Gate (airport)

A gate is an area in an airport terminal that controls access to a passenger aircraft. While the exact specifications vary from airport to airport and country to country, most gates consist of a seated waiting area, a counter and a doorway leading to the aircraft. A gate adjacent to the stand where the aircraft is parked may be a ''contact gate'', providing access by way of a jet bridge, or a ''ground-loaded gate'', providing a path for passengers to leave the building to board via mobile stairs or airstairs built into the aircraft itself. A ''remote gate'' serves an aircraft stand further away, providing access to ground transportation to move passengers between the gate and the stand, where they board via stairs.

Each gate typically corresponds to one parking stand on the airport's apron. A gate that provides access to multiple stands may have separate, designated doorways – sometimes termed ''sub-gates'' – for each stand. Commercial airport stands have airside components to facilitate passenger boarding and aircraft ground handling.

While the term ''gate'' precisely refers only to the point of access for passengers, and the area where the aircraft itself is parked is precisely termed an ''aircraft stand'', in commercial passenger aviation the term ''gate'' is also used to refer to the gate and aircraft stand together as a single area.

Customs and immigration controls

United States

At most domestic gates, a single doorway connects the passenger waiting area with the jet bridge. International gates have a second doorway that leads to customs. For international arrivals from airports without preclearance, the door leading to the waiting area is closed and passengers are directed through the second doorway to customs.

Jet bridge vs airstair

Before the era of the jet bridge or jetway, airline passengers embarked onto the aircraft from ground level via airstairs. If initially indoors, passengers would exit the waiting area through a door to the outside and then passengers would proceed to the airstairs leading to the aircraft door. This method is still used for boarding smaller planes or boarding at smaller airports.

Ownership

The equipment is either airport or airline property, in most cases airport infrastructure.

Gallery

File:Hong_Kong_International_Airport%2C_Terminal_1%2C_Boarding_gate_521_and_522.jpg, Gate 521 and 522 at Hong Kong International Airport
File:Luxurious gate at Terminal of Larnaca International Airport in the Republic of Cyprus.jpg, Gate at Larnaca International Airport
File:Nagoya Airport view from promenade.jpg, Gates at Chūbu Centrair International Airport
File:HAJ-Zugang Flugsteige.jpg, Entrance to gates at Hanover/Langenhagen International Airport
File:AVLgates.jpg, Gates B2 and B3 at Asheville Regional Airport
File:Tijterminal2.JPG, Gates at Tijuana International Airport
File:Departure sign at gate at airport.jpg, Sign at Gate E14 at Terminal E at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
File:Inside Concourse C.jpg, Gates in Concourse C of Washington Dulles International Airport
File:DEN-A31.JPG, A Frontier Airlines gate A31 in Concourse A at Denver International Airport
File:Suvarnabhumi Airport inside.jpg, Gate D5 in Concourse D at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand
File:Berlin brandenburg airport terminal 1 gate A34.jpg, Gate A34 at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport
File:Gatwick Airport Gate.jpg, EasyJet at gate, at Gatwick Airport

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gate (Airport)
Types of gates
Airport infrastructure