Components of the Aviation Infrastructure

– Airport terminal buildings can be likened to office buildings and shopping centres as far as design
specifications and construction are concerned. The types of flights and airlines served at an airport
determine the design features of a terminal, including airport services, baggage handling, areas for
passengers, cargo loading/unloading, gate design and retail spaces

Runway design, construction and material selection are highly influenced by quality and reliability
requirements dictated by aircraft take-off and landing operation. In the United States, the top 50
airports average 3 to 4 runways which are all designed for landing of most demanding aircraft
Terminal is abuilding at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the
facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers
purchase tickets, transfer their luggage, and go through security a building at an airport where
passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and
disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer their luggage,
and go through security.

The airport apron, apron, or ramp, is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or
loaded, refueled, or boarded. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as
lighting on vehicles, it is typically more accessible to users than the runway or taxiway. However,
the apron is not usually open to the general public and a permit may be required to gain access. By
extension, the term "apron" is also used to identify the air traffic control position responsible for
coordinating movement on this surface at busier airports.
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on
the ground and through controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-
controlled airspace. Air traffic controllers monitor the location of aircraft in their assigned airspace
by radar and communicate with the pilots by radio. To prevent collisions, ATC enforces traffic
separation rules, which ensure each aircraft maintains a minimum amount of empty space around it
at all times. In many countries, ATC provides services to all private, military, and commercial aircraft
operating within its airspace. Depending on the type of flight and the class of airspace, ATC may
issue instructions that pilots are required to obey, or advisories (known as flight information in some
countries) that pilots may, at their discretion, disregard. The pilot in command is the final authority for
the safe operation of the aircraft and may, in an emergency, deviate from ATC instructions to the
extent required to maintain safe operation of their aircraft.

A hangar is a closed building structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal,
wood, or concrete. The word hangar comes from Middle French hanghart, of Germanic origin, from
Frankish *haimgard, from *haim and gard. Hangars are used for protection from the weather, direct
sunlight and for maintenance, repair, manufacture, assembly and storage of aircraft.
The use of the apron may be controlled by the apron management service (apron control or apron
advisory) to provide coordination between the users.

Air traffic control[edit]

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[edit]
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[edit]
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 three-
dimensional 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 in order
to be sure that they remain clear of other traffic.

Traffic pattern[edit]
Main article: Airfield traffic pattern

At all airports the use of a traffic pattern (often called a traffic circuit outside the U.S.) 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[edit]

Standard visual approach slope indicator

There are a number of aids available to pilots, both visual and electronic, though not all airports are
equipped with them. 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[edit]
Further information: Taxiway § 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[edit]
Further information: Taxiway § Taxiway lights, and Runway § Runway 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 edge. 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[edit]
See also: Surface weather observation, Weather station, Automated airport weather station,
and Automatic weather station

An 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 in order 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)[edit]

Main article: Ground support equipment
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.[citation needed] 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.