THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY

It is possible that no single factor has changed tourism as much as the introduction of air travels. Initially, the airline industry was built around a limited number of airlines. All activity was strictly regulated by the international air authorities. Today the industry is divided into:

• Traditional airlines. In countries where the main airline is or was publicly owned, the company is known as the flag carrier. This is the case with British Airways and the UK.

•Low-cost airlines offer scheduled flights but use certain strategies to keep seat costs low. These include

- use of the Internet for paperless ticketing;

- avoidance of sales through travel agents;

- minimum turnaround time for the aircraft to achieve more flights per day;

- concentration on short- and medium-haul flights;

- use of only one type of aircraft to reduce maintenance costs;

- using of fully qualified pilots, passenger cabin crew, and ground staff to avoid training costs.

• Scheduled flights operate on a specific route at fixed times that have been published in timetables. Even if the plane is empty, a scheduled flight must take off.

• Charter flights run on a route and at a time chosen by the company or person that hires the aircraft. Tour operators use charter flights for most package holidays. Charter flights are inevitably fuller than scheduled flights, making the cost of each seat lower.

Airports have grown with the increase in air travel. Modem airports are like 'mini-cities', so they must offer users all the facilities and services that this involves. Moreover, airports do not only provide services to travelers. They also serve the people and companies that use the airport professionally, such as aircraft crew, check-in staff, baggage handlers, and so on. Larger airports often have more than one terminal

A gateway airport provides international passengers with access to a country. Frankfurt, for example, is Germany's major gateway airport in contrast, a hub airport is one that a specific airline uses to distribute its flights to other airports in the same country. Atlanta is the hub for Delta airlines in the USA.

authorities официальные власти

flag carrier национальная авиакомпания

low-cost airlines бюджетные авиалинии

scheduled flights регулярный рейс

paperless ticketing обилечивание по интернету

avoidance избежание, уклонение

turnaround time время на подготовку к обратному рейсу

medium-haul средней дальности

to reduce сокращать, уменьшать

cabin crew обслуживающий персонал пассажирского салона

ground staff наземный обслуживающий персонал

to operate работать, функционировать

timetable расписание

inevitably неизбежно

baggage handler оператор по обработке багажа

gateway airport узловой аэропорт

hub airport опорный аэропорт