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Real Easy English

Easy level

Talking about airports

Episode 261002 / 02 Oct 2026

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Becca and Neil have a real conversation in easy English about airports – the place we go when we travel by plane. Learn to talk about the different stages of catching a plane, and find out whether Becca or Neil has ever missed a flight...!

Vocabulary

check in
officially tell the plane company that you will get on the plane, often giving them your luggage at the same time

boarding pass
ticket used to get on the plane, showing your seat number

go through security
pass through an area where you are checked for anything that you shouldn't carry on a plane

boarding gate
area where you wait just before you get on the plane

catch a flight
successfully get on a plane

miss a flight
don't get on a plane that you planned to travel on, often because you are too late

 Topic travel

Transcript

Neil
Hi Becca.
 
Becca
Hi Neil. How are you? Have you got any trips coming up soon?
 
Neil
I have. I'm going to Montenegro, which is exciting. I've never been there before, but it means that I have to go to an airport and I have to fly. I don't like flying.
 
Becca
But we're talking about airports today in this episode of Real Easy English.
 
Neil
We are. But people need to know that to get a transcript and a worksheet for this episode, they need to go to our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Becca
Absolutely. So, you'll be going to an airport for your holiday, but what happens at an airport, Neil?
 
Neil
One of the most important things is check in. Now, to check in is to officially tell the airline that you're going to fly. Normally, now, we do this online, but you can still check in at the airport, I think.
 
Becca
Yes, you can. Yeah. So, there will be check-in gates. It is very important.
 
Neil
It is, because they give you a boarding pass then, don't they?
 
Becca
They do.
 
Neil
The boarding pass is the document that lets you get on the plane and also tells you what seat that you have on the plane as well.
 
Becca
So, you've checked in and you've got your boarding pass. What happens next?
 
Neil
Well, then you need to go through security, and that's when they check you to make sure you haven't got anything that you shouldn't have on a plane.
 
Becca
I hate airport security. Even though I know that I'm not carrying anything that I'm not supposed to have, it still makes me feel a bit stressed.
 
Neil
Yeah, I know what you mean. You feel guilty even if you haven't done anything.
 
Becca
Exactly! Yeah, airport security is one of the reasons I don't really enjoy airports.
 
Neil
Really? You don't like airports?
 
Becca
I don't like airports. I enjoy flying but... yeah, airports can be a bit stressful for me.
 
Neil
Well, I'm the exact opposite of you because I quite like airports, but I really don't like flying.
 
Becca
What do you like about airports?
 
Neil
I think because when you finally get to the airport, it's somebody else's problem for you to travel. So, it's my responsibility to get to the airport but once I'm there, I can relax.

Becca
OK. And have you ever been in a situation where you relaxed a bit too much and almost missed a flight?
 
Neil
Yes, I have missed a flight once and it was very stressful. I was travelling in Ireland and I had a flight in Dublin, and I was in a different city – in Cork. And I missed the train from Cork to Dublin and so I couldn't get to the airport on time.
 
Becca
So, you did miss that flight?
 
Neil
I missed it.
 
Becca
Oh no!

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Neil
So, Becca, have you ever missed a flight?
 
Becca
Thankfully, no, I haven't missed a flight. I was very close to missing a flight... I was just relaxing. I had travelled from Vietnam and I was really tired, so I wasn't really listening carefully. Well, they didn't call my name, so I was really stressed trying to find the gate, but luckily I caught it. I think I was the last person to board the plane, and that's always a little bit embarrassing as well.
 
Neil
You know what, Becca? I think if you get your name read out on the loudspeaker in an airport, that's really embarrassing because everyone in the airport is thinking, "Who's that person? That person who's going to miss their flight!"
 
Becca
And you don't want to be that person.
 
Neil
OK. Becca, it's time to recap the vocabulary that we used in this episode, starting with check in. Check in is the verb, which means you officially tell the plane company that you plan to get on the plane, and you give them your bags as well. And at the airport you do this at the check-in desk.
 
Becca
Yes. And at the check-in desk, that's where you get your boarding pass, and that's the ticket that you need to get on the plane.
 
Neil
And then we heard the expression go through security. If you go through security, you go through that area where they check and make sure you have nothing with you that should not be on a plane.
 
Becca
Yes. Going through security – my least favourite thing about airports. After security, you wait at the boarding gate and this is the area that you wait at before you get on the plane.
 
Neil
If you catch a flight, it means you successfully get on the plane and fly somewhere, but if you miss a flight, like I did in Ireland, it means that you were too late to get on the plane.
 
Becca
Well, Neil, that's it for this week's episode of Real Easy English, but we'll be back next week with another episode.
 
Neil
Don't forget that you can download a free worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com. Goodbye for now.
 
Becca
Bye!

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