International airport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An International airport is an airport where flights from other countries land and/or take off. Such airports are usually larger, and often feature longer runways and facilities to accommodate the large aircraft commonly used for international or intercontinental travel. International airports often host domestic flights (flights which take place inside only one country) in addition to international flights. In many smaller countries most airports are international airports, so the concept of an "international airport" has little meaning. In certain countries however, there is a sub-category of limited international airports which handle international flights, but are limited to short-haul destinations (often due to geographical factors) or are mixed civilian/military airports.
Some airports which call themselves international airports, especially in smaller United States cities, in fact have no scheduled international airline passenger service but do have customs and immigration facilities serving charter, cargo and general aviation flights. At many of these airports customs and immigration services are only available with several hours advance notice. One example of such an airport is Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Many international airports also serve as "hubs", or places where non-direct flights may land and passengers switch planes. International airports often have many airlines represented, and many of these are often foreign.
In some cases, travelers and the aircraft can clear customs and immigration at the departure airport. As one example of this, the US has customs and immigration officials at certain Canadian airports. This allows flights from those airports to fly into US airports that do not have customs and immigration facilities.
