The World's Scariest Runways
The World's Scariest Runways
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Nail-biting landings and harrowing takeoffs—buckle up when you fly into these airports.

There’s a sobering saying among pilots: "Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing." And it’s not until you fly into places like Paro in Bhutan or Toncontìn Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, that the adage starts to make sense. Both are surrounded by mountains, and Toncontìn has one of the world’s shortest international runways; each requires a series of hard, last-minute banks. It’s no wonder that both give even the most seasoned pilots—not to mention their passengers—the sweats.

According to aviation experts, factors that contribute to difficult landings include the truncated length of runways, unique atmospheric and meteorological conditions, dramatic geographical settings, heavy air traffic, or a combination thereof.

And it’s not always the landing that’s the stuff of lore. Matekane Air Strip, in the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho, features a stunted 1,312-foot-long runway perched at the edge of a couloir that sits at 7,550 feet. According to celebrated bush pilot Tom Claytor, depending on the wind during takeoff, it’s entirely possible for the aircraft not to be airborne by the end of the airstrip. "Instead," he says, "you shoot off the end of the airstrip, then drop down the 2,000-foot cliff face until you start flying."

It’s enough to make you take the train.

See more from Travel + Leisure.
The World's Scariest Runways
Danita Delimont / Alamy

Paro Airport, Bhutan

Who Flies There: Druk Air, the national carrier.

Why It’s Harrowing: Tucked into a tightly cropped valley and surrounded by 16,000-foot-high serrated Himalayan peaks, this is arguably the world's most forbidding airport to fly into. It requires specially trained pilots to maneuver into this stomach-dropping aerie by employing visual flying rules and then approaching and landing through a narrow channel of vertiginous tree-covered hillsides. Only eight pilots in the world are qualified to make this landing.
The World's Scariest Runways
Angie Vo

Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten

Who Flies There: All major U.S. airlines, as well as Paris-based charter carrier Corsairfly, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and a handful of regional operators.

Why It’s Harrowing: The length of the runway—just 7,152 feet—is perfectly fine for small or medium-size jets, but as the second-busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean, it regularly welcomes so-called heavies—long-haul wide-body jetliners like Boeing 747’s and Airbus A340’s—from Europe, which fly in improbably low over Maho Beach and skim just over the perimeter fence.
The World's Scariest Runways
Enrique Galeano Morales

Toncontín Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Who Flies There: American Airlines, Continental, Copa Airlines, TACA, Islena Airlines, and Aerolineas Sosa.

Why It’s Harrowing: Having negotiated the rough-hewn mountainous terrain, pilots must execute a dramatic 45-degree, last-minute bank to the left just minutes prior to touching down in a bowl-shaped valley on a runway just 6,112 feet in length. The airport, at an altitude of 3,294 feet, can accommodate aircraft no larger than Boeing 757’s.
The World's Scariest Runways
Sunpix Travel / Alamy

Gibraltar Airport, Gibraltar

 Who Flies There: British Airways, EasyJet, Iberia Airlines, and Monarch Airlines.

Why It’s Harrowing: Pinched in by the Mediterranean on its eastern flank and the Bay of Gibraltar on its western side, the airport’s truncated runway stretches just 6,000 feet and requires pinpoint precision. And upon hitting the tarmac, pilots must quickly and fully engage the auto-brakes. Yet as nerve-wracking as the landing can be, it’s never guaranteed. Because of Gibraltar’s unique topography, the British colony endures unusual localized weather patterns that cause flights to be diverted to nearby Tangiers, Faro, and Malaga.

The World's Scariest Runways
Werner Otto / Alamy

Madeira Airport, Funchal

Who Flies There: Most scheduled (and many charter) European carriers.

Why It’s Harrowing: Wedged in by mountains and the Atlantic, Madeira Airport requires a clockwise approach for which pilots are specially trained. Despite a unique elevated extension that was completed back in 2000 and now expands the runway length to what should be a comfortable 9,000 feet, the approach to Runway 05 remains a hair-raising affair that pilots absolutely dread. They must first point their aircraft at the mountains and, at the last minute, bank right to align with the fast-approaching runway.
The World's Scariest Runways
Minghong / Wikimedia Commons

Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong

Who Flies There: Former home to Cathay Pacific; also Dragonair, Air Hong Kong, Hong Kong Airways

Why It’s Harrowing: Although it closed in 1998, this infamous urban airport will go down in history as one of the scariest of all time. Planes would practically graze skyscrapers and jagged mountains surrounding Kowloon Bay as they took off and landed on a single runway that shot headlong into Victoria Harbour.
The World's Scariest Runways
Scottish Viewpoint / Alamy

Barra Airport, Barra, Scotland

Who Flies There: British Airways and Flybe.

