air traffic
75
3.0
- noun
- /ɛr ˈtræfɪk/
:
tráfico aéreo
- First, there was only one air traffic controller in the control room managing the airspace.
- air traffic control
- air traffic controller
- air traffic management
And I could, you know, you can basically reroute air traffic.
- And I could, you know, you can basically reroute air traffic.
- And the idea of seeing these maps of the United States where the entire air traffic grid is blank.
Examples
-
The air traffic controllers monitored the skies to ensure safe landings and takeoffs.
-
Most of the NOx present at this altitude comes from air traffic exhaust.
Academic text (1991) -
This is one year after the perhaps greatest decline in world history in world air traffic, air passenger traffic.
-
The FAA has grounded all air traffic in the United States.
-
There was not much air traffic going into Laos, and not many tourists.
Fiction book (2002) -
NASA researchers also have added to the understanding of the wake vortex, which affects air traffic.
Academic text (2003) -
Today, English is the lingua franca of the planet for everything from air traffic control to entertainment.
Academic text (2004) -
Through her window, she could hear the heavy hum of air traffic carrying early commuters to offices, late ones home.
Fiction book (1995) -
Due to the congestion, air-traffic controllers order incoming planes to fly in circles over Berlin.
Fiction book (1998) -
Air traffic controllers don't get paid, so they don't go to work, which means planes don't fly.
Synonyms
28
2.0
Travel by plane to move people or goods
3
2.7
The movement of people or goods by plane
3
2.7
The movement of people or goods by plane
1
1.1
Traveling by plane or other aircraft
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'movement of aircraft' is directly and compositionally derived from 'air' (the atmosphere/aviation) + 'traffic' (flow or volume of vehicles), forming a straightforward noun-noun compound. This construction is common across languages and follows predictable compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Air traffic comes from comparing air, the sky, to road traffic. People imagined planes moving like cars, so controllers watch the 'traffic' in the sky to keep flights safe.