Boarding
Under Boarding ( dt. : Boarding , on board go ) is understood in the passenger air transport, the phase between the call to the passengers , to the boarding gate to go from which the for the booked flight is achievable standing by airplane, and the date on which the aircraft doors are locked. From this point on, responsibility on board is transferred (again) from the airport company's ramp agent to the flight captain.
The time at which the passengers must arrive at the gate at the latest, the so-called last boarding time , is usually entered on the boarding pass issued . The respective aircraft can be reached from the gate either directly via a passenger boarding bridge or as bus boarding with an apron bus or - at small airports - as walkboarding on foot over the airport apron .
Typical process
The waiting room at the corresponding gate in the airport is full, the last passengers pass through the personal and hand baggage check upstream of the waiting room . The ground staff of the airport or the corresponding airline waiting at the gate counter receives the confirmation of the u. a. Ramp agent of the airport company responsible for boarding that the plane is now ready to take passengers on board (“ready for boarding”). The airport staff announce via a loudspeaker that the gate for the respective flight is now open for boarding - the last boarding time has started. In addition, a notice appears on the airport display board - often in the form of two green, alternately flashing lights. Missing passengers are called for the last time with the "Final Boarding Call" (exclamation over the loudspeaker system) to board the aircraft.
In the case of larger machines, after this announcement, the owners of certain boarding passes will be asked to board first. These are mostly passengers who have their seats in the rear cabin section of the aircraft, but families with children are also allowed on board first. In the case of very large aircraft, rows of seats (from back to front, e.g. 70-45) are called in order to accelerate boarding. The passengers for the middle seats and finally the passengers for the front rows of seats are then asked to board. The ground staff at the gate counter checks the completeness of the passengers by comparing the boarding cards presented by the passengers and the passenger list. In this context, with some airlines, both domestic and international flights, the presentation of the identity card or passport is required as further identification of the passenger authorized to board (boarding control). Nowadays, the printed or electronic boarding passes are usually read in using a scanner . The passengers thus retain their entire boarding pass. Often this must be shown briefly to the welcoming crew when entering the aircraft - especially if the entry from the airport apron is via a gangway .
If individual passengers have not appeared at the gate within a certain time, boarding for the corresponding flight is called up again. If not all passengers recorded in the passenger list appear within a certain period of time after this call, only these missing passengers are called by name ( final call ). There is no call in so-called "Silent Airports" (e.g. at Vienna International Airport ).
Especially in cases of doubt, members of the cabin crew quickly determine the exact number of passengers on board. If no more passengers are expected at the gate after the final call , this is communicated with the words "boarding completed" between the ramp agent, flight captain, purser and the ground staff at the gate.
Boarding is officially over when the captain requests the cabin crew to lock the aircraft doors. The gate is closed until the next boarding, the aircraft doors are locked (the final preparations for take-off begin in the aircraft, the flight display boards "Departure" in the airport show the flight as "started" from this moment on).
The term pre-boarding refers to the entry of some privileged passengers (e.g. large families , people with reduced mobility and VIPs ) before the actual boarding. Deboarding is the reverse process.
Web links
- Faster boarding. In: spiegel.de
- On your marks, get set ... traffic jam! In: zeit.de