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UNIT II

TRAVELLING BY AIR

Before you read…

Have you ever travelled by air?

Do you consider air travel more convenient than travelling by train? Why?

 

 Text 1.                                          AIRPORT

An airport is a facility where aircraft can take off and land. At the very minimum, an airport consists of one runway (or helipad), but other common components are hangars and terminal buildings. Apart from these, an airport may have a variety of facilities and infrastructure, including fixed base operator services, air traffic control, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services. The terms airfield and airstrip may also be used to refer to a facility that has nothing more than a runway.

Airports vary in size, with smaller or less-developed airports often having only a single runway shorter than 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Larger airports for international flights generally have paved runways 2,000 m (6,600 ft) or longer. Many small airports have dirt, grass, or gravel runways, rather than asphalt or concrete.

The longest public-use runway in the world is at Ulyanovsk-Vostochny International Airport, in Ulyanovsk, Russia. It has a length of 16,404ft.

Airports are divided into landside and airside areas. Landside areas include parking lots, tank, farms and access roads. Airside areas include all areas accessible to aircraft, including runways, taxiways and ramps. Access from landside areas to airside areas is tightly controlled at most airports. Passengers on commercial flights access airside areas through terminals, where they can purchase tickets, clear security, check or claim luggage and board aircraft. The waiting areas which provide passenger access to aircraft are typically called concourses, although this term is often used interchangeably with terminal.

The area where aircraft park next to a terminal to load passengers and baggage is known as a ramp. Parking areas for aircraft away from terminals are generally called aprons.

Both large and small airports can be towered or uncontrolled, depending on air traffic density and available funds. Due to their high capacity and busy airspace, most international airports have air traffic control located on site.

Customs facilities for international flights define an international airport, and often require a more conspicuous level of physical security. International airports generally have a complex of buildings where passengers can embark on airliners, and where cargo can be stored and loaded.

The largest international airports are often located next to freeways or are served by their own freeways. Often, traffic is fed into two access roads, designed as loops, one sitting on top of the other. One level is for departing passengers and the other is for arrivals. Many airports also have light rail lines or other mass transit systems directly connected to the main terminals.

Most international airports have shops and food courts. These services usually provide the passengers food and drinks before they get on to their flight. Many recognizable chain food restaurants have opened branches in large airports to serve often hungry passengers.

International areas usually have a duty-free shop where travellers are not required to pay the usual duty fees on items. Larger airlines often operate member-only lounges for premium passengers.

Airports have a captive audience, and consequently the prices charged for food is generally higher than are available elsewhere in the region. However, some airports now regulate food costs to keep them comparable to so-called "street prices".

In addition to people, airports are responsible for moving large volumes of cargo around the clock. Cargo airlines often have their own on-site and adjacent infrastructure to rapidly transfer parcels between ground and air modes of transportation.

The earliest airplane landing sites were simply open, grassy fields. The plane could approach at any angle that provided a favorable wind direction. Early airfields were often built for the purpose of entertainment. These aerodromes consisted of a grassy field, with hangar for storage and servicing of airplanes, and observation stands for the visitors.

Increased aircraft traffic during World War I led to the construction of regular landing fields. Airplanes had to approach these from certain directions. This led to the development of aids for directing the approach and landing slope.

Following the war, some of these military airfields added commercial facilities for handling passenger traffic. One of the earliest such fields was Le Bourget, near Paris. The first international airport to open was the Croydon Airport, in South London. In 1922, the first permanent airport and commercial terminal solely for commercial aviation was built at Konigsberg, Germany. The airports of this era used a paved "apron", which permitted night flying as well as landing heavier airplanes.

The first lighting used on an airport was during the later part of the 1920s; in the 1930s approach lighting came into use. These indicated the proper direction and angle of descent. In the 1940s, the slope-line approach system was introduced. This consisted of two rows of lights that formed a funnel indicating an aircraft's position on the glideslope. Additional lights indicated incorrect altitude and direction.

Following World War II, airport design began to become more sophisticated. Passenger buildings were being grouped together in an island, with runways arranged in groups about the terminal. This arrangement permitted expansion of the facilities. But it also meant that passengers had to travel further to reach their plane.

Airports are required to have safety precautions in most countries. Rules vary in different countries, but there are common elements worldwide. Airport security normally requires baggage checks, metal screenings of individual persons, and rules against any object that could be used as a weapon. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, airport security has been dramatically increased worldwide.

Outside the terminal, there is a large team of people who work in concert to ensure aircraft can land, take off, and move around quickly and safely. These processes are largely invisible to passengers, but they can be extraordinarily complex at large airports.

Air traffic control (or АТС) is system whereby ground-based controllers direct aircraft movements, usually via radio. This coordinated oversight facilitates safety and speed in complex operations where traffic moves in all three dimensions. Air traffic control responsibilities at airports are usually divided into two main areas: ground and tower.

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, and a wide array of 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 take off it will stop short of the runway, at which point it will be turned over to Tower Control. After a plane has landed, it will depart the runway and be returned to Ground Control.

Tower Control controls aircraft on the runway and in the controlled airspace immediately surrounding the airport. Tower controllers use radar to identify and accurately locate an aircraft's position in three-dimensional space. 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 and do not disrupt operations.

Before takeoff, pilots usually check an Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) for information about airport conditions where they exist. The ATIS contains information about weather, which runway and traffic patterns are in use, and other information that pilots should be aware of.

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 is white lights spaced out on both sides of the runway, indicating the edge.

Along taxiways, blue lights indicate the taxiway's edge, and some airports have embedded green lights that indicate the centerline.

Planes take-off and land into the wind in order to achieve maximum performance.

Air safety is an important concern in the operation of an airport, and almost every airfield includes equipment and procedures for handling emergency situations. Commercial airfields include one or more emergency vehicles and their crew that are specially equipped for dealing with airfield accidents, crew and passenger extractions, and the hazards of highly flammable airplane fuel. The crews are also trained to deal with situations such as bomb threats, hijacking, and terrorist activities.

Potential airfield hazards to aircraft include debris, nesting birds, and environmental conditions such as ice or snow. The fields must be kept clear of debris using cleaning equipment so that loose material doesn't become a projectile and enter an engine duct. Similar concerns apply to birds nesting near an airfield, and crews often need to discourage birds from taking up residence. In adverse weather conditions, ice and snow clearing equipment can be used to improve traction on the landing strip. For waiting aircraft, equipment is used to spray special deicing fluids on the wings.

The traffic generated by airports both in the air and on the surface can be a major source of aviation noise and air pollution which may interrupt nearby residents' sleep or, in extreme cases, be harmful to their health. The construction of new airports, or addition of runways to existing airports, is often resisted by local residents because of the effect on the countryside, historical sites, local flora and fauna. As well, due to the risk of collision between birds and airplanes, large airports undertake population control programs where they frighten or shoot birds to ensure the safety of air travellers.

The construction of airports has been known to change local weather patterns. For example, because they often flatten out large areas, they can be susceptible to fog in areas where fog rarely forms. In addition, because they generally replace trees and grass with pavement, they often change drainage patterns in agricultural areas, leading to more flooding, run-off and erosion in the surrounding land.

In the view of aforesaid we can come to the following conclusion that airports are very complicated and sophisticated but interesting phenomena in our life that on the one hand make our trips comfortable, convenient and exciting and on the other hand are considered an extremely dangerous business.

WHAT TO DO:

1. Give the Russian equivalents for the following words and word combinations:

Air traffic control, paved runways, parking lots, tank farms, access roads, clear security, air control density, customs facilities, land into the wind.