Airstair

This article is about stair units integrated into aircraft. For mobile stairways for boarding and alighting aircraft, see boarding stairs.

An airstair is a set of steps built into an aircraft so that passengers and crew can get on and off without needing help from outside. The stairs are built as part of a door or are lowered from inside after a door has been opened. Airstairs do away with needing a mobile stairway or jetway to get in and out of an aircraft. Some of the earliest aircraft with airstairs were the Martin 2-0-2 and Martin 4-0-4. Some Douglas DC-3 aircraft were retrofitted with airstairs. As the infrastructure of airports developed, the need for airstairs decreased.

The cabin doors on wide-body aircraft are significantly higher above the ground than on narrow-body aircraft. When airstairs have been a requirement, as on the VC-25 and the Ilyushin Il-86, the airstairs go into the lower level cargo hold, with steps inside to get to the cabin.

Some aircraft, like the Boeing 727 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9, were designed to improve ground services, with passengers deplaning from the front as the aircraft is serviced from the rear, enabling quicker turnarounds.

Airstairs are also used as a security measure, for example on aircraft carrying the President of the United States, allowing the aircraft to be boarded by VIPs at any time – with or without the cooperation of ground services.

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