10 Airport Words in English You Will Actually Use

An airport can feel fast and stressful, and staff often speak in short, quick sentences. If you know ten basic words, you will understand the signs, the announcements and the questions much more easily. This article is written for A2 learners. Each word has a simple meaning, two example sentences and a note about a mistake that Arabic speakers often make.

Why these ten words?

These words appear on almost every trip: at the check-in desk, at security, at the gate and after you arrive. You do not need difficult vocabulary. You need a small set of words that you can use with confidence. Read each word, say both examples aloud, and then move to the next one.

The ten words with examples

1. passport

Meaning: the official document with your photo that shows your nationality.

• Please show your passport at the desk.
• My passport is in my bag.

Note: the stress is on the first part: PASS-port. Do not say my pass. The word pass alone does not mean passport.

2. flight

Meaning: a journey by plane from one place to another. A flight usually has a number.

• My flight leaves in the morning.
• Is this the flight to Cairo?

Note: the flight is the journey, and the plane is the aircraft. We say I missed my flight.

3. check-in

Meaning: the process where you register for your flight and give your bags to the airline.

• Check-in opens three hours before the flight.
• We need to check in online.

Note: the noun is check-in with a hyphen, and the verb is check in as two words. Do not say I want to do check-in. Say I need to check in.

4. boarding pass

Meaning: a paper or phone document that lets you get on the plane. It shows your gate and seat.

• Here is my boarding pass.
• Keep your boarding pass in your hand.

Note: a passport and a boarding pass are different things. Staff often ask for both: passport and boarding pass, please.

5. luggage

Meaning: the bags and cases you travel with.

• My luggage is very heavy.
• How much luggage do you have?

Note: luggage is uncountable. Do not say luggages or a luggage. Say two bags or a piece of luggage.

6. security

Meaning: the place where staff check passengers and bags before the departure area.

• Security is on the left.
• I went through security quickly.

Note: the normal phrase is go through security, with no article before the word.

7. gate

Meaning: the place where you wait and then board the plane. It has a number or a letter.

• Our gate is B12.
• The gate closes soon, so please hurry.

Note: do not translate the Arabic word for door as door here. At an airport we say gate.

8. departures

Meaning: the area or screen that shows flights that are leaving. The opposite is arrivals.

• Check the departures board.
• The departure time is on your boarding pass.

Note: use the plural departures for the board and the area. Use the singular departure when you talk about one time.

9. delayed

Meaning: not leaving at the planned time, but leaving later.

• Our flight is delayed.
• The delayed flight leaves in an hour.

Note: do not say My flight is delay. The adjective is delayed, with ed at the end. For people we use late: I am late.

10. customs

Meaning: the place where officers check the things you bring into a country.

• We go through customs after we collect our bags.
• Do you have anything to declare at customs?

Note: the word always ends in s. Do not say a customs. The phrase anything to declare means things you must tell the officers about.

Common mistakes Arabic speakers make

Most of these mistakes come from word-for-word translation. In Arabic, the word for luggage can be used in the plural, but in English luggage is uncountable.

A short dialogue at the check-in desk

• Agent: Good morning. Passport, please.
• You: Here you are.
• Agent: Do you have any luggage to check in?
• You: Yes, one bag.
• Agent: Here is your boarding pass. Your gate is 14.
• You: Thank you. Where is security?
• Agent: Straight ahead, on the right.

Notice that Here you are is a useful phrase when you hand something to another person, such as your passport.

British and American English

Luggage is common in British English, and baggage is common in American English, although British speakers use baggage too. Both words are uncountable. The small bag you take on the plane is called hand luggage in Britain and a carry-on in the United States. In a waiting line, British speakers say queue and American speakers say line. All ten words in this article are understood in both varieties.

How to remember the words

1. Write the ten words on small cards and put an example sentence on the back.
2. Imagine your trip from home to the plane and say one word at each stage.
3. Practise the dialogue with a friend, once as the agent and once as the traveller.
4. Look at the mistakes table every two days.

Short practice task

Complete each sentence with the correct word:

1. You show your ____ to the officer at the desk.
2. I have two bags. My ____ is heavy.
3. Go to ____ 14 and wait for boarding.
4. The plane is late. The flight is ____.
5. Choose the correct sentence: I have two luggages. / I have two bags.
6. Put your phone and keys in the tray at ____.

Answer key

1. passport
2. luggage
3. gate
4. delayed
5. I have two bags.
6. security

If you made a mistake, go back to that word in the list, read its note again, and write a new sentence of your own.