Air travel vocabulary 50

Here is some vocabulary about airports and air travel.

Parts of an airport:

a duty-free shop
a shop in an airport where you don't have to pay taxes on the goods you buy

a departure lounge
the part of an airport where you wait until you get on the plane

a gate
the place in the airport where you go to get onto your flight

a runway
the part of an airport, like a road, which planes use when arriving or departing from an airport

a control tower
the building in an airport which tells planes when it is safe for them to take off and land

Air travel jobs:

the cabin crew
the people who look after passengers during a flight

a pilot
a person who flies a plane

a baggage handler
a person who is responsible for your luggage, after you check-in, and takes it to the plane

an immigration officer
a person who checks your visa and passport when you go into a country

Things you find on a plane:

a cockpit
the place where the pilots sit to control the plane

a galley
the area on a plane where the cabin crew prepare meals and store duty-free goods etc

a trolley
a small cupboard with wheels. Cabin crews use trolleys to take food and drink to passengers during a flight

a seatbelt
a safety feature on planes to secure passengers in their seats

an overhead locker
a storage area above passengers' heads in a plane

a tray-table
a small table that is stored in the back of the seat in front of you on a plane

an oxygen mask
a piece of safety equipment which passengers put over their nose and mouth to help them breath if there is an emergency on a plane

hand luggage (uncountable)
small bags or suitcases which passengers carry with them onto the plane


checked baggage/luggage (uncountable)
large suitcases or bags which passengers don't carry with them onto the plane but which are put in the hold (the storage area of a plane)

Verbs about air travel:

to check in
to show your travel documents to the airline staff in the airport so that you can begin your journey

Passengers are requested to check in two hours before the flight.

to board/to embark
to go onto a plane at the beginning of the journey

At London airport she boarded a plane to Australia.
Will passengers waiting to board please go to the ticket counter?
The plane is now boarding at gate 26.

We embarked at Liverpool for New York.
You'll be asked for those documents on embarkation.

to take off
to start flying in the air

The plane took off at 8.30 a.m.
Night take-offs and landings are banned at this airport

to taxi
to move a plane slowly along the ground before or after flying

After a half-hour delay, our plane taxied to the runway for takeoff.

to cruise
to fly at a steady speed

The plane is cruising at 500 miles per hour.

to land
to bring a plane down to the ground

We should land in Madrid at 7am.
You can land a plane on water in an emergency.

to fasten/unfasten a seatbelt
to secure two parts of your seat-belt together/to untie your seatbelt

Fasten your seat belts.
Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened

to approach (the runway)
to fly at slow speak towards the runway

If you look out of the window on the left of the bus, you'll see that we're now approaching the Tower of London

to declare
to give information about goods or money you are bringing into a country

Nothing to declare.
Goods to declare.
Have you got anything to declare?

Vocabulary:

a standstill:
a stop or an end

a designated area:
a place that is signed for a particular purpose (for example, a designated smoking area)

a terminal building:
the part of an airport where planes arrive or depart from

a message:
text information to or from a mobile phone

to confiscate:
to take something away from someone as a punishment for doing something wrong

His passport was confiscated by the police to prevent him from leaving the country.
There was a record number of confiscations by customs officers last year.