History
During World War I, aircraft demonstrated their capabilities and superiority over all other vehicles, ushering in the aviation industry. Early aircraft were designed to land and take off from short airstrips, most of which were located in farmer's fields. Investors and business people were soon attracted to aircraft as an exceptional way to transport mail and light goods. Farmers' fields were the best area for aircraft operations at the time because farmers spent the entire day there and could inform pilots about the weather and landing conditions; a small reception area for passengers was also included at these fields.
Multiple private investors started mail service airlines in the United States, and Europe also engaged in the contest of manufacturing aeroplanes. The war also produced skilled pilots and a plethora of maintenance plans to improve the efficiency of air transportation. During World War I, most roads and railways in Europe were destroyed, and aircraft appeared to be the swiftest and most efficient mode of transportation. Several European governments subsidized airports in London, Paris, and Berlin, as well as railway stations, at the time.
However, due to a lack of weather and navigation information on board, things were not so simple. Within the first six years, 31 of the 40 pilots hired by airlines were killed in crashes. There were approximately 40 small airlines in the United States in 1929, and mail service demanded a national system to increase demand for airmail express. The government intended to build an airport when transatlantic international air travel began from New York to Paris. In 1923, Germany led the world in the construction of a permanent airport. However, until 1929, when the runway concept was introduced, it was unclear how an airport should look and what should be included.
Airports in London had a runway, flight communication radio operators, and terminal buildings with telescopic canopies for shifting passengers to and from the terminal in 1936. La Guardia International Airport was the world's most advanced international airport in the 1940s, where international flights were operated on seaplanes and domestic flights were operated on land-based aircraft. The airport has separate sections for arrivals and departures, with the departure section including coffee shops, restaurants, and shops. The New York Airport quickly became a city hotspot, with numerous restaurants and shops opening for passengers and plane spotters.
The demand for air travel increased after World War II when aircraft begin to grow and carried more passengers and cargo. Airports of early design were not able to handle many flight loads, the increased size of aircraft demanded a longer runway and more facilities. The John F. Kennedy International Airport took the airport concept to a new level with the airport city concept where each airline has its hub, huge terminal, longer runways, and even the airport has its police department. The control towers began to grow and become more advanced with the evolution of communication technology.
When the aviation industry entered the jet age in 1958, larger planes and more passengers demanded a more sophisticated airport concept. An international airport required multiple terminals, runways, efficient air traffic control, and scheduling.
Modern international airports are among the most significant buildings because they serve as economic hubs for the city or the entire country. Heavy air traffic is totally managed by advanced airport facilities capable of accommodating the requirements of the crew, passengers, and cargo, as well as the broad range of aircraft types that have evolved to meet the needs of modern air transport and general aviation. Many different aviation courses were designed to prepare professionals for taking airport job responsibilities.
Over 100 airports around the world manage at least 10 million passengers per year, with the United States accounting for nearly half of these. Several airports handle more than 30 million passengers per year, and nearly a dozen, ranging from Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport in the United States to London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom to Beijing Capital International Airport in China, handle more than 50 million. Memphis (Tennessee) International Airport, the hub airport of FedEx Corporation's cargo service, and Hong Kong International Airport are the world's biggest air cargo shippers, handling roughly four million tonnes of cargo in 2007.
Large transport planes powered by two or more jet and turboprop engines have been developed to meet the growing demands for air travel. Such aircraft necessitate extensive ground infrastructure, including runways, taxiways, firefighting services, passenger- and cargo-handling facilities, connection to parking and public transportation, illumination, navigation equipment and approach assistance, and numerous related services such as catering, weather forecasting, and governmental safety checks. To be appealingly advantageous, the structure of activities and facilities that comprise a sophisticated international airport must be located sufficiently close to the world's major population centres.
Simultaneously, they must be sufficiently sorted so that the environmental problems associated with large aircraft noise, greenhouse gas emissions and the operations of large numbers of passengers, workers, and guests do not become unbearable to the cities served.
Modern airports
Physical infrastructure encompass runways, taxiways, aprons, and airstrips, that are used for aircraft ascent and descent, aircraft navigating and positioning on the ground, and aircraft parking to board and onboard passengers and cargo. Lighting and radio navigational aids are facilitated to ensure the safe landing and takeoff of aircraft at night or low visibility. Airfield markings, indications, and signals, as well as air traffic control equipment, supplement these. On the airside of the airport, assistive technologies involve meteorology, fire and rescue, power and other utility services, aircraft maintenance, and airport maintenance.
The passenger and cargo terminals, as well as the access system, includes car parking, roads, urban transport facilities, and loading and unloading areas.
The operation of a modern airport encompasses many agencies. The facility's as a whole is usually managed under the control of an organisation, authority, or company that has a licence to operate it. This license is issued subject to national civil aviation authorities determining that the managerial body is qualified and competent to operate an airport in accordance with national and, international laws governing safety and procedures. Airport management is accountable for the overall efficiency, safety, and legal operation, many independent services at an airport are provided by other ground handling agencies.
Airlines, air traffic control agencies, ground handling companies, fixed-base contractors, vendors, security forces, government entities in charge of customs, immigration, health control, and police, endorse companies offering flight catering, fueling, aircraft engineering, and maintenance, aero clubs, and flying schools are examples of such organisations. Since the early 1980s, when privatisation began to spread through civil aviation, terminal-operation businesses, such as those that own terminals in Birmingham, England, Brussels, and Toronto, have become more prevalent such as Dnata, and Swissport.
Airside refers to airport operations that are linked to aircraft. Most of these services are focused on the apron, also known as the ramp, and is part of the operational ground located close to the terminals where aircraft are maneouvred or parked. They entail aircraft apron management, airside passenger transfer to the aircraft, baggage and air cargo, aircraft refuelling, foodservice and cabin sanitising, engine starting, deicing, ground power and air conditioning, as well as minor maintenance engineering known as line maintenance. Runway examination, illumination and navigational aids, fire fighting and rescue, airside maintenance, and air traffic control are among the other airside facilities.
Check-in, border control, immigration and customs, checked bags delivery, wayfinding and flight schedules, catering, cleaning services, shops and concessionary facilities, airport cab service, local transport, attendants, special assistance for the senior citizen and people with disabilities, motor vehicle parking, and public transportation are among the landside services. Furthermore, since airports employ such a great amount of people, comprehensive arrangements must be created for their everyday necessities.
Airports earn money from airlines and other ground handling agencies, typically airport revenue is divided into aeronautical revenues and nonaeronautical revenues. Aeronautical revenues are associated with the air carrier, passenger, and cargo operations, whereas non-aeronautical revenues include commercial revenues from channels such as land lease, duty-free, department stores, parking charges, and other commercial activities. Modern airports such as London Heathrow and Singapore Changi Airport generate an immense amount of nonaeronautical revenues by providing facilities such as spas, cinemas, food courts, resting areas, barbershops and even artificial gardens.
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