Airport service function

This involves all the services that are provided at airports.  Airports are special places. There are a number of reasons that makes them special and different to other more common facilities.

A large number of air planes come and land at the airport usually after flying for several hours (sometimes as long as 8 or 10 hours), usually stay for a short time and then again take to the air for another long flight.

Picture source:www.weknowyourdreams.com

A large number of people come into the airport, stay for a short time and then go out. They include passengers who get off the flights that land, passengers who come to catch flights, people who come to pick up or drop off passengers, people who work at the airport, visitors, and many others.

Louis Armstrong International Airport, New Orleans USA (Picture source: www.nola.com)

An airport is a large extent of land. A lot of land is required to accommodate all the infrastructure (runways, taxi ways, aprons etc.) and facilities (terminal buildings, car parks etc.) required to serve aircraft and airport users.

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 Arial view of Heathrow Airport, London UK (Picture source: www.dailymail.co.uk)

Airports have a lot of specialized and sophisticated equipment installed within the premises. They include the equipment used to screen passengers and baggage, equipment used for communication and to aid navigation, equipment used to condition the internal environment like air conditioners, heaters, lighting systems etc., equipment used for generating standby power, disposal of waste, maintenance of runways, and prevention of fire and so on. Not many other facilities require such a large number of diverse equipment at a single location.

Airports generally work round the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Unlike many other business places where you open in the morning and close in the evening, an airport never closes and provides continuous services.

Night view of Kansai Airport (Picture source: www.panoramio.com)

Due to these reasons, operating an airport safely and efficiently is a big task. It requires a large number of people who are trained to perform specialized tasks. Then the tasks performed by different people must be properly coordinated. Quick decisions must be made during an emergency because a large number of people will be affected. So, the airport service function must ensure all these.

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