This term is one of the over used ones. There is a lot of effort in digging a mine. You don't do it if you don't have to. The airshaft is usually an abandoned shaft which has been intersected during the normal course of following the common denominator (usually a quartz vein) or driven a small distance to or along a vein to a known abandoned or disused shaft. An intersection provides ventilation. Two entrances to the surface provide a natural airflow, hence the term airshaft.