What do the landside areas of an airport typically include?

The landside areas of an airport refer to the section that is accessible to the public and involves all activities that happen before passengers board their flights and after they land. This area primarily includes facilities that cater to passenger services such as parking lots, which provide spaces for travelers to leave their vehicles, and public transportation access points, which allow easy transit to and from the airport via buses, taxis, or other forms of transport.

These landside amenities are vital for ensuring a smooth flow of passengers and their luggage to various parts of the airport and beyond. They are designed to facilitate the movement of people, making travel more convenient and efficient.

In contrast, the other options pertain to components of the airport that are primarily related to the airside operations, which involve airplane takeoff, landing, and maintenance activities. Runways and taxiways are part of the airside infrastructure, as are fuel storage and maintenance hangars, which support aircraft servicing but are not accessible to the general public. Air traffic control towers, too, belong to the air transportation operations and manage the traffic of aircraft rather than passenger access and services.