Airports

The airport is an airfield and airline service that comes with vast aptitudes. Primarily,

These airport facilities are available for commercial transportation through the airlines. Apart from this, the Airports frequently have diverse services, especially to park and support aeroplanes and authority observatories. However, the airport is located in an exhaustive landing zone with an aerially attainable unclog area like at slightly function in an operational zone. It includes a runway only for an aeroplane to land take off. Generally, it may usually possess adjoining utility facilities like preventing aeroplanes from contacting towers. More extensive aerodromes might have air traffic control centres, taxiway bridges, passenger facilities, airfield aprons, for instance, cafes, lounges, restaurants, and trouble facilities.

History and Development of Airports

Initially, when aircrafts started, there were fields of grass on which they landed, and on grasses only they had to take off. On these fields, planes were able to approach the ground in the direction favoured by the wind. This field improved into dirt-only fields. This improvement removed the grass and its drag whenever a plane was run on it. The issue with these dirt fields was that they could only work efficiently in dry weather conditions. Following this, concrete surfaces were used that allowed planes to land without any effect of meteorological conditions. 

The world’s oldest airport title is still disputed. In Paris, France, the Toussus-le-Noble airport was developed in 1907. This airport is still operating. In 1909, College Park Airport of Maryland, US, was established. This was established by Wilbur Wright and is only for general aviation traffic. In 1904, Beijing Nanyuan Airport of China only accommodated planes. In 1907, this airport accommodated airships, and finally, it was opened in 1910. However, the operation of this airport ended in September 2019. In Washington, Vancouver, United States, Pearson Field Airport was built in 1905 and accommodated only planes, and in 1911, it started accommodating airships as well. In 1911, Hamburg Airport was opened, and it is still running. This airport is the oldest commercial airport. 

In the late 1920s, lighting was first used on airports and in the 1930s, this came into frequent use. With the help of lighting, planes could indicate the exact angle and direction of descent. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standardised the flash intervals and colours of the lighting used at airports. The approach of the slope-line system came into use in the 1940s. This slope-line system has two rows formed in a funnel shape that indicate the position of aircraft on the glideslope. 

The design of airports was modified and sophisticated after world war II. There were arrangements made like a grouping of runways and passenger buildings that resulted in developing more facilities at airports. This development allowed the passengers to travel a good distance to reach the plane. There were additional lights added that indicated incorrect directions and altitudes. In the 1960s, the development and construction of airports were at a boom. This was because jet aircraft traffic was increasing. Even runways were also extended. There was also an improvement made in the landing field that introduced grooves in the surface. Reinforced concrete was used to construct the fields, and a slip-form machine was also used to make the construction a bit easy. 

Type of Airports

Airports can be categorised into different types based on different factors. 

Based on service

1. If an airport serves only helicopters, it is known as a heliport. 
2. If an airport is used for only amphibious aircraft and seaplanes, it is called a seaplane base. 

Based on the law

1. Commercial Service Airports, which are owned publicly, and a minimum of 2500 passengers are boarding in a calendar year.
2. Cargo Service Airports are served to provide transportation to only cargo with an annual landing weight of a minimum of 100 million pounds. 
3. Reliever Airports relieves Commercial Service Airports and is designated by FAA. They can be either owned publicly or privately. 
4. General Aviation Airports are the remaining airport. In the United States, it is the largest airport of single groups.

Other bases

There is another category of airports that is non-towered and towered. The towered airports feature a control tower for carrying out the operations. Pilots who run on these airports need to maintain radio communication in two ways with the Air Traffic Control. On the other hand, non-towered airports operate without a tower. It does not require any kind of two-way communication. The mode of communication in these airports is via a common frequency. These two types can also be further classified into subcategories:

• Civil Airport (opened to the public)
• Military or Federal Government airports (operated by the military, Federal Government agencies, or NASA)
• Private Airports (For private use only)

Conclusion

Airports make it possible for a country to have efficient airlines and air transport. They are mainly responsible for placing planes and other air transportation modes like helicopters, airships, and more. As of now, all countries have their own airports, and in India, most of the states also have their airports.