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Aviation vocabulary · Airports & Ground Operations

Gate

Meaning in aviation, with examples

/ɡeɪt/nounCore term

In aviation, gate means: The numbered area in an airport terminal where passengers wait and then board an aircraft, either through a jet bridge or by bus.

In Turkish: kapı, biniş kapısı

How it is used

Used by passengers, ground staff and crews: gate number, gate change, gate agent, 'at the gate'. Pilots say 'we are returning to the gate' when they go back before takeoff. Strictly, the place where the aircraft parks is the stand.

Example sentences

  1. Boarding for this flight will start at gate 214 in ten minutes.

  2. We returned to the gate to offload a passenger who felt unwell.

Common collocations

  • gate number
  • gate change
  • boarding gate
  • gate agent
  • return to the gate
  • boardingThe process of passengers getting on an aircraft, from the first call at the gate until the doors are closed.
  • standA marked parking position on the apron where an aircraft is parked for boarding, loading, refuelling and other ground services.
  • jet bridgeA movable, covered walkway that connects the terminal building to the aircraft door, so passengers can board without going outside.
  • pushbackThe procedure in which a tug pushes an aircraft backwards out of its parking stand, because airliners do not normally reverse under their own power.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Airports & Ground Operations

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