Proposal:Basic Aerodrome Tags
| Basic Aerodrome Tags | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Draft (under way) |
| Proposed by: | Telegram Sam |
| Tagging: | aerodrome=*
|
| Applies to: |  
|
| Definition: | Classification of aerodromes. |
| Statistics: |
|
| Draft started: | 2025-07-01 |
Introduction
I am currently doing airport research on my wiki page.
Summary
- This proposal aims to introduce the following tags and values in order to categorize aerodromes and airports:
| Main Tag | Explanation |
|---|---|
aerodrome=continental/regional/local/basic
|
This is the main tag which will categorize the aerodrome based on the level of aeronautical services available (colloquially its "size"). |
| Secondary Tags | Explanation |
|---|---|
usage=commercial_aviation/general_aviation
|
This tag describes whether an aerodrome is majority used by commercial or general aviation when its size betrays its usage (a large airport with few commercial services or a small aerodrome with majority commercial services). |
access=yes/permissive/private/...
|
This tag describes the the level of access an average member of the public has to the ground side premisses (whether it's a private airfield or not). |
leisure=sports_centre + sport=gliding/parachuting/ultralight_aviation/...
|
These tags are added to describe the air sports activity at an aerodrome. |
customs_and_immigration=yes/no
|
This tag describes the existence of customs and immigration facilities at an aerodrome (whether it can receive international flights or not). |
| Extra Tag | Explanation |
|---|---|
aeroway=seaplane_base
|
This tag is used for seaplane only aerodromes (ones which only have water runways). |
- Additionally, this proposal also aims to standardize military aerodromes in the following way:
| Type | Tags |
|---|---|
| Exclusively Military Aerodrome | aeroway=aerodrome + landuse=military + military=base
|
| Joint Military/Civillian Aerodrome | Separate aeroway=aerodrome area around the entire aerodrome and
|
- The followings tags and values would be deprecated:
| Deprecated Tag | Replacement Tag |
|---|---|
aerodrome:type=*
|
aerodrome=*
|
type=* in the context of aeroway=aerodrome
|
aerodrome=*
|
aerodrome:type=international
|
aerodrome=continental/regional or
|
aerodrome:type=public
|
access=yes
|
aerodrome:type=private
|
access=permissive/private/...
|
aerodrome:type=seaplane
|
aeroway=seaplane_base
|
aerodrome:type=gliding
|
leisure=sports_centre + sport=gliding
|
aeroway=airstrip
|
aerodrome=basic
|
military=airfield
|
military=base
|
Rationale
Necessity
Aerodromes as they stand currently have no agreed upon tagging system. We all agree that they should but have just never reached a consensus.
Previous proposals chose to categorize aerodromes based on their usage or access however this leaves simply too much ambiguity on on their nature and usefulness to an average member of the public.
Using IATA codes is also not enough since just about any aerodrome with a scheduled service, no matter how small or infrequent, will receive an IATA code.
Main Tag
This proposal uses the level of aeronautical services available at an aerodrome (or as an average person would understand it, its "size") as their primary categorization characteristic then adds secondary tags as needed to handle edge cases.
The level of aeronautical service almost always corresponds to the type of activity a member of the public expects of that aerodrome:
- Mega hubs, national airports and regional airports are where we expect to catch a flight using a purchased ticket where their size corresponds to the variety and length of available connections.
- Local aerodromes, small airfields and airstrips are where we expect joy flying, airsports and air work to happen, simply because of economics. There's no sense in paying tens of thousands to operate a crop duster from a national airport and skydiving would almost certainly not even be allowed.
The tag aerodrome=* is chosen in favour of aerodrome:type=* or type=* because, as per the previous proposals, it is simpler and more in line with the normal method of subtagging in OSM. It also already has a lot of use already, especially in larger airports.
Secondary Tags
There are of course exceptions to the rule and this is where the secondary tags come in:
usage=*is used to clarify the usage of an aerodrome when its size betrays the assumed nature of the aerodrome, such as large general aviation airports or small isolated aerodromes which only receive subsidized scheduled services.
It is important to note a few distinctions in regard to commercial aviation. Large scale scheduled services, small scale commuter services and charter services are all commercial services. However, for our purposes only large scale scheduled and small scale commuter will be considered as part of of the usage=commercial_aviation tag. This is because charter flights are highly customizable by their customers and do not for the most part aim to form a connection between two aerodromes.
access=*allows private aerodromes to be identified. This is contrary to making the aerodrome type a private aerodrome, as per previous proposals. This scheme makes the tags more consistent and also allows private aerodromes to potentially be categorized by size.
It is important to note that the air side of most developed aerodromes, the area where aviation related operations take place, is almost always behind a security barrier, no matter the type of aerodrome. Access is only allowed to persons with a valid purpose and authorization to be there. The access=* tag thus related to the access allowed to the ground side of the aerodrome, be it as a customer, passenger or private aviator.
leisure=sports_centre+sport=*are used to tag the existence of air sport activity at an aerodrome. This is contrary to making the aerodrome type a sports aerodrome since many other uses can be had at aerodromes mainly used for sport even if they're not currently being used as such. It would also open the ambiguity of how mixed-use aerodromes for example for gliding and general aviation should be tagged.
customs_and_immigration=*marks the capability of an aerodrome in handling international flights. Most larger airports will have permanent customs and immigration facilities while most smaller aerodromes won't. It's not something that a passenger needs to worry about anyway since they would just browse through available flights, not airports.
