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Explanation: Many people use the term to refer to an airplane runway, due to the fact that Tarmac was used extensively to construct runways during World War II. To this day, any large paved area at an airport is commonly referred to as a tarmac, whether it was paved with Tarmac or not.
Americans use the term "blacktop" to refer to tarmac, due to its color; though they use the term "tarmac" sparingly, and usually in reference to an airport runway. - http://tinyurl.com/pojnl8
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....many people use the word to refer to generic paved areas at airports, especially the airport ramp or "apron", near the terminals despite the fact that many of these areas are in fact made of concrete. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmac
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SEATTLE (KING/CNN) - Workers are tearing up the tarmac at Seattle's airport, but they aren't trucking it away. They're making a new runway out of the old one. - http://tinyurl.com/q92ezj
Incidentally, I have not idea which of the two proposed translations "runway" or "tarmac" better translates the Polish term "płyta startowa", only that tarmac and runway mean different things. The correct translation will depend on what the Polish term actually refers to: "runway" if the part of the airport where airplanes take off and land, "tarmac" if the part of the airport where airplanes park for refuellling, boarding, maintenance and the like.
Runway: 1. A strip of level, usually paved ground on which aircraft take off and land.
Tarmac: a registered trademark, that has become a widely used term to describe any kind of paved road. Many people **use the term to refer to an airplane runway**, ...Tarmac was used extensively to construct runways during World War II. To this day, **any large paved area** at an airport is commonly referred to as a tarmac, whether it was paved with Tarmac or not. But see discussion: "It's rather uneducated to refer to elements of an airport system as a 'tarmac'. There are runways for takeoffs and landings, taxiways for getting to and from them and aprons for loading planes. I usually write off a reporter that uses 'tarmac' in a news story as one who doesn't do their homework to find out the proper location on the airport." And reply: "Tarmac is highway asphalt. Any commercial airliner rolling onto this surface would most likely quickly sink into this flexible material. Airport runways, taxiways and aprons are made with reinforced concrete often more than 12 inches thick...I agree with XXX that reporters often just repeat what they hear without really considering what the words really m
Explanation: Many people use the term to refer to an airplane runway, due to the fact that Tarmac was used extensively to construct runways during World War II. To this day, any large paved area at an airport is commonly referred to as a tarmac, whether it was paved with Tarmac or not.
Americans use the term "blacktop" to refer to tarmac, due to its color; though they use the term "tarmac" sparingly, and usually in reference to an airport runway. - http://tinyurl.com/pojnl8
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....many people use the word to refer to generic paved areas at airports, especially the airport ramp or "apron", near the terminals despite the fact that many of these areas are in fact made of concrete. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmac
-----------------------
SEATTLE (KING/CNN) - Workers are tearing up the tarmac at Seattle's airport, but they aren't trucking it away. They're making a new runway out of the old one. - http://tinyurl.com/q92ezj
geopiet Native speaker of: Polish PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
płyta, ale zawiera pas startowy, a nie tylko postojowa
Reference information: What's the idifference between a TARMAC and a RUNWAY? And is the "płyta startowa" one or the other or even both?
TARMAC:
GENERIC paved areas at airports, often used to include AIRPORT RAMP and APRON.
What are the AIRPORT RAMP and APRON, and does this include the RUNWAY?
The airport ramp or apron is part of an airport. ***It is usually the area where aircraft are PARKED, UNLOADED, OR LOADED, REFUELED, OR BOARDED.
So, the TARMAC (i.e. airport ramp and apron) is distinct from the RUNWAY. They are not the same thing, or part of the same collection of features.
RUNWAY
A runway (RWY) is a strip of land at an airport, on which aircraft can take off and land and, forms part of the maneuvering area. Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (grass, dirt, or gravel).
Note the explanation of TARMAC includes the area "where the airplane is boarded, refueled etc", but does not include the area where the airplane takes off and lands.
If "startowa" in this term is meant to describe the area where all activities involved in getting a plane ready for take-off occur, including boarding, re-fueling, and the like, then TARMAC would be the correct term.
If, on the other hand, "startowa" only refers to that area of the airport where the plane actually takes off, and is not intended to cover any of the other activities involved in preparing a plane to take off, then RUNWAY is the correct term.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 6 hrs (2009-05-20 22:10:49 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Can Tarmac and Runway be used interchangeably?
Well, I don't use them interchangeably.
And in case the word of a native speaker isn't sufficient grounds,
See:
1. "The Wick Airport at Wick in Caithness, Scotland is one of the few airports that still has a real Tarmac runway."
or also review discussion of terminology at this industry discussion board:
2. "A timeline released by U.S. Airways Wednesday night is disputing a woman's claim that she was left on a runway at McCarran." Do they really think she was left on a runway? Or do they not know the difference between a runway and an apron or tarmac? Do they know what a runway is?"
The translation workplace 
