General aviation

General aviation or general aviation (GA ) is the name for civil aviation with the exception of scheduled and charter traffic. It includes certain industrial, all private flights which can be carried out both to the rules for visual flights (VFR ) and Instrument for flights (IFR ), for example, light aircraft, business aircraft or by rescue helicopters. General aviation is so that the individual transport component of aviation dar.

Importance

General aviation is the largest area of civil aviation, but not on the number of passengers and for freight traffic. According to number of aircraft as well as on the number of flight movements You will find both in controlled airspace instead (see airways and terminal areas TMA to the controlled aerodromes ), takes as opposed to the scheduled flight but also the uncontrolled airspace in between to complete.

At airports, a special check-in area for general aviation is usually present, which is called the General Aviation Terminal ( GAT).

Costs

The operation of aircraft is relatively expensive compared with other means of transport. The pure acquisition and operating costs, nor the current cost of a parking space and the required periodic inspections will be added. At best fly gliders that require no fuel and are technically relatively simple. The intensive use in Luftsportverein spread the fixed costs. As a budget flight engine variant has been working for some time, the microlight through that causes only about half the cost of a traditional small aircraft and general aviation for many people can be affordable.