page_title: Airport terminal
section_title: Satellite terminals
hierarchical_section_title: Airport terminal / Designs / Satellite terminals
caption_attribution_description: English: Terminal 3, Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Jakarta
context_page_description: 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 their luggage, and go through security. The buildings that provide access to the airplanes are typically called concourses. However, the terms "terminal" and "concourse" are sometimes used interchangeably, depending on the configuration of the airport.
  Smaller airports have one terminal while larger airports have several terminals and/or concourses. At small airports, the single terminal building typically serves all of the functions of a terminal and a concourse.
  Some larger airports have one terminal that is connected to multiple concourses via walkways, sky-bridges, or tunnels. Some larger airports have more than one terminal, each with one or more concourses. Still other larger airports have multiple terminals each of which incorporate the functions of a concourse.
context_section_description: A satellite terminal is a building detached from other airport buildings, so that aircraft can park around its entire circumference. The first airport to use a satellite terminal was London Gatwick Airport. It used an underground pedestrian tunnel to connect the satellite to the main terminal. This was also the first setup at Los Angeles International Airport, but it has since been converted to a pier layout. The first airport to use an automatic people mover to connect the main terminal with a satellite was Tampa International Airport, which is the standard today. Other examples include the following:
  Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport has terminal section called Aeroquai connected by walkways and it's used mostly for short haul regional domestic flights and some International departures when there's no gates available.
  Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport (Terminal 1), Geneva International Airport and London Gatwick Airport (South Terminal) have circular satellite terminals, connected by walkways.
  Lisbon Internacional Airport (Terminal 2) has a small rectangular satellite terminal, connect by a free shuttle service (accessible by Terminal 1, every 10 minutes).
  Orlando International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport have multi-pier satellite terminals.
  Brussels Airport's Pier A is connected to the main building via tunnels and walkways.
  Zurich Airport's Midfield Terminal (Concourse E) is connected to the main terminal via an underground Skymetro.
  London Gatwick Airport's Pier 6 (North Terminal) connects to the main terminal via the world's longest over-taxiway bridge.
  At Logan International Airport in Boston, Terminal A has two sections of gates, one of which is a satellite terminal connected by an underground walkway.
  Denver International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have linear satellite terminals connected by central passages. The linear satellite terminals are connected by automatic people movers. Atlanta's is called the Plane Train. In the Atlanta and Cincinnati airports, underground moving walkways also connect the linear satellite terminals.
  At O'Hare International Airport, Terminal 1 comprises Concourses B and C. Concourse B is adjacent to the airport road and houses United Airlines passenger check-in, baggage claim and security screening landside and aircraft gates on the airside, while Concourse C is a satellite building connected by an underground walkway lit with a neon light show, and an airy and very slow-tempo version of the United theme music "Rhapsody in Blue".
  London Stansted Airport has one main terminal building with three linear satellite terminals all connected to the main terminal by an automated people mover. The airport is currently expanding by adding another satellite building.
  Kuala Lumpur International Airport has a cross-shaped satellite terminal which is used for international flights.
  Cancun International Airport Terminal 2 is an irregular terminal with two concourses, Main building and Satellite building, the latter one being the satellite terminal.
  Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has two rectangular satellite terminals connected by automatic people movers.
  Jinnah International Airport in Karachi has one main terminal, divided into two concourses: the Jinnah East Satellite Concourse, used for international flights, and the Jinnah West Satellite Concourse, used for domestic and some international flights. Both satellite concourses are connected to the main terminals by pedestrian walkways.
  McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas has an X-shaped satellite terminal, named Concourse D, that is connected by two automatic people movers - one from Terminal 1 (which houses Concourses A, B, and C) and one from Terminal 3 (which houses Concourse E). In addition, despite being part of Terminal 1, Concourse C is connected to the rest of the terminal by an automatic people mover. Concourse D is connected to Terminal 3 by an underground walkway that is only used for international 
caption: Departure area of Soekarno–Hatta International Airport Terminal 3, Indonesia
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