Final answer:
A Standard Terminal Arrival Route (STAR) is a predefined flight path for aircraft designed to streamline the arrival process, crucial for managing the high volume of air traffic in busy airports. It increases efficiency and safety by reducing the need for individual ATC instructions and contributes to reducing overall travel delays.
Step-by-step explanation:
A Standard Terminal Arrival Route (STAR) is a predefined flight path for aircraft approaching an airport. It is designed to streamline multiple flight paths into an efficient, organized manner to manage air traffic and reduce the need for air traffic control (ATC) instruction. STAR procedures are vital in busy airports to ensure systematic and safe arrivals.
Consider the scenario of the busiest airport in the world, which handles an average of 2,500 arrivals and departures daily. Having structured routes such as STARs helps manage this high volume of air traffic, allowing flights to land safely and punctually.
The efficiency and predictability of STARs also contribute to minimizing the waiting time during the airline travel process, which, as we see in the rate-determining step description, can involve various delays due to limited resources and sequential processing at security and boarding stages.