Airport Abbreviations

Airport is an infrastructure with runways and runways for aircraft flights, as well as air traffic control buildings, passenger halls and facilities for baggage handling or goods dispatch. An airport must have facilities that meet technical and safety requirements and facilities that guarantee the smooth handling of passengers, baggage, cargo and mail. The terminal building houses the arrivals departure halls and the waiting room for passengers who have passed customs.

As air freight transport increases, huge freight buildings are being built at major international airports where handling, including customs clearance, is generally mechanical and computerized. This increasing freight transport has also led to various companies finding it useful to establish themselves at the airport itself. An airport has its own police and fire brigade. There are also several restaurants, buffets and shops. Finally, airports are home to various companies, including several suppliers to the airport’s operations, and airlines have their offices, maintenance services and workshops there.

Air traffic control and meteorological information to the crews of aircraft waiting for departure are generally not provided by the airports themselves; in the Netherlands, for example, these tasks are assigned to resp. the civil aviation service and the KNMI, in Belgium to the Regie der Luchtwegen.

Depending on the circumstances (prevailing winds and expected air traffic), airports are equipped with one or more paved runways. They are often found parallel to two, so that take-off and landing can take place simultaneously on different runways (Brussels National).

Examples:
Paris-Le Bourget airport was an important airport until the 1970s, but is now only used for business air traffic.

Eldoret would have been chosen as the location for a third major airport in Kenya, next to Nairobi and Mombasa, because the current Kenyan president, Daniel arap Moi, was born there, initially the explanation sounded.

In a densely populated country such as the Netherlands, the planning integration of aviation activities requires a great deal of effort.

This problem is described in the Civil Aerodrome Structure Plan as far as non-military activities are concerned. The military activities are part of the Military Terrain Structure Plan. A national airport such as Schiphol makes a considerable claim on space, requires an extensive infrastructure , attracts employment that is based on the various functions of an airport, and raises the demand for housing. increase sharply in the vicinity. In addition to the demand for additional facilities, an airport causes a lot of nuisance. Noise pollution is the most common form, but air pollution should not be underestimated either. The quality of life in residential and recreational areas that are in line with the runways often declines drastically. In existing situations, this sometimes leads to a limitation of the use of those runways, while runway rotation may even be necessary. The living environment of Schiphol is under great pressure.

Concepts such as bulderbaan and Zwanenburgbaan speak for themselves. At the time of the preparation of the structure plan, there was a heated discussion about the need for a second national airport. It was assumed that due to the enormous growth of civil aviation, Schiphol would be ‘full’ in the fairly short term and that a major expansion of the air traffic could not be accommodated by using the other airports in the Netherlands. The future Markerwaard was eventually seen as the most obvious solution. The expected growth in air traffic did not continue due to the energy scarcity and especially the rising fuel prices. As the situation now appears, Schiphol will remain the only national airport for the time being.

However, in order to maintain the quality of life in the area, a number of measures will have to be taken to limit noise nuisance, whereby relocation should not be regarded as excluded. The arrival of a new generation of aircraft, which produce considerably less noise, could also be a step in the right direction. Making provisions for existing homes can also limit the nuisance to some extent, but the use of the garden and recreation areas is not positively influenced by this. It also does not suppress feelings of fear for aircraft flying over.

In Belgium, it is not only the national (Zaventem) and the large regional airports (Oostende, Deurne, Charleroi and Liège) that cause problems. The population in the vicinity of smaller regional airports, there is a lot of hindrance from sport flying. There is constant noise nuisance at some thirty regional, military and utility airports. Policy still pays too little attention to the problem.

The noise nuisance can be tackled, among other things, on the basis of the law of 18.7.1973 on combating noise nuisance. From 1.10.1980, no Belgian is allowed. certificates of airworthiness will no longer be issued, nor renewed, for an aircraft that would not meet the established noise standards. The Regie der Luchtwegen (Regie der Luchtwegen) imposes restrictions on night flights.

List of Acronyms Related to Airport