Area at an airport used by aircraft for parking, loading, fueling, and maintenance
The apron area of
Vienna International Airport
Airbus A380-800
operated by
Qatar Airways
on apron outside
Heathrow Terminal 4
with
jet bridges
and a wide range of
ground handling equipment
around such as aircraft container, pallet loader,
ULD
, jet air starter, belt loader,
pushback tug
, catering vehicles, and dollies.
The apron at
Anguilla Wallblake Airport
clogged with
business jets
The
airport apron
,
apron
,
flight line
, or
ramp
is the area of an
airport
where
aircraft
are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded, or maintained.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehicles, it is typically more accessible to users than the
runway
or
taxiway
. However, the apron is not usually open to the general public, and a permit may be required to gain access. An apron's designated areas for aircraft parking are called aircraft
stands
.
[4]
By extension, the term
apron
is also used to identify the air traffic control (ATC) position responsible for coordinating movement on this surface at busier airports.
[
citation needed
]
When the aerodrome control tower does not have control over the apron, the use of the apron may be controlled by an apron management service
[5]
[6]
(also known as apron control or apron advisory) to provide coordination between the users. Apron control allocates aircraft parking stands (gates) and communicates this information to
tower or ground control
and to
airline handling agents
; it also authorises vehicle movements where they could conflict with taxiing aircraft such as outside of painted road markings.
[7]
The authority responsible for the aprons is also responsible for relaying to ATC information about the apron conditions such as water, snow, construction or maintenance works on or adjacent to the apron, temporary hazards such as birds or parked vehicles, systems failure etc.
[3]
Procedures should be established for a coordinated information provision between the aircraft, vehicle, apron control unit and ATC to facilitate the orderly transition of aircraft between the apron management unit and the aerodrome control tower.
[5]
[8]
The apron is designated by the
ICAO
as not being part of the
maneuvering area
but included in the
movement area
.
[3]
Aircraft stand taxilanes
(providing access to aircraft stands) and apron taxiways (taxi routes across the apron) are located on the apron.
[3]
All vehicles, aircraft and people using the apron are referred to as apron traffic.
[6]
Other terms
[
edit
]
Flight line
[
edit
]
The US military typically refers to the apron area as the flight line.
[6]
The
RAAF
also uses the term flight line.
Tarmac
[
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]
The apron at airports is sometimes informally called the tarmac,
[6]
even though most of these areas are
paved
with
concrete
, not
tarmac
.
[9]
Specific materials used include
asphalt concrete
(which itself is often inexactly called "tarmac", adding to the confusion), porous friction course, and
Portland cement
concrete.
[10]
Ramp
[
edit
]
In the
United States
, the word
ramp
is an older term for an area where pre-flight activities were done; an
apron
was any area for parking and maintenance.
Passenger gates
are the main feature of a terminal ramp. The word
apron
is the ICAO and
FAA
terminology (the word
ramp
is not), so the word
ramp
is not used with this meaning outside the US,
Canada
, the
Maldives
, and the
Philippines
.
IATA
cites
ramp
as an equivalent term to
apron
.
[2]
For
seaplanes
, a
ramp
is used to access the apron/
seaplane base
from the water.
[6]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
FAA Advisory Circular 120-57A
? See page 2 for definition of
Apron (Ramp)
.
- ^
a
b
"IATA Reference Manual (IRM) for Audit Programs 11th edition"
.
IATA.org
. International Air Transport Association. Archived from
the original
on 2 May 2021
. Retrieved
2 May
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Doc 4444 Procedures for Air Navigation Services ? Air Traffic Management (PANS-ATM)"
(PDF)
.
OPS Group
. 2016. p. 23, 30, 147. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 6 May 2021
. Retrieved
2 May
2021
.
- ^
Certification Specifications (CS) and Guidance Material (GM) for Aerodromes Design CS-ADR-DSN
(PDF)
, European Aviation Safety Agency, 27 February 2014, p. 5,
'Aircraft stand' means a designated area on an apron intended to be used for parking an aircraft.
- ^
a
b
International Civil Aviation Organization (2018).
"ICAO Annex 14, Aerodromes - Volume 1, Aerodrome Design and Operations"
(PDF)
. International Civil Aviation Organization. pp. 27, 229?230
. Retrieved
2 May
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Kumar, Bharat; DeRemer, Dale; Marshall, Douglas M. (2004).
An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation
. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 69.
ISBN
978-0-07-139606-6
.
- ^
Smith, David (2015).
Air Traffic Control Handbook
(10th ed.). Manchester: Crecy. p. 126.
ISBN
978-08597-91830
.
- ^
Runway and Ground Safety Working Group (21 November 2018).
"Implementation of Aerodrome Safety Priorities and Objectives in the MID Region: APRON MANAGEMENT ? DRAFT REGIONAL SAFETY ADVISORY"
(PDF)
. Cairo, Egypt: International Civil Aviation Organization. p. 14.
- ^
"It's NOT A Tarmac! Airline Terminology"
.
Aerosavvy
. 14 July 2014
. Retrieved
2 May
2021
.
- ^
Jack A. Scott (May 1999).
"CONSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR AIRPORT PAVEMENTS"
(PDF)
.
FAA
. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION NORTHWEST MOUNTAIN REGION. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on September 6, 2015.
External links
[
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]