Airports - A Homeless Shelter
Big Issue|Issue 297
Some people can end up living at airports for long periods of time. Many individuals have managed to live in terminals for weeks, months and sometimes even years.
Janet Bednarek
Airports - A Homeless Shelter

In January, local authorities arrested a 36-year-old man named Aditya Singh after he had spent three months living at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Since October 2020, he had been staying in the secure side of the airport, relying on the kindness of strangers to buy him food, sleeping in the terminals, and using the many bathroom facilities. It wasn’t until an airport employee asked to see his ID that the jig was up.

Singh, however, is far from the first to pull off an extended stay. After more than two decades of studying the history of airports, there are stories about individuals who have managed to take up residence in terminals for weeks, months, and sometimes even years. But not all of those who find themselves living in an airport do so of their own accord.

BLENDING IN

While many major airports exist as mini cities’, it’s plain to see how this idea germinates. These travel facilities, after all, provide places of worship, policing, hotels, fine dining, shopping, and mass transit.

But if airports are ‘cities’, they’re rather strange ones, in that those running them prefer that no-one actually takes up residence there.

Nonetheless, it is possible to live in airports because they do offer many of the basic amenities needed for survival: food, water, bathrooms, and shelter. And while airport operations do not necessarily run 24/7, their terminals often open very early in the morning and stay open until very late at night.

Many of the facilities are so large that those determined to stay – such as the man at O’Hare – can find ways to avoid detection for quite some time.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 297 من Big Issue.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 297 من Big Issue.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من BIG ISSUE مشاهدة الكل
Visit The ‘Seaside Circus'
Big Issue

Visit The ‘Seaside Circus'

There’s a new art activation on the prom …

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 300
SA's Food Capture?
Big Issue

SA's Food Capture?

While the debate rages on over glyphosate-based herbicides, farmers are spraying the chemical all over the world

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 300
Design That Uplifts, Delight Intrigues
Big Issue

Design That Uplifts, Delight Intrigues

A collaboration with Southern Guild at the Silo District in Cape Town showcases designer Rich Mnisi’s first solo exhibition, titled Nyoka, on show from 2 October 2021 through to 4 February 2022. Designed to reach out and inspire.

time-read
4 mins  |
Issue 300
Why Kaaps Language Dictionary Matters!
Big Issue

Why Kaaps Language Dictionary Matters!

The first-ever dictionary of South Africa’s Kaaps language has launched. Why it matters …

time-read
5 mins  |
Issue 300
Hungry, And Tired
Big Issue

Hungry, And Tired

This charity has been feeding Cape Town’s hungry for more than 80 years. Never have so many people queued for food.

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 300
Life's Ups And Downs
Big Issue

Life's Ups And Downs

Feeling burnt out? Clinical Psychologist and Business Director at The Human Edge, Helene Vermaak, gives some grounded self-care advice for anyone feeling overstressed or depleted.

time-read
4 mins  |
Issue 300
WHAT'S ON?
Big Issue

WHAT'S ON?

Get out and about under the spring sun, or enjoy entertainment online from the comfort of your couch …

time-read
2 mins  |
Issue 300
SPACE TO REFLECT
Big Issue

SPACE TO REFLECT

When former Big Issue editor, Alicia English, lost her husband to Covid-19 earlier this year, she and her son discovered a novel way to process overwhelming, difficult feelings.

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 300
INSPIRATIONAL READING
Big Issue

INSPIRATIONAL READING

Whether you tap, turn pages or listen to audiobooks, an inspirational read can help you relax and see the world differently.

time-read
2 mins  |
Issue 300
Rough sleeping
Big Issue

Rough sleeping

“Winters are the worst nightmare for us,” says a homeless man in Springs. Temperatures dropped to minus 7º C recently.

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 300