Airport shuttle

An airport bus, or airport shuttle bus or airport shuttle is a bus used to transport people to and from, or within airports. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and incorporate special branding. They are also commonly (but not always) painted with bright colours to stand out among other airport vehicles and to be easily seen by the crews of taxiing aircraft when negotiating the aprons.

Airport buses have been in use since the 1960s, when nationalised operator British European Airways employed the archetypal London red AEC Routemaster buses in a blue and white livery with luggage trailers on service to Heathrow Airport.

On airport transfer

Airport buses (or Apron passenger buses) are primarily used as a means of passenger transportation between airport terminals and remote aircraft parking positions. They might be operated either by Airport Authority, Airline or a third party operator.

Airside transfer

In the cases where airports do not use a jet bridge, has too few of them, for long distance transfers or for reasons of safety, passengers will be transferred from the airport terminal arrival or departure gate to the aircraft using an airside transfer bus or apron bus.

Airside transfer buses can be of normal bus design, or due to not running on the public highway, can be extra long and wide, to hold the maximum number of passengers. Sometimes a trailer bus is employed. Transfer buses are usually fitted with minimal or no seating, with passengers standing for the journey. Sometimes for larger aircraft a coach is used to ferry customers to or from the terminal as coaches hold more people. Transfer buses will usually be fitted with flashing beacons for operating airside near runways. They may also feature driving cabs at both ends.

Washington Dulles airport uses mobile lounges with a liftable passenger cabin for airside transfer; they work as a combination of an airside bus and a jet bridge.

There are two leading manufacturers of purpose built airport buses: Mallaghan Engineering LTD from Northern Ireland and Cobus industries GmbH.

Terminal transfer

In cases where the airport features multiple terminals which are far apart or not physically connected, and where there exists no people mover or other transfer alternative, a zero-fare transfer bus may be employed to transfer connecting passengers from one terminal to another. Terminal transfer may also be incorporated into public transport bus networks.

Car park transfer

In cases where the airport owned or affiliated car parks are large or relatively far from the terminal building, the airport owner or contractor may provide free car park shuttle buses making circular or shuttle runs between terminals and car park bus stands.

Off airport transfer

Third-party companies offering services to airline passengers may also operate buses as part of their business, with pick-up and drop off points near the airport terminal, and extra luggage space. These usually comprise:

* Off airport car parking services. These car park providers provide cheap car-parking some distance from the airport, by transferring passengers in shuttle buses. These can be anywhere from luxury coaches, full size buses or minibuses, sometimes fitted with luggage trailers.
* Car rental companies. Often, car rental providers will have their vehicles stored off-site, and transfer customers in regular buses.
* Airport hotels will often offer a complimentary airport bus service, to entice guests to stay at their property.

Public bus services

Several public transport operations may include airport focused services, such as:

Intermodal shuttle buses

Some transport companies may provide shuttle buses between railway stations and airports, with transit buses fitted for extra luggage space. These are sometimes supported financially by the airport or railway company. In England, Durham Tees Valley Airport contracted Arriva North East bus company to provide a free shuttle bus for airport passengers, and railway operator Govia Thameslink Railway operates a fare paying shuttle bus from Luton Airport Parkway railway station to Luton Airport.

In addition, some airlines run bus services from a city's bus terminal to an airport or, in other cases, connecting two airports whose cities' population sizes are deemed too small for them to have air service between each other. One example of the former is Singapore Airlines' bus service from downtown Newark, New Jersey

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases