An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation.[Wragg, D.; Historical dictionary of aviation, History Press 2008.]
Airport operations are extremely complex, with a complicated system of aircraft support services, passenger services, and aircraft control services contained within the operation. Thus airports can be major employers, as well as important hubs for tourism and other kinds of transit. Because they are sites of operation for heavy machinery, a number of regulations and safety measures have been implemented in airports, in order to reduce hazards. Additionally, airports have major local environmental impacts, as both large sources of air pollution, noise pollution and other environmental impacts, making them sites that acutely experience the environmental effects of aviation. Airports are also vulnerable infrastructure to extreme weather, climate change caused sea level rise and other disasters.
Terminology
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
STOL 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
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 civil aviation authority after meeting specified certification criteria or regulatory requirements.
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".[49 U.S.C. § 40102(a) (2012)]
Types of airports
Management
Smaller or less-developed airfields, which represent the vast majority, often have a single runway shorter than . Larger airports for airline flights generally have paved runways of or longer. Skyline Airport in Inkom, Idaho, has a runway that is only long.
, 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
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
under the Code of Federal Regulations Title 14 Part 139, "Certification of Commercial Service Airports".
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.
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.
The funding of these accounts are dependent on the taxes the airports generate of revenues.
Airline ticket, fuel, and
Cargo aircraft tax are the taxes that are paid by the passengers and airlines help fund these accounts.
Airport revenue
Airports revenues are divided into three major parts:
Aeronautics revenue, non-aeronautical revenue, and non-operating revenue. Aeronautical revenue makes up 50% in 2021 (from 54% and 48% in 2019 and 2020, non-aeronautical revenue makes up 34% (40%, 39% in previous years), and non-operating revenue makes up 16% (6%, 14%) of the total revenue of airports.
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.
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.
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.
Every airport has its own rates of parking, for example, John F Kennedy airport in New York City charges $45 per hour for a plane of 100,000 pounds and the price increases with weight.
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.
Concession revenue is one big part of non-aeronautical revenue airports makes through
Duty-free shop, bookstores, restaurants and money exchange.
Car parking is a growing source of revenue for airports, as more people use the
Parking lot of the airport. O'Hare International Airport in Chicago charges $2 per hour for every car.
Price regulation
Many airports are local monopolies. To prevent them from abusing their market power, governments regulate how much airports may charge to airlines, using price-cap regulation.
Landside and airside areas
Airports are divided into landside and airside zones. The landside is subject to fewer
lex specialis and is part of the public realm, while access to the airside zone is tightly controlled. Landside facilities may include publicly accessible
airport check-in desks, shops and ground transportation facilities.
Facilities
The area where the aircraft parks to load passengers and baggage is known as an
apron or
ramp (or incorrectly,
"the tarmac").
Airport security
Products and services
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.
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.
Many new airports include walkthrough duty-free stores that require air passengers to enter a retail store upon exiting security.[Menno Hubregtse, Wayfinding, Consumption, and Air Terminal Design (London: Routledge, 2020), 44–47.]
Apart from major fast food chains, some airport restaurants offer regional cuisine specialties for those in transit so that they may sample local food without leaving the airport.[USA Today newspaper, October 17, 2006, p. 2D]
Premium and VIP services
Cargo and freight service
Access and onward travel
Internal transport
Airport operations
Airport operations are made possible by an organized network of trained
Team, specialized equipment, and
spatial data. After thousands of ground operations staff left the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been discussions on the need for systemic improvements in three primary areas:
-
Digitizing and automating processes
Air traffic control
Ground control
Tower control
Traffic pattern
Navigational aids
Taxiway signs
Lighting
Weather observations
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.
Airport ground crew (ground handling)
Each airport hires its own ground crew to process flights, cargo, passengers, and baggage. When a flight arrives, ramp services navigate a baggage cart to the aircraft. Bags are then sorted and transported by baggage handlers. Ramp services handle aircraft marshaling, the process in which aircraft arrive or depart from the gate. Once passengers and/or cargo is unloaded, a cleaning crew prepares the aircraft for its next flight by loading supplies and preparing other in-flight services. Ground crew will fuel the aircraft, and other visual inspections are conducted. Efficient work allows aircraft to have fast turnaround times of as little as 25 minutes.
Boeing 777 at
Tokyo Narita]]
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.
