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Airport facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Heathrow LON 04 07 77
Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom

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.

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

Images for kids

  • Airport infrastructure

    Sample infrastructure of a typical airport. Larger airports usually contain more runways and terminals.

  • World-airport-map-2008

    Airport distribution as of 2008

  • Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (Ank Kumar, Infosys) 01

    Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport

  • EK tERMINAL 3 Trip 2009 242

    Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (DXB)

  • Solar cells near cargo terminal

    Solar panels at Cochin International Airport, India, the world's first airport to be fully powered by solar energy.

  • KSNA traffic at 7am photo D Ramey Logan

    Commercial jets wait for the "7am hold" to pass before departing from John Wayne Airport in Orange County (Santa Ana), California, on February 14, 2015

  • Gardemoen airport

    Air bridges at Oslo Gardermoen Airport captured from an Icelandair Boeing 757-200

  • BBI 2010-07-23 5

    The Berlin Brandenburg Airport is publicly financed by the states of Berlin and Brandenburg and the Federal Republic of Germany.

  • 2018-04-22-10-39-30-IMG 8270 (47054933302)

    Helsinki–Vantaa Airport's security clearance gates

  • Mumbai 03-2016 114 Airport international terminal interior

    Terminal 2 at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

  • Flughafenkontrolle

    Baggage is scanned using X-ray machines as passengers walk through metal detectors

  • HFX Airport 5

    Food court and shops, Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Canada

  • Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (Ank Kumar) 01

    Duty-free shop at Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore, India

  • Aeroporto Internacional de Guararapes

    Recife International Airport in Recife, Brazil.

  • HFX Airport 4

    The apron from the top floor observation room, Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Canada

  • Bangalore Traffic India Atc Tower Airport Control (48186335651)

    Airport Tower, Kempegowda International Airport

  • Vasi-1

    Standard Visual Approach Slope Indicator

  • ATL TWY B - RWY Crossing (13534655025)

    Airport lighting

  • 2008-07-09 Eureka Airport AWOS viewed from the south

    Automated weather system

  • KLM 777 pushback

    An aircraft tow tractor moving a KLM Boeing 777 at Tokyo Narita

  • 2013-02-22 10-06-11 South Africa Kwa Zulu Natal Tongaat King Shaka International Airport

    Ground operations with a South African Airways Airbus A320-200 at Durban's King Shaka International Airport

  • Altenburg-Nobitz Airport Rosenbauer Panther

    "FLF Panther" airport crash tender in Germany

  • EFKU Terminal 1966 HKMS000005 D234

    Open area near the runway at the Kuopio Airport, in 1966

  • French Air Contingent, NATO Baltic Air-policing

    Fighter aircraft at an airbase in Lithuania

  • Tallinn Airport entrance

    Entrance of Tallinn Airport, also known as Lennart Meri Airport

  • Bosasairp

    The Bender Qassim International Airport in Bosaso, Somalia (2007).

  • New Orleans postcard Moissant Airport 1960s

    The New Orleans International Airport passenger terminal building in New Orleans (1960s).

  • Mariehamn Airport

    The Mariehamn Airport in Jomala, Åland (2009).

  • Washington Dulles International Airport at Dusk

    Washington Dulles International Airport, ostensibly the setting for Die Hard 2; the movie was actually filmed at Los Angeles International Airport

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Aeropuerto para niños

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