What Is an Airport? The Parts, the Codes and the Words Around It
An airport is a place where aircraft take off and land, with terminals, runways and control facilities for passengers and freight.
An airport is a complex with runways, terminals, control tower and ground services, built for aircraft to land, unload, refuel and depart. A smaller field without terminals is usually an *airfield* or *aerodrome*.
- A place for aircraft and passengers. *We landed at a small regional airport.*
- A hub in a network. *The airline uses Frankfurt as its main airport.*
The parts of an airport
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| Terminal | The building where passengers check in and board |
| Runway | The strip aircraft take off from and land on |
| Taxiway | The route between runway and stand |
| Apron / stand | Where aircraft park and are loaded |
| Control tower | Where air traffic controllers work |
| Airside / landside | Beyond security, and before it |
How it is used in a sentence
- Get to the airport two hours before departure.Standard advice, standard phrasing.
- The airport handles forty million passengers a year.The airport as an operator.
- Heathrow's code is LHR.Three-letter IATA codes name airports worldwide.
Why airport codes look random
IATA gives each airport three letters, and history explains the odd ones. Chicago O'Hare is ORD because the site was once Orchard Field; Toronto Pearson is YYZ because Canadian codes inherited old radio-station prefixes. A code is a fossil, not a description.
What is the difference between an airport and an airfield?
An airport has terminals and commercial services for passengers or freight. An airfield may be just a runway and a hangar.
What does airside mean?
The part of the airport beyond passport control and security, where only passengers and staff may go.