Definition
The total number of paying passengers who board aircraft at an airport during a given period, used by the FAA to classify airports for funding and categorization purposes. Each individual boarding counts as one, so a passenger who connects through an airport and boards a second flight is counted twice.
Plain English
A count of how many fare-paying passengers step onto aircraft at an airport over a year. Free travelers, crew, and people just passing through without boarding don't count.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA airport category discussions, especially when explaining why an airport falls into one passenger-service category instead of another.
Derivation
‘Revenue’ comes from the French ‘revenu,’ meaning ‘income’ — money coming in. So ‘revenue passengers’ are passengers who generate income for the airline, as opposed to non-paying travelers like employees flying on passes.
Why Pilots Care
Boarding numbers determine how the FAA classifies an airport, which in turn affects the level of services, funding, and infrastructure available there. Knowing the category helps pilots anticipate what to expect operationally.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as total people at the airport, total flights, or airport profit. In this FAA context, it counts paying passengers getting on aircraft at that airport.
Example Sentence 1
An airport must have at least 10,000 revenue passenger boardings per year to qualify as a primary commercial service airport.
Example Sentence 2
Pilots checking airport categories can see how many revenue passenger boardings an airport handles to understand the expected level of commercial service.