The 10 Worst Airports in the World

We evaluated the world airports for the following characteristics: length and shape of the runway, location and additional functionality. As it turned out, the airports with a runway, which can simultaneously serve the highway for cars and even a golf course, in the world turned out to be a lot. Nevertheless, these airports function successfully, accepting regular flights from all countries.

Courchevel International Airport, France

Against the breathtaking beauty of the French Alps there is also a breathtaking airport. You need to be crazy to put the plane on a runway 525 meters long and a slope of 18.5%. The airport was included in the Guinness Book of Records due to the "humpbacked" and unusually short runway. While unsuspecting passengers enjoy a magnificent panorama of the mountains, the pilots perform the most difficult work. It is necessary to approach the landing in really extreme conditions, with no visibility of the end of the strip. Take off also falls on the slope in order to gain the necessary speed.

Gibraltar Airport

Gibraltar International Airport is one of the most unique in the world. Its runway is not only a few hundred meters out in bulk in the sea, but also intersects with the existing highway. When planes take off or land, traffic of cars and pedestrians stops using traffic lights and barriers.

Fortunately for residents, the airport serves no more than 30 flights a week. Winston Churchill Avenue is a road with intensive traffic, since it connects the country with neighboring Spain. The reason for such a compact arrangement of transport infrastructure is the tiny dimensions of Gibraltar itself, which occupies the territory of a small peninsula with an area of ​​6.5 sq. Km.

Princess Juliana Airport, St. Martin's Island

The end of the airport runway is located directly on the seashore, close to the Maho beach, so that the aircraft, at the approach to landing, fly at an altitude of 10-20 meters above the heads of tourists who are resting on the beach behind the runway face. The place is known as the "Paradise Paradise". The airport is named after Juliana (Queen of the Netherlands), who visited here as the Crown Princess in 1944, one year after the opening of the airport.

Svalbard Airport, Svalbard, Norway

The main airport serving the polar archipelago of Spitsbergen is located in the largest settlement and administrative center of the Norwegian province of Svalbard - Longyearbyen. It is located at the foot of Platoberge Mountain 3 km to the north-west of Longyearbyen and is the world's most northerly civil airport.

Huancho-Irasquin Airport, Antilles

According to the main criterion - the length of the runway - the airport of the island of Saba "Juancho Yrausquin Airport" is the most dangerous in the world. The length of the runway is less than 400 meters, and the GDP itself is surrounded by steep cliffs and the sea. The problem is added by the wind - the island of Saba refers to the Windward Islands, i.e. The wind here is strong with a constantly changing direction. That's why the airport is closed for private flights, and only specially trained pilots of the local airline "Windward Islands Airways" can take off and land here.

Barra, Scotland

Barra Airport is a unique airport with sandy runways for airplanes with shortened take-off and landing characteristics. It is one of the ten most dangerous airports in the world. Located on the shore of the wide bay of Tray Moore on the northern tip of the island of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The tide interrupts the airport, hiding it under water. Possible emergency departures and arrivals at night (light marks of the central runway line and retroreflective strips are exposed). However, the aerodrome is not certified for use at night.

Hong Kong International Airport

The airport was opened for commercial use in 1998, replacing Kai Tak airport, and became an important regional cargo transportation center, passenger hub and air gateway to mainland China, East Asia and Southeast Asia. Despite a relatively short history, Hong Kong International Airport has repeatedly won international awards as the best airport in the world. Unique to it is the fact that there is a golf course on the territory of the airport, and many holes are located in places where it is better not to hang around during takeoff and landing.

Tonkontin International Airport, Honduras

The take-off strip of Tonkontin Airport, which is several hundred meters above sea level, is extremely short. Its length is only 1800 meters. Surrounded by a mountain landscape, the runway resembles a zigzag. The pilot-anonymous explains: "With the invention of the GPS-navigator we were able to maneuver between the mountains. To fit into the lane, pilots have to make sharp turns at 45 degrees at the last second.

King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia

In general, the airport infrastructure was built by 1990, which allowed its troops to use the international coalition during the 1991 Gulf War. For commercial traffic, the airport opened on November 28, 1999. Due to poor transport access, many passengers preferred to use Bahrain International Airport, the road network has evolved and passenger traffic has slightly increased, but King Fahd Airport continues to operate not at its maximum because it occupies a record area for the airport - about 500 square kilometers.

Macau International Airport

The runway of the airport was built on an artificial embankment in the sea, near the island of Taipa, on which the main terminal and air traffic control facilities are located. The runway is connected to the apron by two taxiways.