Airport facts for kids
An airport is a special place where airplanes can land safely and take off into the sky. Think of it as a big station for planes! Most airports have a long, flat area called a runway where planes speed up to take off or slow down after landing.
Airports also have many important buildings. Some buildings, called terminals, are where passengers wait for their flights or collect their luggage. The specific areas where you get on or off your plane are called "gates." There are also large buildings called hangars, which are like garages for planes, keeping them safe when they are not flying. Some airports even have a tall control tower where air traffic controllers guide planes and tell them where to go.
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Types of Airports
There are different kinds of airports for different needs:
- An international airport is a very large airport. From here, planes can fly to and from other countries all around the world. These airports often have lots of shops and restaurants for travelers.
- A domestic airport is usually smaller. Planes flying from a domestic airport only travel to other places within the same country.
- An airport used by the military is often called an air force base or airbase. It's where military planes are kept and operated. Did you know an aircraft carrier is like a floating airbase on the sea?
Airport Safety and Security
Airports are designed and run with a big focus on safety. This is to make sure everyone is safe and secure while traveling.
Checking for Safety
When you go through an airport, you'll see many safety measures:
- You will walk through a metal detector. This machine can sense if you have metal items on you. If it beeps, officers might ask you to remove metal things like belts or keys.
- Your luggage will go through X-ray machines. These machines can see inside your bags without opening them. This helps officers check for things that are not allowed on planes, like weapons. If they find something dangerous, the item and the person carrying it will be stopped.
- Passengers are not allowed to bring large bottles of liquid (over 100 ml) onto the plane. This rule is in place to prevent any dangerous liquids from being carried on board. So, remember to empty your water bottles before you go through security!
Related pages
- List of airports in Japan
- Float Incorporated (developers of floating airports and Pneumatic Stabilized Platform (PSP))
Images for kids
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Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (DXB)
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Air bridges at Oslo Gardermoen Airport captured from an Icelandair Boeing 757-200
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Helsinki–Vantaa Airport's security clearance gates
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Terminal 2 at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
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Baggage is scanned using X-ray machines as passengers walk through metal detectors
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Shahjalal International Airport's VIP Terminal, Dhaka, Bangladesh
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Recife International Airport in Recife, Brazil.
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An aircraft tow tractor moving a KLM Boeing 777 at Tokyo Narita
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Ground operations with a South African Airways Airbus A320-200 at Durban's King Shaka International Airport
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Fighter aircraft at an airbase in Lithuania
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The New Orleans International Airport passenger terminal building in New Orleans (1960s).
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The Mariehamn Airport in Jomala, Åland (2009).
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Washington Dulles International Airport, ostensibly the setting for Die Hard 2; the movie was actually filmed at Los Angeles International Airport
See also
In Spanish: Aeropuerto para niños