Definition
An airport listed in an air carrier's operations specifications as one at which the carrier is authorized to conduct routine scheduled operations, including passenger boarding and deplaning. The flight crew must meet the standard qualification and recency requirements for that airport.
Plain English
An airport that an airline is officially approved to fly into and out of as part of its normal scheduled service. Crews flying there only need their standard qualifications -- nothing extra.
Context Anchor
Seen in airline operations, route approval, dispatch, and regulatory discussions.
Derivation
Regular comes from the Latin regula, meaning “rule.” In this term, regular does not just mean ordinary or often-used; it means the airport is part of the carrier’s approved, rule-based scheduled operation.
Why Pilots Care
Determines whether an airport qualifies as a legal destination for the planned operation rather than only an emergency alternate.
Intuition Check
Do not read regular as simply “normal” or “used a lot.” Here it means officially approved and listed for that carrier’s scheduled operations.
Example Sentence 1
Atlanta is listed as a regular airport in the carrier's operations specifications, so any qualified crew on the fleet can be assigned the flight.
Example Sentence 2
If weather closes the regular airport, the pilot must divert to the filed alternate.