towered
airports come under area (en-route)
control. Remote and virtual tower (RVT) is
a system in which ATC is handled by
controllers who are not present at the
airport itself.

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 may subdivide
responsibilities further, with clearance
delivery, apron control, and/or other
specialized ATC stations.

Ground control …
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, stair
trucks, airline food trucks, conveyor belt
vehicles and 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 be turned over to tower control.
Conversely, after a plane has landed it will
depart the runway and be "handed over"
from Tower to Ground Control.
Tower control …

Tower control is responsible for 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 3D 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 to be sure they
remain clear of other traffic.
Traffic pattern …

At all airports
the use of a
traffic pattern
(often called a
traffic circuit
outside the US) is possible. They may help
to assure smooth traffic flow between
departing and arriving aircraft. There is no
technical need within modern commercial
aviation for performing this pattern,
provided there is no queue. And due to the
so-called SLOT-times, the overall traffic
planning tend to assure landing queues
are avoided. If for instance an aircraft
approaches runway 17 (which has a
heading of approx. 170 degrees) from the
north (coming from 360/0 degrees
heading towards 180 degrees), the aircraft
will land as fast as possible by just turning
10 degrees and follow the glidepath,
without orbit the runway for visual
reasons, whenever this is possible. For
smaller piston engined airplanes at
smaller airfields without ILS equipment,
things are very different though.

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. One of the main
reason for this is that pilots sit on the left
side of the airplane, and a Left-hand
patterns improves their visibility of the
airport and pattern. 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 controlled airports, a circuit can be in

place but is not normally used. Rather,
aircraft (usually only commercial with long
routes) request approach clearance while
they are still hours away from the airport;
the destination airport can then plan a
queue of arrivals, and planes will be
guided into one queue per active runway
for a "straight-in" approach. 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 …
Standard Visual Approach Slope Indicator

There are a number of aids, both visual

and electronic, though not at all airports. 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 become 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.

Taxiway signs …

Airport guidance signs provide direction

and information to taxiing aircraft and
airport vehicles. Smaller aerodromes may
have few or no signs, relying instead on
diagrams and charts.

Lighting …
Airport lighting

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 edges. 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.

Weather observations …
Automated weather system

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 to

achieve maximum performance. Because
pilots need instantaneous information
during landing, a windsock can also be
kept in view of the runway. Aviation
windsocks are made with lightweight
material, withstand strong winds and
some are lit up after dark or in foggy
weather. Because visibility of windsocks is
limited, often multiple glow-orange
windsocks are placed on both sides of the
runway.[27]

Airport ground crew (ground

handling)
…
An aircraft tow tractor moving a KLM Boeing 777

Ground operations at Berlin Tegel Airport

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.

Among the vehicles that serve an airliner

on the ground are:

A tow tractor to move the aircraft in and

out of the berth.
A jet bridge (in some airports) or stairs
unit to allow passengers to embark and
disembark.
A ground power unit for supplying
electricity. As the engines will be
switched off, they will not be generating
electricity as they do in flight.
A cleaning service.
A catering service to deliver food and
drinks for a flight.
A toilet waste truck to empty the tank
which holds the waste from the toilets in
the aircraft.
A water truck to fill the water tanks of
the aircraft.
A refueling vehicle. The fuel may come
from a tanker, or from underground fuel
tanks.
A conveyor belt unit for loading and
unloading luggage.
A vehicle to transport luggage to and
from the terminal.
The length of time an aircraft remains on
the ground in between consecutive flights
is known as "turnaround time". Airlines pay
great attention to minimizing turnaround
times in an effort to keep aircraft use
(flying time) high, with times scheduled as
low as 25 minutes for jet aircraft operated
by low-cost carriers on narrow-body
aircraft.

