21 Unheard Airport Facts That Will Make You Take Off!

Airports are airdromes with extensive facilities for transportation through air.

Airports are where aircraft are parked, landed, repaired, and more. Aircraft with travelers and freight fly for transportation from airports.

Aircraft fly domestically, which is flying from one point of the country to another point within the country. International flights fly from one point of one country to another country.

Usually, airports have one runway or more, terminals, taxiways, control power center(s), parking space(s), and more areas for servicing the aircraft and passengers - all depending on the scale of the establishment.

Read on to know more unheard facts about airports and if you like this article, then check out Agra Fort facts and Ahmose facts.

History Of The First Airport

There is some debate on which is the first-built airport, the answer depends on how you look at the given information.

The College Park Airport of Maryland, United States, is thought to be the oldest continuously working airport still in function. Hamburg Airport of Hamburg, Germany, is considered the second-oldest commercial airport still in function.

The College Park Airport was built in 1909 by Wilbur Wright, the elder of the Wright Brothers. The airport has even been included in the National Register of Historic Places. The airport only serves general aviation traffic and has just one runway, which is 2,600 ft (792.5 m) in length and 60 ft (18.3 m) in width.

Beijing Nanyuan Airport of Beijing, China, was built in 1904, then expanded to accommodate airships in 1907. The airport opened in 1910, and it closed in September of 2019.

That's why the second-oldest commercial airport still in function is the Hamburg Airport of Hamburg, Germany, as it opened in January of 1911. Around 115 international and domestic airlines carry around 13 million people to more than 60 destinations from Hamburg Airport every year.

The Pearson Field Airport located in Vancouver, Washington in the United States is an airfield still in operation. It was established in 1905 to accommodate planes and in 1911 to accommodate airships, however, it didn't become an official airfield until later.

Busiest Airport In The World

The busiest airports of the world are measured by the number of passengers or travelers the airport gets every year.

Currently, the busiest airports in the world are Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Beijing Capital International Airport, London Heathrow, Dubai International Airport, and a few more.

However, recently, the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was the busiest airport of the year 2020, while most other airports did not see much action due to the pandemic.

The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, located in Atlanta, Georgia, has been ranked as one of the busiest passenger airports in the world from the year 1998. The airport has five runways that carry millions of passengers every year.

It's not only the largest structure and employer of Atlanta, but it's also within a two-hour flight distance from 80% of the commercial population of the country.

Beijing Capital International Airport is also one of the busiest airports in the world in recent times. It's also the only airport in the Pacific-Asian region to have two towers, three runways, and three terminals that operate simultaneously to carry millions of passengers every year.

Dubai International Airport is the busiest airport in the world to have only two runways. It has won 44 Paramount International awards from 1996.

Main Components Of Airports

There are two types of airports - towered ones and non-towered ones. However, the main components that make up an airport are hanger, terminal building, taxiway, parking, control tower, apron, and runway.

Control towers are the place where people inside the building communicate with the pilots on the airlines that leave from the particular airport. The communication helps them with keeping the air traffic in an orderly way to avoid any incidents and accidents. However, non-towered airports don't have control towers.

The hanger is the part where people do the servicing and repairing work of an aircraft.

All the administrative work takes place at the terminal buildings.

Taxiways are the paths that connect the ends of a runway to the terminals.

Parking space is located outside the actual airport building, which is actually built for the benefit of the passengers and airport staff to park their personal vehicles.

The runway is the paved path where the landing and takeoff of a flight take place.

The apron is the parking place for aircraft.

The airports also serve to earn money for many businesses, like a restaurant, cafes, gift shops, and more.

There are also seagoing airbases called air carriers, which are actually warships with flight decks and places for recovering, arming, deploying, landing, and even for the takeoff of aircraft.

Working Of An Airport

Airports are self-owned, and they operate, pay their taxes, and make money by leasing to airlines, aircraft fueling services, retail shops and services, air-freight companies, parking, airline ticket fees and taxes, and more.

Most of the time, the government owns these airports and regulates and controls all of these operations, like the Federal Aviation Administration, which is the largest transportation agency of the United States Government. It regulates all operations of domestic and international civil aviation.

There are mainly two types of airports - towered airports and non-towered airports. Towered airports are usually operated through air traffic control.

These airports have operating control towers. Air traffic control provides expeditious, orderly, and safe traffic flow by constantly communicating with the pilots of an airline. Two-way communication is needed for the pilots to follow every order coming from the control tower or to tell them if they are unable to follow the orders for some reason.

Non-towered airports don't have control towers, so pilots don't need to keep a two-way communication, but they are still required to transmit their intentions to a specific frequency to keep orderly airline traffic. They communicate with the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency. These deal with a low flow of freight or travelers, basically light aircraft.

Did you know?

There are some bizarre airports that can spook you out, and there are some with the world's best amenities that will make you want to stay there forever.

Did you know a man lived in an airport for 18 years! Here are some more fun facts on airports.

The United States wins the title for having the most number of airports with around 20,000 airports.

Surprisingly, even in this day of technological advances, five countries still do not have even a single airport - San Marino, Liechtenstein, Vatican City, Monaco, and Andorra.

The highest-altitude airport in the world, Daocheng Yading Airport, is located at Daocheng County of Sichuan province, China at an elevation of 14,472 ft (4,411 m).

The lowest-altitude airport in the world, Bar Yehuda Airfield, is located at the shore of the Dead Sea, Israel. It's situated at around 1,240 ft (378 m) below sea level.

The largest airport on the planet is the King Fahd International Airport, which is located in Dammam of Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the smallest airport is the Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, located at Saba, the Dutch Caribbean Island.

Edward O'Hare was a decorated pilot that shot down nine airplanes in World War Two. The Orchard Depot Airport was renamed to O'Hare International Airport six years after the death of the man.

The John F. Kennedy International Airport was actually built on the previous Idlewild Beach Golf Course. That's why it was named Idlewild Airport when it first opened.

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