10 Things You Didn’t Know About Airports

This is a guest post written by Hannah Tolson.

How many times have you been at an airport and actually wondered about how many people are flying out the same day as you? Or how many people fly every year?

It’s incredible how much goes on at airports to help millions of passenger’s flights go as smoothly as possible.

Next time you’re at an airport and you’re bored, or you just got the news that your flight had been delayed, look around and explore a little. If you are comfy in your chair, you can just continue reading this article as I’ve put together a list of some interesting facts about airports you probably didn’t know.

#1 How Many People Travel

According to FlightAware, there are on average 9,728 planes with a total of 1,270,406 people at any given time.

This makes the skies the 159^th most populous “country” in the world, above Cyprus, Fiji and many other countries.

#2 Travel Anxiety

San Francisco International Airport hired a therapy pig to help passengers deal with travel anxiety. Her name is Lilou and she provides mass therapy for pilots, flight attendants and airport staff too.

#3 Dealing With Complaints

A few years ago, a Houston airport was receiving a high number of complaints from customers who claimed they were spending too much time waiting for their luggage.

According to the New York Times, the airport’s approach was to move the “arrival gates away from the main terminal and routed bags to the outermost carousel”. This way, passengers had to walk longer to get their bags and the complaints dropped to almost zero.

#4 Boredom At The Airport

If you find yourself at Hong Kong International airport, you’re in luck. This airport has a nine-hole golf course right next to Terminal 2 and an IMAX theatre, which has 350 seats and plays both regular and 3D films.

If want a more relaxed activity and you’re at Singapore airport – head over to the world’s first butterfly garden in an airport, which has over 1,000 tropical butterflies.

#5 Keeping Birds Away From Airplanes

#6 Scariest Airport Landing

One of the scariest airport landings can be spotted in St.Maarten, Caribbean. Airplanes which land at the Princess Juliana Airport have to make very low landings at almost 100 feet above sunbathers on the beach.

Maho Beach has become a popular airplane spotting area, however, due to its closeness to the airplanes, tourists are sometimes swept off their feet.

#7 Oldest Airport

The title of the world’s oldest continuously operated airport is held by College Park Airport in Maryland, USA.

It was established in 1909 by Wilbur Wright, brother of Orville Wright, two American aviation pioneers who invented, built and flew the world’s first successful airplane.

#8 Reducing Noise Pollution With Art

Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport in order to reduce noise complaints by nearby residents asked for the help of landscape architect and artist Paul De Kort. They discovered that after the land between the runway and the surrounding areas were ploughed, the noise reduced.

With this in mind, Paul De Kort started to create a series of hedges and ditches which reduced noise levels by more than half. His landscaping work has now become a 36-hectare park called Buitenschot.

#9 Lost Airport Balloons

A video by Israeli news service, Yedioth Ahronoth showed what happened to lost helium balloons which float up to the ceiling at the main international airport of Israel, Ben Gurion Airport.

Instead of throwing lost balloons away, airport employees collect the balloons and take them to children in hospitals around the country.

#10 Loose Change

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported that in 2017, more than $869,000 was left by passengers at various U.S. airport checkpoints.

It was also reported that TSA tries to reunite passengers with their lost items, however, unclaimed money is deposited into a special account to help maintain and improve security operations at airports.

Hannah Tolson is a journalism graduate and a part-time freelance blogger for Aviation Spares and Repairs, a ground support equipment supplier who plays a big part in making sure that your bag will accompany you in your flight by supplying baggage carts and belt loaders to various airports and airfields. She enjoys writing about aviation and all things travel related. You can find her strolling around airports and having the time of her life at air shows around the world.