Aéroport vs. aérodrome
While both aéroport and aérodrome can be translated as airport in English, they are not interchangeable in French. The key distinction lies in the scale of the facilities and the type of air traffic they handle.
Aéroport
A1An aéroport is a large, complex airport specifically equipped for commercial air transport. It features significant infrastructure such as passenger terminals, customs and immigration services, baggage handling systems, control towers, and air traffic control for national and international passenger and cargo flights.
Nous devons être à l'aéroport Charles de Gaulle trois heures avant notre vol pour New York.
(We must be at Charles de Gaulle airport three hours before our flight to New York.)
Le nouvel aéroport international a permis de développer le tourisme dans la région.
(The new international airport helped develop tourism in the region.)
J'ai acheté du parfum dans la boutique hors taxes de l'aéroport avant d'embarquer.
(I bought some perfume in the duty-free shop at the airport before boarding.)
Le trafic de passagers de cet aéroport a augmenté de 10% cette année.
(Passenger traffic at this airport has increased by 10% this year.)
Aérodrome
B2An aérodrome is a broader, more technical term for any area of land or water (like an airfield) prepared for the takeoff, landing, and movement of aircraft. This category includes large commercial airports, but also much smaller facilities like airfields for private planes, flying clubs, military airbases, or glider fields.
Mon oncle garde son petit avion privé dans un hangar sur un aérodrome de campagne.
(My uncle keeps his small private plane in a hangar at a country airfield.)
Le club de parachutisme organise des sauts tous les week-ends depuis l'aérodrome local.
(The skydiving club organizes jumps every weekend from the local airfield.)
Des avions de chasse sont stationnés sur l'aérodrome militaire près de la base.
(Fighter jets are stationed at the military airbase near the base.)
Il a appris à piloter des planeurs sur l'aérodrome de la montagne.
(He learned to fly gliders at the mountain airfield.)
Summary
In essence, use aéroport for a major commercial airport where you would catch a scheduled flight (like JFK, Heathrow, or Orly). Use aérodrome for any location where aircraft can take off and land, which is a broader category that includes everything from a simple grass strip for recreational flying to a military airbase. Therefore, every aéroport is an aérodrome, but not every aérodrome is an aéroport.