[
]
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.
Safety management
Environmental concerns and sustainability
Aircraft noise is a major cause of Noise pollution 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 noises and environmental concerns are vehicle traffic causing noise and pollution on roads leading to 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, 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.
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 proving ground for their feasibility. Large airports have the economic stability and staff resources necessary to grow in-house expertise and fund comprehensive new programs.
A growing number of airports are installing solar photovoltaic arrays to offset their electricity use.
The world's first airport to be fully powered by solar energy is located at Kochi, India.
As a part of their sustainability efforts, more and more airports are starting to explore the consequences of more electric aircraft coming into service. Electric aircraft require much energy; operating 49 small 50-passenger short-range battery electric aircraft would demand at least 16 GWh/year,
Airport hygiene and public health concerns
Airports, as major international travel hubs, have the potential to be significant transmission points for infectious diseases. A notable study conducted during the peak of the 2015–2016 flu season at Helsinki-Vantaa airport in Finland revealed that commonly touched surfaces in airports, especially the plastic security screening trays, are highly susceptible to contamination by respiratory viruses. These trays are touched by hundreds of passengers daily and, being made of plastic, a non-porous material, provide an environment where viruses can survive for extended periods. In comparison, bathroom surfaces in the same airport tested negative for respiratory viruses, possibly indicating a heightened awareness of hygiene in these spaces.
Hand hygiene plays a pivotal role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases in airports. Research indicates that only about 70% of individuals wash their hands after using the toilet, and of those, only 50% do so correctly. In airport settings, just one in five individuals maintain clean hands—defined as washing with soap for at least 15 seconds in the preceding hour. Given the frequent touching of shared surfaces in airports, such as trays, railings, and touch panels, this poses a significant risk for disease transmission. A study from the University of Cyprus and MIT used models and simulations to demonstrate that increasing hand cleanliness from 20% to 30% in all airports could reduce the potential global impact of a disease by 24%. If cleanliness levels reached 60%, this impact could decrease by 69%. Focusing on just the top 10 most influential airports for disease spread, enhancing hand hygiene practices could still significantly reduce disease transmission rates from 45% to 37%. The findings underscore the importance of promoting hand-washing in airports as a key measure in preventing the global spread of diseases.
Military air base
Airport designation and naming
History and development
The earliest aircraft takeoff and landing sites were grassy fields.
Beijing Nanyuan Airport in China, which was built to accommodate planes in 1904, and airships in 1907, opened in 1910.
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 aviation 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.[Bluffield (2009)] in Jomala, Åland (2009).]]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.
Airports in entertainment
Airport directories
- Australia
- Information can be found on-line in the En route Supplement Australia (ERSA).
- Brazil
- Canada
- Europe
- France
- Germany
- Japan
- Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP)
- The United Kingdom
- The United States
See also
Lists
-
Index of aviation articles
-
List of the busiest airports
-
List of cities with more than one commercial airport
-
List of countries without an airport
-
List of defunct international airports
-
List of hub airports
Bibliography
-
Ashford, Norman J., Saleh Mumayiz, and Paul H. Wright. (2011) Airport engineering: planning, design, and development of 21st century airports (John Wiley & Sons, 2011).
-
Bluffield, Robert. (2009). Imperial Airways – The Birth of the British Airline Industry 1914–1940 (Ian Allan)
-
Burghouwt, Guillaume. (2012) Airline network development in Europe and its implications for airport planning (Ashgate, 2012).
-
Gordon, Alastair. (2008) Naked Airport: A Cultural History of the World's Most Revolutionary Structure (University of Chicago Press, 2008).
-
Halpern, Nigel, and Anne Graham. (2013) Airport marketing (Routledge, 2013).
-
Horonjeff, Robert, Francis X. McKelvey, William J. Sproule, and Seth B. Young. (2010) Planning and Design of Airports 5th ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2010).
-
Hubregtse, Menno. (2020) Wayfinding, Consumption, and Air Terminal Design (Routledge, 2020).
-
Pearman, Hugh. (2004) Airports: A Century of Architecture (Harry N. Abrams, 2004).
-
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 current political, social, and economic conditions.
-
Sheard, Nicholas. (2019) "Airport size and urban growth." Economica 86.342 (2019): 300–335; In USA, airport size has a positive effect on local employment, with an elasticity of 0.04.
External links
