18-542: AERO Friedrichshafen is a trade show dedicated to European general aviation . It is held yearly in April on the shores of Lake Constance at the exhibition center of Friedrichshafen , Germany right next to Friedrichshafen Airport . AERO took place for the first time in 1977 during the RMF ( Rennsport/Motor/Freizeit ; Racing/Motor/Leisure ) event. It was held every two years at first. AERO became an independent event in 1993 and
36-515: A definition of general aviation which includes aerial work. General aviation thus represents the " private transport " and recreational components of aviation, most of which is accomplished with light aircraft . The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines civil aviation aircraft operations in three categories: General Aviation (GA), Aerial Work (AW) and Commercial Air Transport (CAT). Aerial work operations are separated from general aviation by ICAO by this definition. Aerial work
54-411: A wide variety of aircraft: light and ultra-light aircraft, sport aircraft , homebuilt aircraft , business aircraft (like private jets ), gliders and helicopters . Flights can be carried out under both visual flight and instrument flight rules, and can use controlled airspace with permission. The majority of the world's air traffic falls into the category of general aviation, and most of
72-587: Is an airport that handles only flights within the same country . Domestic airports do not have customs and immigration facilities and so cannot handle flights to or from a foreign airport. These airports often have short runways sufficient to handle short or medium haul aircraft and regional air traffic. Security check /metal detectors are used in most countries, but in many cases they were installed decades after security checks for international flights had become commonplace. Most municipal airports in Canada and
90-562: Is now held yearly since 2009. This aviation convention now attracts more than 600 exhibitors and 33,000 visitors every year. General aviation General aviation ( GA ) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other purposes. However, for statistical purposes, ICAO uses
108-588: Is when an aircraft is used for specialized services such as agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation and patrol, search and rescue, and aerial advertisement. However, for statistical purposes ICAO includes aerial work within general aviation, and has proposed officially extending the definition of general aviation to include aerial work, to reflect common usage. The proposed ICAO classification includes instructional flying as part of general aviation (non-aerial-work). The International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA) refers to
126-587: The Civil Aviation Authority . The main focus is on standards of airworthiness and pilot licensing , and the objective is to promote high standards of safety. General aviation is particularly popular in North America, with over 6,300 airports available for public use by pilots of general aviation aircraft (around 5,200 airports in the U.S. and over 1,000 in Canada ). In comparison, scheduled flights operate from around 560 airports in
144-727: The United Arab Emirates ). A regional airport is an airport serving traffic within a relatively small or lightly populated geographical area. A regional airport usually does not have customs and immigration facilities to process traffic between countries. In Canada regional airports usually service connections within Canada and some flights to the United States. A few U.S. regional airports, some of which call themselves international airports, may have customs and immigration facilities staffed on an as-needed basis, but
162-486: The United States are of this classification. At international airports in Canada, there are domestic terminals that handle flights within Canada (flying from one Canadian city to another). Additionally, some airports that are named "international" are essentially domestic airports that handles international traffic on an irregular basis. A notable example of this is Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport) in
180-457: The GA fleet accounts for between 1.25 and 1.35 million hours flown. There are 28,000 private pilot licence holders, and 10,000 certified glider pilots . Some of the 19,000 pilots who hold professional licences are also engaged in GA activities. GA operates from more than 1,800 airports and landing sites or aerodromes , ranging in size from large regional airports to farm strips. GA is regulated by
198-518: The U.S. According to the U.S. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association , general aviation provides more than one percent of the United States' GDP , accounting for 1.3 million jobs in professional services and manufacturing . Most countries have a civil aviation authority that oversees all civil aviation , including general aviation, adhering to the standardized codes of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Aviation accident rate statistics are necessarily estimates. According to
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#1732798114089216-454: The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board , general aviation in the United States (excluding charter) suffered 1.31 fatal accidents for every 100,000 hours of flying in 2005, compared to 0.016 for scheduled airline flights. In Canada, recreational flying accounted for 0.7 fatal accidents for every 1000 aircraft, while air taxi accounted for 1.1 fatal accidents for every 100,000 hours. More experienced GA pilots appear generally safer, although
234-417: The category as general aviation/aerial work (GA/AW) to avoid ambiguity. Their definition of general aviation includes: General aviation thus includes both commercial and non-commercial activities. IAOPA's definition of aerial work includes, but is not limited to: Commercial air transport includes: However, in some countries, air taxi is regarded as being part of GA/AW. Private flights are made in
252-537: The country's capital/most major city. Examples of larger regional airports include Barcelona–El Prat Airport , Spain and Manchester Airport , England , which are both among Europe's busiest airports and are used by both large and small planes. In countries like France, Germany, and Sweden, a regional airport is an airport for small planes, even though they go to the national hub, just like flights from larger airports. Examples of small regional airports include Coventry Airport and Worship Airport. In northern Norway ,
270-624: The outskirts of Osaka , Japan . Most of these airports are located in the United States. In the United Kingdom , an example of a domestic airport is Wick Airport , which operates frequent flights to other Scottish airports. Some small countries or regions do not have any public domestic airports, or even public domestic flights, due to their size or political reasons, or due to having alternatives to domestic flights such as high-speed rail (e.g. Belgium , Kuwait , Hungary , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Serbia , Singapore , Slovakia , and
288-434: The relationship between flight hours, accident frequency, and accident rates are complex and often difficult to assess. A small number of commercial aviation accidents in the United States have involved collisions with general aviation flights, notably TWA Flight 553 , Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 , Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 , PSA Flight 182 and Aeroméxico Flight 498 . Regional airport A domestic airport
306-472: The vast majority serve domestic traffic only. Aircraft using these airports tend to be smaller business jets , private aircraft and regional airliners of both turboprop propelled or regional jetliner varieties. These flights usually go a shorter distance to a larger regional hub. These airports usually have shorter runways, which exclude heavy planes with much fuel. In European countries, regional airports are often classed as airports that do not serve
324-583: The world's airports serve GA exclusively. Flying clubs are considered a part of general aviation. In 2003, the European Aviation Safety Agency was established as the central EU regulator, taking over responsibility for legislating airworthiness and environmental regulation from the national authorities. Of the 21,000 civil aircraft registered in the United Kingdom, 96 percent are engaged in GA operations, and annually
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