Why sometimes Passenger Boarding Bridge and sometimes Boarding Stairs

Why Do We Get On The Plane Sometimes by Passenger boarding Bridges And Sometimes by boarding stairs?

Passengers board to plane either from the passenger bridge or boarding stairs. If you wonder, why? Continue reading…

This situation can affect the comfort of travel, especially in bad weather conditions, passengers who take stairs may get wet, feel cold, while they walk to stairs on outside for a short time. There are several reasons why we board to planes sometimes from boarding bridges and sometimes by boarding stairs.

Let’s take a look at these reasons:

• Especially small airports may not have passenger boarding bridge system connected to the terminal building. In such cases, passengers reach the plane by walking in the safe area on the apron or by taking an apron shuttle bus from the terminal to the door of the plane. Later, passengers can get on the plane with the mobile stairs that approach the plane or by the stairs that are attached at the door of the plane.

• In some large airports, passengers must board by passenger bridge as a rule. At such airports, it is not possible to get on the plane from the stairs – with exceptions.

• In some other large airports, both bridges and stairs are used for passenger boarding. The reasons for the different situations encountered at such airports are as follows:

o Insufficient Capacity: The number of bridges at the airport is not sufficient in time zones where the number of flights is concentrated. Some of the planes must park at open parking positions instead of bridges, and passengers board these planes by passenger stairs.

o Domestic / International Line Difference: There may be a domestic / international line mismatch with the next flight. For example, let’s assume that the next flight from an international flight will be domestic. If the plane is parked at a bridge in the international terminal section of the terminal on arrival, it is not possible for the passengers of the next domestic flight to get on that plane by passenger bridges and passenger stairs are used.

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o Schengen / non-Schengen Distinction: A similar situation can be experienced when the airlines of non-European Union countries travel to the airport of a member country. The passenger boarding bridges of the terminal may be reserved for Schengen member country airlines.

o Airline’s Choice: Some airlines do not want to use bridges to reduce their costs. For example, some of Ryanair’s planes have their own stairs attached under the front door. Ryanair prefers to unload and unload its passengers from the aircraft’s own ladder, instead of passenger bridges and even staircase services. In this way, the company also reduces it’s operational costs.

o Planning Error: Sometimes, as a result of momentary planning errors, especially in the time zones where the number of flights are intense, the passengers may have to get on / off the plane from the stairs instead of the bridge. We can cite such cases as the delays experienced by the aerodrome controllers during the management of apron traffic.

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