Definition
A category of general aviation airports designated by the FAA to relieve congestion at busy commercial service airports and to provide improved general aviation access to the surrounding community. Reliever airports may be publicly or privately owned.
Plain English
Smaller airports near big, busy airports. They take in general aviation traffic so the main airport can focus on airline flights, and they give private and small-aircraft pilots an easier place to operate.
Context Anchor
Seen when studying airport categories and how airports in a busy city or region are grouped by their role.
Derivation
From 'relieve' — to ease a burden. These airports relieve pressure on overloaded commercial airports by absorbing the smaller traffic that would otherwise crowd the same runways and airspace.
Why Pilots Care
General aviation pilots gain access to less congested facilities with shorter taxi times and simpler procedures.
Intuition Check
Do not read reliever as meaning an emergency backup airport. Here it means an airport that helps reduce normal traffic pressure on a busier airport.
Example Sentence 1
Rather than fly the Cessna into the Class B airline hub, the student flew to the nearby reliever airport for her cross-country training.
Example Sentence 2
Reliever airports typically offer shorter runways and easier ground handling for light aircraft.