Why It’s Harrowing: Have you ever landed on a beach? The airport on the tiny Outer Hebridean Island of Barra is actually a wide shallow bay onto which scheduled planes land, making it a curiosity in the world of aviation. Admittedly, the roughness of the landings is determined by how the tide goes out to sea. Locals, who are avid cockle pickers, steer clear of the vast swath of hardened sand when the wind sock is up—a sign that specially rigged Twin Otter propeller aircraft are incoming.
The World's Scariest Runways
Sandy Macys / Alamy

John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York

Who Flies There: All major U.S., European, and Asian airlines.

Why It’s Harrowing: Parkway Visual—a.k.a. the Canarsie Approach—is the especially daunting flyway here, since pilots have to avoid interfering with flights into New York’s two other close-by airports, LaGuardia and Newark. Set up in 1964 as a noise-abatement measure to pacify angry residents, this approach forces pilots to have a reported 1,500-foot ceiling and a five-mile visibility for their circular approach before lining up with runway 13L, with the threatening waters of Jamaica Bay beckoning at the runway’s end.
The World's Scariest Runways

Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla, Nepal

Who Flies There: Yeti Airlines

Why It’s Harrowing: Recently renamed after the famous Everest climber-conquerers, mountainous Tenzing-Hillary Airport not only has one of the steepest uphill runways in the world, but its drop-off, into the wind shear-prone Himalayan valley below, is sure to give even the heartiest mountaineers pause. Here, daily 30-minute flights from Katmandu are only allowed to land during daylight, weather permitting.
The World's Scariest Runways

Courchevel, France

Who Flies There: Private aircraft

Why It’s Harrowing: Part of massive Les Trois Vallées ski resort in the French Alps, Courchevel’s airport is notorious for its super-short ski slope-esque runway (it’s just 1,722 feet), which is punctuated with a vertical mountainside drop. Ice and unpredictable winds are always a concern for pilots, who must meet rigorous training requirements before being able to land in this stunning winter wonderland.
The World's Scariest Runways

Sandane, Norway

Who Flies There: Widerøe

Why It’s Harrowing: This Nordic nail-biter of a runway runs is just 2,600 feet, running perpendicular to two imposing fjords—Nordfjord and Gloppefjord—at the base of a rugged peninsula. It’s doubtful that the single landing strip, which is operated by the Norwegian government, will ever see expansion due to its watery confines.
The World's Scariest Runways
Pulau Tioman / Wikimedia Commons

Tioman Island, Malaysia

Who Flies There: Berjaya Air, Malaysian Airlines

Why It’s Harrowing: Landing on this volcanic South China Sea isle—referred to as giant sleeping dragon for its emerald ridges and misty plumes—has set many a pilot’s and passenger’s hair on end. Its approach, directly into a mountain with a 90-degree turn to align with the runway, ends short with a cliff—if you don’t jam on the brakes you’re a goner.
The World's Scariest Runways
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Reagan National Airport, Washington, D.C.

Who Flies There: All major U.S. airlines.

Why It’s Harrowing: Flying around Washington, D.C., is fraught with peril—just ask the pilot of a small aircraft that drifted into restricted airspace in March 2008, causing Congress to be evacuated and military planes to be scrambled. Located smack in the center of two overlapping air-exclusion zones, Reagan National requires pilots flying the so-called River Visual into the airport to follow the Potomac while steering clear of sensitive sites such as the Pentagon and CIA headquarters before making a steep turn and landing on this natural peninsula. Taking off, too, is a white-knuckle event in which pilots are required to climb quickly and execute a steep left bank to avoid flying over the White House.
The World's Scariest Runways
Courtesy of Tom Claytor - www.claytor.com

Matekane Air Strip, Lesotho

Who Flies There: Charities delivering aid, and the occasional bush pilot.

Why It’s Harrowing: Because of the diminutive 1,312-foot-long runway perched at the edge of a couloir at 7,550 feet, becoming airborne at the end of the tarmac is virtually impossible. Instead, you drop down the face of a 2,000-foot cliff until you start flying. Says bush pilot Tom Claytor, “The rule in the mountains is that it is better to take off downwind and downhill than into wind and uphill, because in Lesotho, the hills will usually out-climb you. It’s a little bit hard to do the first time.”
The World's Scariest Runways
Werner Otto / Alamy



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