Good Parking Spaces

Why is the airport parking area called a tarmac?

Public Comments

1. Tarmac is the black stuff alongside the cemented landing strip. Its often used to repair cement highways too.
2. While the specific Tarmac pavement is not common in some countries today, many people use the word to refer to generic paved areas at airports, especially the airport ramp or "apron", near the terminals despite the fact that many of these areas are in fact made of concrete. This term seems to have been popularized when it became part of the news lexicon following live coverage of the Entebbe hijacking in 1976, where "Tarmac" was frequently used by the on-scene BBC reporter in describing the hijack scene. The term 'hardstanding' is also used for concrete aprons. The Wick Airport at Wick in Caithness, Scotland is one of the few airports that still has a real Tarmac runway.
3. I believe I'm right in saying , a Mr MacAdam invented the road surfacing process of binding gravel with tar .
4. Tarmac is a brand name like Kleenex or Xerox that became synonymous with its product. The company Tarmac has a broad range of business areas including "tarmac."
5. "Tarmac" is an abbreviation for tarmacadam, which is a process invented by the Scottish engineer, McAdam, who devised a method for applying tar to roads to make them waterproof in winter, without melting in summer. In the early days, when planes were a lot lighter, airports were covered with tarmac. The name has just stuck (excuse the pun). (Compare the situation where vacuum cleaners are often referred to as a "Hoover", regardless of its maker!)