Courchevel Airport (CVF), France
This airport has an uphill runway that measures just 1,722 feet. On the other side of the runway? A vertical drop—off the side of the mountain—so no go-arounds, at all. Only private planes and helicopters make landings at CVF, so unless you are a member of the ultra-luxe jet set, it's doubtful you will be flying here anytime soon.
Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA), Lukla, Nepal
At the southern end of Nepal's 1,500-foot airstrip in Lukla, named in 2008 for Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary, the ground drops 2,000 feet into a valley below. Accidents are, unfortunately, common at the gateway to Mount Everest Base Camp. Daily commercial flights to Kathmandu are subject to high winds, cloud cover, and ever-changing visibility conditions.
Paro Airport (PBH), Bhutan
The Kingdom of Bhutan's only international airport is an exclusive one—fewer than two dozen pilots are qualified to land planes here. The airport is only open from sunrise to sunset.
Cristiano Ronaldo Airport (FNC), Madeira, Portugal
Madeira Island's recently renamed Cristiano Ronaldo Airport has water on one side and hills on the other, making for a difficult (and stormy) sea wind-affected approach. Pilots have to fly towards the hills, and then sharply turn to the runway.
Barra Airport (BRR), Outer Hebrides, Scotland
Scotland's ultra-scenic Barra Airport is one of just a handful in the world where planes land directly on the beach. The airport disappears once the tide comes in from the bay of Traigh Mhòr; car headlights (!) provide additional lighting in the case of decreased visibility.
Rémy de Haenen Airport (SBH), St. Barts
It makes even the bravest skittish, due largely to its extremely short, 2,100-foot runway that peters out on St. Jean Beach. A number of planes have overshot the runway, nose-diving into the sand.
Sandane Airport, Anda, Norway
This remote Norwegian airport is atop rugged mountainous terrain and in between two fjords, Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) Gibraltar's airport is the only one in the world that has a road running through the middle of it.
LaGuardia Airport (LGA), New York, NY
For an airport that moves some 29.8 million passengers a year—indeed, one of America's busiest airports—its mere two runways are problematic. Pilots have to land within minutes of each other on intersecting and relatively short (7,000 feet) runways with extremely tight taxiways
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Washington, D.C.
Pilots are required to fly a River Visual approach, following the Potomac (there are lights on the Key Bridge, Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, Arlington Memorial Bridge, and the George Mason Memorial Bridge to help them) while steering well clear of sensitive sites like the Pentagon. On takeoff, planes are required to climb steeply before executing a sharp left bank to avoid finding themselves anywhere near the White House.
Short excerpt from a former CN article by David Jeffery and Laura Ratliff
Find more scary airports and images here:
https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-02-11/photos-scariest-airport-landings-and-runways
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Nice Blog. Its really very interesting post on the details about the scariest airports in the world. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt is required that the pilot hold the Commercial Pilot License Canada to work for a commercial air service.