page_title: Airport terminal
section_title: Designs
hierarchical_section_title: Airport terminal / Designs
caption_attribution_description: English: Typical design of a terminal, showing the Departures (upper half of page) and Arrivals levels. 1. Departures Lounge. 2. Gates and jet bridges. 3. Security Clearance Gates. 4 Baggage Check-in. 5. Baggage Carousels Deutsch: Typischer Aufbau eines Passagierterminals: Abflugbereich (obere Bildhälfte), Ankunftsbereich (untere Bildhälfte), 1. Wartebereich/ Lounge. 2. Flugsteig und Fluggastbrücken. 3. Sicherheitskontrollen, 4. Check-in und Gepäckabgabe, 5. Gepäckband (-Rückgabe)
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: Due to the rapid rise in popularity of passenger flight, many early terminals were built in the 1930s–1940s and reflected the popular art deco style architecture of the time. One such surviving example from 1940 is the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal. Early airport terminals opened directly onto the tarmac: passengers would walk or take a bus to their aircraft. This design is still common among smaller airports, and even many larger airports have "bus gates" to accommodate aircraft beyond the main terminal.
caption: Typical design of a terminal, showing the Departures (upper half of page) and Arrivals levels. 1. Departures Lounge. 2. Gates and jet bridges. 3. Security Clearance Gates. 4 Baggage Check-in. 5. Baggage carousels
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