Airport infrastructure
The airfield infrastructure is a summary of all buildings, technical facilities and installations that are at airports for flight crews, airlines and passengers.
- 3.1 Navigation Systems
- 3.2 Meteorological Station
Components
The infrastructure of an airport is a basic and necessary condition for the operation of air traffic. In commercial aviation at airports this is a location factor and is provided by the airport operator for additional cost airlines.
In addition to the buildings include start and runways, facilities such as waiting rooms and offices, hangars, airport fire, communication equipment ( beacon, aeronautical radio, telephone systems ), elevators, moving walkways, escalators, Tower, surveillance equipment (radar, video surveillance, etc.) and is fired for this.
Furthermore, the in-house staff as cleaners, security services and information staff and also the transport links such as airport stations to airport facilities, the latter are often sponsored by government agencies.
Although air traffic controllers belong to airport facilities, but not at any airport operator in Germany is responsible for the provision of air traffic control services to the international airports, DFS German Air Navigation Services responsible.
Almost everywhere is usual perimeter fences, but access control of persons and vehicles will take place only at larger airports. Lounges mostly belong to the airlines or alliances, rarely operators.
In military aviation include other facilities to such as ammunition storage, etc.
More fundamentally, airport construction
An airport can be basically divided into a country and a airside area. At airports the access or access in both directions is closely monitored.
Accessibility
If commercial flight operations take place close to shore-side parking, taxi ranks, bus or tram stops and possibly a train station directly to the airport terminal or were placed underground below.
Airport Terminal
→ Main article airport terminal
The terminal consists again - if any - of two departments, which are separated from each other by customs and passport checks (marked red in the figure ). All passengers and flight personnel have to pass these barriers before boarding. In the front, for all the part of the terminal, the ticket tax, the seat reservation, the baggage and security checks take place. This procedure is called to check in ( check in). Since there are often waiting times and also visitors and members have access, a variety of shops, travel agencies, various restaurants and food vendors present their wares. After passing through customs and passport controls international travelers enter the duty-free zone in which a duty- free shopping is possible. The terminal will then leave after the call for boarding over the respective gate (gate).
Air-side range
The air-side area includes all parts of an aerodrome, that are accessible to aircraft, such as take-off and landing runways ( engl. runway, RWY ), taxiways ( engl. taxiway, TWY ), apron, cargo center and hangars.
The apron includes ramps and Aprons. Ramp generally refers to the immediately adjacent to the terminal area in which are loaded by Ramp Agents aircraft in parking position with luggage or take passengers. In contrast, the term Apron includes the further away from the terminal parking and loading area for aircraft.
The cargo and logistics center offers an airport on its core business of air freight addition to often complete logistics solutions. Therefore, the cargo center is in turn linked via their own transport connections with the rest of the traffic flows. To cargo area also includes the luggage distribution system which ensures reliable distribution of the luggage of the passengers, which was provided at check-in with barcode on the respective aircraft.
A portion of the apron or parking positions available at airports as a storage area for general aviation (English general aviation ( GA) ) are available. The pilots and passengers from this area leave the apron via the GAT (general aviation terminal ) if one exists, otherwise on the same outputs as the line passengers and crews.
Is In many airports - often on the apron near the GAT - a takeoff and landing area for helicopters (English heliport ) is applied. This is characterized by a large H in a circle. At U.S. airports as a heliport has a much greater significance than in Central Europe, where large numbers of passengers are transported to bypass traffic jams or as VIP helicopters to the airport. So you would expect at Frankfurt am Main Airport, only two to three helicopter flights per day.
All facilities and paths on the air side, which are important for airplanes are to be found usually in a diagram must be created in the U.S. for each airport, which has a tower and is called the airport diagram.
Tower
The tower, known internationally Tower, is the work of air traffic controllers who monitor and control from here all the movements of aircraft and other objects such as vehicles or the like at the airport and all aircraft movements in the control zone. Here is the flight line at uncontrolled aerodromes.
Technical facilities
Navigation Systems
Many airports are using the VASI ( visual approach slope indicator engl. ) or PAPI ( precision approach path indicator engl. ) equipped to serve as a supplement to a instrument approach, but are also used by aviators view under visual flight conditions. An ILS ( instrument landing system dtsch ), possibly supported by board -side GPS, allows approaches at night or in adverse weather conditions. This is today at all major airports for granted. VOR ( engl VOR ), NDB ( non-directional beacon dtsch ) and DME ( Distance Measuring Equipment engl ) complete the navigation equipment of aerodromes. By monitoring by primary radar and secondary radar, the controller on the tower can identify aircraft in the vicinity of an aerodrome, locate and accompany you on the flight path.
Meteorological Station
Airports have their own Meteorological Service in the rule. It informs about the local weather situation, as data on wind direction and wind speed, wind conditions near the ground, thermals and wind shear, possible icing of the start and runway etc. The pilot can using the information at the weather service control the aircraft safer and landing, airport operator actions winter maintenance and the surface de plan and carry out.
In the pre-flight, the pilots informed at all airports on the expected meteorological conditions at the place and on the entire route. This can be done directly from the meteorological service or by electronic means. Immediately prior to departure or during flight can be requested when approaching airports, the newest and latest information regarding weather, used runway, QNH etc. ATIS ( engl. automated terminal information service ).