Podcast 118 B2 - Flight and airport expressions

At the airport

Do you have a fear of flying? Or perhaps for you there's nothing like boarding a plane and flying off to some exotic location for a well-deserved holiday. Well, the holiday season is approaching and you may have already booked a flight for this summer. Today I'm going to be looking at vocabulary for flying, airports and planes. This is B2-level language, so essential for you to talk about the topic of flying. Here we go...

Flight and airport expressions

While I'm talking about this subject of flying, I'm going to be using key words and expressions. Write them down if you can or repeat the words to yourself a few times while you're listening. If you come over to Practising English dot com, podcast 118, you'll be able to see the key words highlighted in the audio script.

Most large airports these days have more than one terminal. Flights to certain areas of the world are located at a particular terminal. Perhaps long distance flights or what they call long-haul flights (that is, intercontinental flights) at one terminal and short distance flights or short-haul flights at another. Heathrow Airport has five terminals! In this case, different airline companies or carriers, as they're called, are based at one particular terminal.

Of course, these days we buy our tickets online. I always find that booking process such a confusing and frustrating experience. You start the process with a fare (the cost) of a one-way or return flight. During this process you gradually accumulate more and more costs: seat allocation, priority embarking, baggage costs and travel insurance. You have to be very careful to "untick" certain boxes or you can find yourself renting a car or buying a weekend in the Hilton Hotel - and you were only intending to go on a hiking holiday and sleep in a tent!

Whatever you do, when you go to the airport, remember to take with you your passport (if you're going abroad) your ID card (if you have one) and your boarding pass, which you have to print out after you've completed your online reservation.

So when you get to the airport you can proceed directly to check-in. Interesting, isn't it? All those formal, Latin-based words we use when we're talking about the subject of travel.

'All passengers for flight IB1232 for London Gatwick, please proceed to gate 23.'

You hear that announcement over the public address system they call it. Please 'proceed' - and not 'please go to...'.

We also have arrival and departure halls - meaning the places where you meet people who are coming into the country and where the people leave to fly out to another airport.

'Baggage should be attended at all times. Unattended baggage may be removed and destroyed.'

Unattended baggage refers to your suitcase if you're not watching it.

So at the check-in desk you check in any baggage that you're not going to take into the cabin - that's where the passengers sit. The baggage will be stored (or put into) the hold. There is, of course, a baggage weight and size allowance. For example, if your bag is too big or over 10 kilos, then you must check it in. And perhaps checked-in baggage cannot be over 20 kilos. It depends on the carrier. Be careful, if you go over the weight allowance because you may have to pay excess baggage - another cost.

Oops! There's another announcement!

'Attention passengers on Iberia flight IB1232 to London Gatwick. The departure gate has been changed. The flight will now be departing from Gate 29.'

I'd better remember that - as that's my flight! I make my way (that means go in a certain direction) to passport and customs control. When I get there, pulling my little cabin bag behind me, I start to undress! I have to take off my belt, my watch (sometimes even my shoes) and put all metallic bits and pieces and mobile phones I have on me into a tray, which then goes through the security scan. Every time I walk through that body scanner, it always seems to bleep! So I always get frisked! [Have your body searched by a member of staff.]

OK, so I'm dressed again. Just as well, because my trousers were falling down without the belt on! So now I'm airside - so that's the part of the airport beyond passport and customs control. No-man's land! Anyway, it's time to proceed to my gate - gate 23 or was it gate 29...?

On the plane

I'm a bit late and people are boarding already when I get to my gate. Another announcement here.

Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight IB1232 to London Gatwick. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready.

So formal, so formal! Another boarding pass and passport check and I make my way onto the tarmac (that's the ground part of the airport, where a shuttle-bus is waiting for me. When I get to the plane and you can hear the jet engines roaring as they're warming up, I always feel a sense of excitement and anticipation. I'm one of those people that enjoys flying. To think in about three hours I'll be at my destination - my home country - stirs feelings of expectation deep inside. Familiarity of a country I know well but also in the knowledge that England is not really my home anymore - I'll be a visitor - just spending a short time at a conference.

Once you're up the steps you're welcomed on board by the air steward or cabin staff. There's that familiar clicking sound of people fastening their seat belts and the clack-clack of the overhead locker doors being pushed shut. The overhead lockers are where you put your cabin bag - either there or under your seat. On short-haul flights, you usually have the choice of a window seat, a middle seat or an aisle seat (spelled). 'Aisle' is the passageway that you walk down.

I sit down in my window seat - I just love looking out of the window at the views below the plane! Announcement.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome onboard Iberia flight 1232 with service from Seville to London Gatwick. We are currently second in line for take-off and are expected to be in the air in approximately nine minutes time. We ask that you please fasten your seatbelts at this time and secure all baggage underneath your seat or in the overhead compartments. We also ask that your seats and table trays are in the upright position for take-off. Please turn off all personal electronic devices, including laptops and mobile devices. Smoking is prohibited for the duration of the flight. Thank you for choosing Iberia. Enjoy your flight.

When the plane rushes down the runway for take-off, I always look directly forwards. It's probably the most anxious moment for me - though not terribly anxious. I look forwards and hold the seat in a sort of ridiculous posture to ensure the plane goes in a straight line and leaves the tarmac correctly! Once in the air, I wait for a little 'ding', which I always imagined was a signal from the pilot to the cabin crew that take-off was successful. Then I can relax, enjoy the views and hope for a spot of coffee a little later brought down the aisle on the trolley.

Good afternoon passengers. This is your captain speaking. First I'd like to welcome everyone on Iberia Flight 1232. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 29,000 feet at an airspeed of 450 miles per hour. The time is 3:15 pm. The weather looks good and with the tailwind on our side we are expecting to land at London Gatwick approximately ten minutes ahead of schedule. The weather in London is cloudy and rainy, with a high of 16 degrees for this afternoon. If the weather cooperates we could get a great view of the city as we descend. The cabin crew will be coming around in about twenty minutes time to offer you a light snack and beverage. I'll talk to you again before we reach our destination. Until then, sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the flight.

Bon voyage! (as the say in France). Have a good journey!