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What would be an appropriate formal expression to describe the place from which the plane is going to take off?

For e.g. a flight travels from London, Heathrow (LHR) to New Delhi, Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL).

Terms I am thinking of are:

  • 1) Port of departure (LHR), city of departure (London)
  • 2) Port of boarding (LHR), city of boarding (London) On the itinerary, usually short forms are used and the airport and city from which the plane is going to take off are listed under a column named 'DEP'.

But is there a term used in the airline industry for this?

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  • Among the definitions you are suggestinig, Port of departure seems the only valid option:books.google.com/ngrams/… – user66974 Feb 6 '15 at 11:15
  • Departure airport may be an alternative:books.google.com/ngrams/… – user66974 Feb 6 '15 at 11:23
  • In airline ticketing terms it is origin, destination is your final airport and any stops in between are intermediate. – Frank Feb 6 '15 at 11:34
  • Ah, that was the word I had in mind. Thank you, @Frank. – Sathyaish Feb 6 '15 at 11:36
  • I don't recall seeing port used in an airline environment. Except, remarkably, in those terms port and starboard, the continuation of which I find astonishing in the airline age. – WS2 Feb 6 '15 at 14:45
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it is embarkation (embarcation) port.Embark: to go aboard a vessel or aircraft, as at the start of a journey.

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  • I think embarkation is a bit dated. Goes back to the steamship days. – WS2 Feb 6 '15 at 14:43
  • @WS2 The last time I went through Heathrow Airport it is still used: Disembarkation Cards arrivals have to fill! – sojourner Feb 6 '15 at 16:20
  • Ah! Disembarkation cards are a government form. And the government is always decades behind the times. However, in fairness to them, I suppose 'disembarkation' has a legal/procedural meaning for immigration law purposes. It describes the moment of arrival in the country. – WS2 Feb 6 '15 at 16:55
  • @WS2 Well brother I do agree with your remarks about governments being behind the times I am afraid, but I must say that Embarkation and Disembarkation are still also used by countries I visited which were former British colonies: Kenya, Hong Kong and Singapore! – sojourner Feb 6 '15 at 19:22
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    Yes. Their governments are behind the times too! Seriously, I think at an immigration admin. level the words embarkation and disembarkation are important. I don't think airlines use them, but hat-off to you if you prove me wrong. – WS2 Feb 6 '15 at 20:22

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