A gate is an area in an

airport terminal An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer t ...

that controls access to a

passenger aircraft An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ai ...

. 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 A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...

, 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 An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

. 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 In aviation, aircraft ground handling defines the servicing of an aircraft while it is on the ground and (usually) parked at a Gate (airport), terminal gate of an airport. Overview Many airlines subcontract ground handling to airports, han ...

. 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

or jetway, airline passengers embarked onto the aircraft from ground level via

airstair An airstair is a set of steps built into an aircraft so that passengers may board and alight the aircraft. The stairs are often built into a clamshell-style door on the aircraft. Airstairs eliminate the need for passengers to use a mobile st ...

s. 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 Hannover Airport is the international airport of Hanover, capital of the German state of Lower Saxony. The ninth largest airport in Germany, it is in Langenhagen, north of the centre of Hanover. The airport has flights to European metropol ...

File:AVLgates.jpg, Gates B2 and B3 at Asheville Regional Airport File:Tijterminal2.JPG, Gates at

Tijuana International Airport General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional General Abelardo L. Rodríguez) or simply Tijuana International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional de Tijuana), , in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, is ...

File:Departure sign at gate at airport.jpg, Sign at Gate E14 at Terminal E at

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , also known as Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport, Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield, Hartsfield–Jackson and, formerly, as the Atlanta Municipal Airport, is the primary internatio ...

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 EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...

at gate, at

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

References

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