Maintenance management …

Like industrial equipment or facility

management, airports require tailor-made
maintenance management due to their
complexity. With many tangible assets
spread over a large area in different
environments, these infrastructures must
therefore effectively monitor these assets
and store spare parts to maintain them at
an optimal level of service.[28]

To manage these airport assets, several

solutions are competing for the market:
CMMS (computerized maintenance
management system) predominate, and
mainly enable a company's maintenance
activity to be monitored, planned, recorded
and rationalized.[28]

Safety management …
"FLF Panther" airport crash tender in Germany

Play media
Road crossing of (Shetland) A970 with Sumburgh
airport's runway. The movable barrier closes when
aircraft land or take off.

Aviation safety is an important concern in

the operation of an airport, and almost
every airfield includes equipment and
procedures for handling emergency
situations. Airport crash tender crews are
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.

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.

An airport can have areas where collisions

between aircraft on the ground tend to
occur. Records are kept of any incursions
where aircraft 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.

Airports often have on-site firefighters to

respond to emergencies. These use
specialized vehicles, known as airport
crash tenders.

Environmental concerns and

sustainability
Runway at Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in Brazil.

Aircraft noise is a 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 occurs not only from
take-offs and landings, but also from
ground operations including maintenance
and testing of aircraft. Noise can have
other health effects as well. Other noise
and environmental concerns are vehicle
traffic causing noise and pollution on
roads leading to airports.
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, and local flora and fauna. Due to the
risk of collision between birds and aircraft,
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.[29]

Some of the airport administrations

prepare and publish annual environmental
reports to show how they consider these
environmental concerns in airport
management issues and how they protect
environment from airport operations.
These reports contain 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.

A 2019 report from the Cooperative

Research Programs of the US
Transportation Research Board showed all
airports have a role to play in advancing
greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction
initiatives. Small airports have
demonstrated leadership by using their
less complex organizational structure to
implement newer technologies and to
serve as a providing ground for their
feasibility. Large airports have the
economic stability and staff resources
necessary to grow in-house expertise and
fund comprehensive new programs.[30]

A growing number of airports are installing

solar photovoltaic arrays to offset their
electricity use.[31][32] The National
Renewable Energy Lab has shown this can
be done safely.[33]

The world's first airport to be fully powered

by solar energy is located at Kochi, India.
Another airport known for considering
environmental concerns is Seymour
Airport in the Galapagos Islands.

Military air base

Fighter aircraft at an airbase in Lithuania

An airbase, sometimes referred to as an

air station or airfield, provides basing and
support of military aircraft. Some airbases,
known as military airports, provide
facilities similar to their civilian
counterparts. For example, RAF Brize
Norton in the UK has a terminal which
caters to passengers for the Royal Air
Force's scheduled flights to the Falkland
Islands. Some airbases are co-located
with civilian airports, sharing the same
ATC facilities, runways, taxiways and
emergency services, but with separate
terminals, parking areas and hangars.
Bardufoss Airport, Bardufoss Air Station in
Norway and Pune Airport in India are
examples of this.

An aircraft carrier is a warship that

functions as a mobile airbase. Aircraft
carriers allow a naval force to project air
power 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.

Airport designation and

naming
Airports are uniquely represented by their
IATA airport code and ICAO airport code.

Most airport names include the location.

Many airport names honour a public figure,
commonly a politician (e.g., Charles de
Gaulle Airport, George Bush
Intercontinental Airport, John F. Kennedy
International Airport), a monarch (e.g.
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport,
King Abdulaziz International Airport), a
cultural leader (e.g. Liverpool John Lennon
Airport, Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino
Airport, Louis Armstrong New Orleans
International Airport) or a prominent figure
in aviation history of the region (e.g.
Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport),
sometimes even famous writers (e.g.
Allama Iqbal International Airport) and
explorers (e.g. Venice Marco Polo Airport).

Some airports have unofficial names,

possibly so widely circulated that its
official name is little used or even known.

Some airport names include the word

"International" to indicate their ability to
handle international air traffic. This
includes some airports that do not have
scheduled international airline services
(e.g. Albany International Airport).

History and development

The Kharkiv Airport in Sokolniki, Ukraine (1924).

The earliest aircraft takeoff and landing

sites were grassy fields.[34] 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 functioned well only in dry
conditions. Later, concrete surfaces would
allow landings regardless of
meteorological conditions.

The title of "world's oldest airport" is

disputed. College Park Airport in Maryland,
US, established in 1909 by Wilbur Wright,
is generally agreed to be the world's oldest
continuously operating airfield,[35] although
it serves only general aviation traffic.
Beijing Nanyuan Airport in China, which
was built to accommodate planes in 1904,
and airships in 1907, opened in 1910.[36] It
was in operation until September 2019.
Pearson Field Airport in Vancouver,
Washington, United States, was built to
accommodate planes in 1905 and airships
in 1911, and is still in use as of January
2020.

Hamburg Airport opened in January 1911,

making it the oldest commercial airport in
the world which is still in operation.
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 has accepted civil aircraft only
since December 17, 1920, allowing Sydney
Airport—which started operations in
January 1920—to claim to be one of the
world's oldest continuously operating
commercial airports.[37] Minneapolis-Saint
Paul International Airport in the US 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 m) 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, as well as the Don
Mueang International Airport near
Bangkok, Thailand, which opened in 1914.
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.

The New Orleans International Airport passenger

i l b ildi i N O l (1960 )
terminal building in New Orleans (1960s).

Following the war, some of these military

airfields added civil facilities for handling
passenger traffic. One of the earliest such
fields was Paris – Le Bourget Airport at Le
Bourget, near Paris. The first airport to
operate scheduled international
commercial services was Hounslow Heath
Aerodrome in August 1919, but it was
closed and supplanted by Croydon Airport
in March 1920.[38] In 1922, the first
permanent airport and commercial
terminal solely for commercial aviation
was opened at Flughafen Devau near what
was then Königsberg, East Prussia. 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 latter 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.

The Bender Qassim International Airport in Bosaso,

Somalia (2007).

After 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 rainwater 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
continuous 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.

The malicious use of UAVs has led to the

deployment of counter unmanned air
system (C-UAS) technologies such as the
Aaronia AARTOS which have been
installed on major international
airports[39][40].
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 their very
nature as a transport and international
hub, and sometimes because of distinctive
architectural features of particular
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, Speed,
Airplane!, Airport (1970), Die Hard 2, Soul
Plane, Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, Home
Alone, Liar Liar, Passenger 57, Final
Destination (2000), 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 the Airport Tycoon series,
SimAirport and Airport CEO.

Airport directories
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)[41]
which is published by Airservices
Australia, a government owned
corporation charged with managing
Australian ATC.
Brazil

Infraero is responsible for the airports in

Brazil

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). Pooley's
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 US uses the Airport/Facility Directory
(A/FD), published in seven volumes.
DAFIF also includes extensive airport
data but has been unavailable to the
public at large since 2006.
Japan
Aeronautical Information Publication
(AIP)[42] is provided by Japan
Aeronautical Information Service Center,
under the authority of Japan Civil
Aviation Bureau, Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of
Japan.
 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.

See also
Airport terminal
Domestic airport
Environmental impact of aviation
Model airport
NIMBY
World's busiest airport
Seaport
Lists:

Index of aviation articles

List of cities with more than one airport
List of countries without an airport
List of hub airports

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3. "Runway – Definition of runway by
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 6. "design8.docx – AIRPORT
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18. "Landing fees" . guides.erau.edu.
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Bibliography
Bluffield, Robert. 2009. Imperial Airways –
The Birth of the British Airline Industry 1914–
1940. Ian Allan ISBN 978-1-906537-07-4
Salter, Mark. 2008. Politics at the Airport.
University of Minnesota Press. This book
brings together leading scholars to examine
how airports both shape and are shaped by
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 Lopez, Donald S. "The inside Story Airports."
Flight. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life, 1995. 36–
37. Print.

External links
Airport Safety Challenges related to
Ground Operations
"Conquest of Fog" Popular Mechanics,
February 1930, illustration and article on
a modern airport in the 1930s
Airport Distance Calculator – Research
and Innovative Technology
Administration (RITA) in U.S.
Department of Transportation
Map of worldwide airports
 Airport Visualizer Worldwide airports
visualized on 30+ maps

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