Definition
A scheduled or planned landing made at an airport other than the final destination during the course of a flight, where the flight is intended to continue on to its original destination after a stop.
Plain English
A planned stop at an airport along the way, before continuing on to where the flight is actually going.
Context Anchor
Seen in flight planning and route discussions when a flight includes a stop before the final destination.
Derivation
Intermediate comes from the Latin 'intermedius,' meaning 'in the middle.' It signals a stop placed between the start and the final destination — not the end of the trip.
Why Pilots Care
It affects fuel calculations, reserve requirements, and may require separate ATC clearances or flight plan amendments for each leg.
Intuition Check
Intermediate landing does not mean landing halfway down a runway or making a special kind of landing. It means landing at a stop between departure and the final destination.
Example Sentence 1
The flight from Denver to Seattle included an intermediate landing at Boise to drop off passengers.
Example Sentence 2
We made an intermediate landing to drop off a passenger and then continued on to our destination.