Jetway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The word “jetway” is sometimes used for a high-altitude airway.

Jetway bridge

Jetway at Vancouver International Airport with seldom-seen glass walls
Ancestor	Tubular bridge, Skyway
Related	none
Descendant	None
Carries	Pedestrians
Span range	Short
Material	Steel
Movable	Yes
Design effort	low
Falsework required	No

A Jetway, jet bridge or aerobridge/airbridge is a moveable bridge, normally enclosed, which extends from an airport terminal gate allowing passengers to board an airplane without having to go outside.

Prior to the introduction of Jetways, passengers would normally board an aircraft by walking along the ground-level tarmac and climbing a set of movable stairs; this method of boarding is still employed at many airports around the world. The first Jetway in the United States was installed at San Francisco International Airport in July 1959.

1 Advantages
2 Origin of name
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Advantages

Jetways provide all weather dry access to aircraft and enhance the security of terminal operations. Jetways are permanently attached at one end by a pivot to the terminal building and have the ability to swing left or right, to be raised or lowered and extended or retracted, and for the aircraft end seal to pivot, in order to accommodate aircraft of different sizes and contours. These motions are controlled by an operator's station at the aircraft end of the Jetway.

Airport gates with Jetways generally have a series of lines painted on the tarmac to assist in parking different types of aircraft in an appropriate position for the Jetway operator to dock with the fuselage.

Some airports with international gates, such as Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and Incheon International Airport have two jetways for larger aircraft with multiple entrances. This in theory allows for faster boarding and deboarding of larger aircraft, though it's quite common to use one jetway for only passengers in first class and business class, while the other jetway only for the use of passengers in economy class. With the arrival of the full double-deck airliners such as the Airbus A380, it's expected that each deck will have one or more jetways. Such jetways are being constructed at Singapore Changi Airport in anticipation of the A380. Singapore is a main stop-over for Europe-to-Australia (also known as the Kangaroo Route travels (particularly Qantas), and serves as a hub for the Singapore-based airline Singapore Airlines, both of which have ordered upwards of twenty A380s each. The upgrade of the airport has cost around S$60 million.

[edit] Origin of name

The name "Jetway" is the registered trademark for a specific company's brand of aircraft boarding bridge. In many places, the word "jetway" has fallen into common usage to mean any bridge used to board an aircraft, regardless of manufacturer. (See genericized trademark).