- published: 06 May 2010
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An airstair is a passenger staircase that is built in to an airliner — often, though not always, on the inside of a clamshell-style door. The stairs can be raised or lowered while the aircraft is on the ground, allowing passengers and ground personnel to board or depart the aircraft without the need for a mobile staircase or a jetway. Some piston-era airliners were equipped with airstairs, including the Martin 2-0-2, Martin 4-0-4, and versions of the Douglas DC-3 specially modified in the 1940s by Southwest Airways. Airstairs have become less common because of increasing airport infrastructure, but they are still popular on small regional airliners and aircraft which operate into less-well equipped airports.
Due to the height of the doors above the ground, airstairs are almost never incorporated into wide-bodied and long-range aircraft. The only wide-body ever to have the option for a full-height built-in airstair was the Lockheed L-1011. The only other wide bodies to feature airstairs (the Ilyushin Il-86 and Boeing VC-25) use the alternate method of building the airstair into the cargo compartment, and then having more stairs inside to the main deck of the aircraft.
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