Extra Tag
aeroway=seaplane_base is used to tag seaplane-only aerodromes, that is, aerodromes with only water runways. I've chosen to create a new aeroway=* to keep the aerodrome=* subtags consistent and follow the same pattern started by aeroway=heliport. Just like a helicopter, a seaplane is a very niche form of air transport which requires specialized facilities, equipment and training. Seaplane bases are, just like heliports, different enough from land aerodromes to warrant their own tag.
Military
Finally, military aerodromes also need some standardization.
The tag military=airfield is superfluous since the tag aeroway=aerodrome already describes the existence of an aerodrome.
If an air base is present, then the tag military=base should be used as it accurately describes this fact.
If only a portion of the aerodrome is used for military purposes, the aerodrome and military base should be tagged separately as the military portion is not an aerodrome, it is a portion of an aerodrome.
Tagging
aerodrome
The following table lists characteristics common of the various main aerodrome types introduced in this proposal, as well as examples.
These characteristics are only guidelines and each OSM community can and is encouraged to modify them to fit their own local use case.
| Tag | Characteristics | Examples |
|---|---|---|
aerodrome=global
|
Represents large airports with numerous connections to major cities both close and far away and with the services necessary to host the type/number of aircraft flying these connections.
These airports tend to have the following characteristics:
|
Heathrow Airport |
aerodrome=continental
|
Represents large airports with numerous connections to major cities both close and far away and with the services necessary to host the type/number of aircraft flying these connections.
These airports tend to have the following characteristics:
|
Heathrow Airport |
aerodrome=regional
|
Represents medium sized airports with connections mainly to closer airports or with a smaller number of connections total, along with the services necessary to support the type/number of aircraft flying these connections. They can also represent unusually large general aviation aerodromes.
These airports tend to have the following characteristics:
|
Timișoara Traian Vuia International Airport |
aerodrome=local
|
Represents small aerodromes rarely used for scheduled services and used instead for general aviation. It is also when an aerodrome has low activity overall but that activity is mainly commercial.
These aerodromes tend to have the following characteristics:
|
La Junta Municipal Airport |
aerodrome=basic
|
Represents small airfields and airstrips with unpaved or unkept runways and very little in the way of support services.
These aerodromes tend to have the following characteristics:
| |
aerodrome=strip
|
Represents small airfields and airstrips with unpaved or unkept runways and very little in the way of support services.
These aerodromes tend to have the following characteristics:
|
usage
aerodrome=continental/regional are by default assumed to serve primarily commercial aviation.
aerodrome=local/basic are by default assumed to serve primarily general aviation.
However, there are cases where a large airport serves primarily general aviation and a small aerodrome serves primarily commercial aviation. In these cases, usage=* is added to clarify their nature.
| Tag | Explanation | Examples |
|---|---|---|
usage=commercial_aviation
|
Used to tag small aerodromes which unusually serve primarily commercial aviation. | Corvo Airport |
usage=general_aviation
|
Used to tag large airports which unusually serve primarily general aviation. | Teterboro Airport |
access
access=* is the tag used to distinguish public use aerodromes from private ones.
Any common value can be used, but in this table I list a few possible interpretations:
| Tag | Explanation |
|---|---|
access=yes
|
Used to tag aerodromes where the owners are obliged to or encourage the participation of the general public in some form in its general activities. |
access=permissive
|
Used to tag aerodromes where the owners give limited encouragement to participation in its activities such as joining a club or making business with them. |
access=private
|
Used to tag aerodromes where the owners do not encourage nor desire participation of the general public in its activities. |
sport
In case air sports are performed at an aerodrome, the tagging method should be to tag the aerdrome as a leisure=sports_centre then add the present sports in the sport=* tag.
In this table a few examples are listed:
customs_and_immigration
aerodrome=continental/regional can be assumed to have permanent facilities.
aerodrome=local/basic can be assumed to have no permanent facilities.
In case reality is different, the following tags can be added:
| Tag | Explanation |
|---|---|
customs_and_immigration=yes
|
Used to tag aerodromes with permanent customs and immigration facilities, making them international aerodromes. |
customs_and_immigration=no
|
Used to tag aerodromes which have no permanent facilities, and from which international flights would require individual approval from the authority and provision of temporary facilities. |
seaplane_base
Just like aeroway=heliport, aeroway=seaplane_base is tagged in the same way as aeroway=aerodrome and inherits its related tags.
military
In order to tag an exclusively military aerodrome, create a node or area around its premisses and add aeroway=aerodrome + landuse=military + military=base.
In order to tag a joint military/civillian aerodrome, create a node or area around its premisses and add aeroway=aerodrome. Then, create a node or area around the military portion of the aerodrome and add landuse=military + military=base.
Features/Pages affected
Created pages
Modified Pages
| Modified Pages | Taginfo |
|---|---|
aeroway=aerodrome
|
|
aerodrome=*
|
|
usage=*
|
Deprecated Pages
| Deprecated Pages | Taginfo |
|---|---|
aerodrome:type=*
|
|
type=* in the context of aeroway=aerodrome
|
Couldn't find a taginfo page but the first proposal has a table. |
aerodrome:type=international
|
|
aerodrome:type=private
|
|
aerodrome:type=gliding
|
|
aerodrome:type=seaplane
|
|
aeroway=airstrip
|
|
military=airfield
|
Previous Discussions
Proposals
Forum
Mailing List
Aeroway=Aerodrome Modifier Tags?
Draft proposal for Key:aerodrome
Comments
Please comment on the discussion page in order to reduce fragmentation of the discussion.
Alternatively, you can comment on the forum RFC thread or reply to the mailing list thread if you really prefer as I'll be monitoring these as well.