Flight attendants might not even know it themselves—why do passengers always board and disembark from the “left side of the aircraft”?

▲ Have you ever noticed that the cabin doors for boarding and disembarking are always on the left side when flying? (Illustration / Photo by reporter Peng Huaiyu)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

Have you ever noticed that the cabin doors for boarding and disembarking are always on the left side when flying? The UKDaily Mailconducted a special investigation into this, finding that the reason the cabin doors are on the left is a continuation of the design of ship cabins in the past, where the captain sat on the left to judge the distance to the destination.

Commercial airline pilot Andrew Stagg stated on Quora that this tradition can be traced back to ships that had port and starboard sides. The left side, or Port side, refers to the side where passengers board and disembark from the port, so most aircraft and aviation designers have followed the same convention, placing the main door on the left side of the aircraft for passenger access.

▲ Vehicles and cargo typically enter and exit from the right side of the aircraft, and large commercial airliners also refuel on the right, separating passengers from ground crew and reducing the risk of injury to passengers. (Illustration / Photo by reporter Peng Huaiyu)

The Civil Aviation Authority added that vehicles and cargo usually only enter and exit from the right side of the aircraft, and large commercial airliners also refuel on the right, separating passengers from ground crew and reducing the risk of injury to passengers.

However, not all aircraft have passenger entry and exit points on the left side—for example, some small planes are exceptions. Generally speaking, passengers boarding and disembarking from the left cabin door follows the nautical tradition of the past.