Flight information display system

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flight information display system at Munich International Airport

A flight information display system (FIDS) is a board or a television screen displaying in real-time the different arrivals or departures occurring over a specific period of time. It is located inside or near an airport terminal. A virtual version of a FIDS can also be found on most airport websites and teletext systems. In large airports, there are different sets of FIDS for each terminal or even each major airline. FIDS is commonly used to assist passengers during air travel and people who want to pick-up passengers after the flight.

Each line on an FIDS indicates a different flight number accompanied by:

the airline name and/or its IATA or ICAO airline designator
the city of origin or destination, and any intermediate points
the expected arrival or departure time and/or the updated time (reflecting any delays)
the gate number
the check-in counter numbers or the name of the airline handling the check-in, when applicable.

Due to code sharing, one single flight may be represented by a series of different flight numbers, thus lines (for example, LH474 and AC9099), although one single aircraft operates that route at that given time. Lines may be sorted by time, airline name, or city.