Princess Juliana International Airport serves Saint Maarten, the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. It is the second busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean. The airport is famous for its short landing strip — only 2,180 metres 7,152 ft, which is barely enough for heavy jets. Because of this, the planes approach the island flying extremely low, right over Maho Beach. Countless photos of large jets flying at 10-20 m/30-60 ft over relaxing tourists at the beach have been dismissed as fakes many times, but are nevertheless real. For this reason as well it has become a favourite for plane-spotters. Despite the difficulties in approach, there has been no records of major aviation incidents at the airport.2 Madiera Airport
Madeira Airport also known as Funchal Airport and Santa Catarina Airport, is an international airport located near Funchal, Madeira. The airport controls national and international air traffic of the island of Madeira.The airport was once infamous for its short runway which, surrounded by high mountains and the ocean, made it a tricky landing for even the most experienced of pilots. The original runway was only 1,400 metres in length, but was extended by 400 metres after the TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 incident of 1977 and subsequently rebuilt in 2003, almost doubling the size of the runway, building it out over the ocean. Instead of using landfill, the extension was built on a series of 180 columns, each being about 70m tall.
For the enlargement of the new runway the Funchal Airport has won the Outstanding Structures Award, given by International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE). The Outstanding Structures Award is considered to be the "Oscar" for engineering structures in Portugal.
3 Courchevel (France)
Courchevel is the name of a ski area located in the French Alps, the largest linked ski area in the world. It's airport has a certain degree of infamy in the aviation industry as home to a relatively short runway, with a length of 525 m (1,722 ft) and a gradient of 18.5%. It's so short that you have to land on an inclined strip to slow down and take off on a decline to pick up enough speed.Who gets to land here? Well, Pierce Brosnan made the short list. This was the airport used in the opening seen of Tomorrow Never Dies. For the rest of us, private plane, helicopter, or charter are the only ways to go, and your pilot is going to need some serious training before he or she is allowed to land at Courchevel.
4 Barra International Airport
Barra Airport is the only airport in the world where planes land on the beach. Barra is situated in on the wide beach of Traigh Mhor, on Barra island, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. If you want to fly here commercially you will want to book with British Airways, which flies to Barra from Glasgow and Benbecula.The airport is literally washed away by the tide once a day, and if you arrive on a late afternoon flight, you may notice a couple of cars in the parking lot with their lights on, which provides pilots some added visibility, since the airport is naturally lit. Needless to say you probably don't want to hang out at Barra Airport beach, unless you are a aviation junkie, in which case Barra Airport has a fool proof system, as sign that reads: "Keep off the beach. When the windsock is flying and the airport is active."
5 Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is the only airport on the Caribbean island of Saba, in the Netherlands Antilles. It is well known among experienced fliers for the way in which airplanes must approach or take off from the airport.Yrausquin Airport covers a relatively large portion of the small island of Saba. Some aviation experts are of the general opinion that the airport is one of the most dangerous in the world, despite the fact that no major tragedies have happened at the facility. The airport's sole runway is marked with an X at each end, to indicate to commercial pilots that the airport is closed for commercial aviation.
The danger of the airport comes from its location in relation to the island. The side by which aircraft come in is flanked by a large cliff that the plane flies directly toward before banking hard left to get in line with the runway. The airport is 60 feet above the ocean, and sheer cliff on both sides of the runway leads to those rocky depths, running the risk of airplanes over shooting the runway and falling into the ocean. A crosswind will cause airplanes to renege flights, as the rough turbulence can give even good pilots a hard time.
6 Kai Thak Airport (Hongkong)
Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. It was officially known as the Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to July 6, 1998, when it was closed and replaced by the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, 30 km to the west.
With numerous skyscrapers and mountains located to the north and its only runway jutting out into Victoria Harbour, landings at the airport were difficult. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports, ranks it as the 6th most dangerous airport in the world.
7 Toncotin International Airport (Honduras)
Toncontín International Airport is a civil and military airport that serves Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It is 6 km away from the center of Tegucigalpa.The airport has received much criticism for being one of the most dangerous in the world due to its proximity to mountainous terrain, its short runway, and historically difficult approach to runway. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports, ranks it as the 2nd most dangerous airport in the world.
Boeing 757s are the largest aircraft that normally land at Toncontín. Even with its recent runway extension, Toncontín has one of the shortest international runways in the world.
The airport has a single Asphalt runway, which sits at an elevation of 3,294 feet (1,004 m) AMSL. Until May 2009 the runway was only 6,112 feet (1,863 m) in length. In 2007 the approach to runway 02 was made significantly easier by work which systematically bulldozed away a large portion of the hillside, immediately before the threshold. Following on from this work; in May 2009, the southern end of the runway received a 984 feet (300 m) extension lengthening it to 7,096 feet (2,163 m).
8 Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar Airport or North Front Airportis the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the airport; currently the only scheduled flights operate to the United Kingdom and Spain. Passengers depart and arrive through the civilian operated terminal.
Gibraltar Airport has the distinction of being the closest airport to the city that it serves, being only 500 metres from Gibraltar's city centre. In 2004 the airport handled 314,375 passengers and 380 tonnes of cargo. Gibraltar Airport is one of the few Class A airports in the world. Winston Churchill Avenue (the main road heading towards the land border with Spain) intersects the airport runway, so consequently has to be closed every time a plane lands or departs. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports, ranks it as the 5th most dangerous airport in the world.
9 San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport sometimes referred to as Lindbergh Field, is a public airport located 3 miles northwest of the central business district of San Diego, California and 20 miles from the Mexico – United States border at Tijuana, Mexico. It is operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
San Diego International is the busiest single-runway commercial service airport in the United States, and second in the world after London Gatwick, with approximately 600 departures and arrivals carrying 50,000 passengers each day, and a total of 18.3 million passengers in 2007. San Diego is the largest metropolitan area of the United States which does not serve as a hub nor secondary hub (or focus city) for any airline. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports, ranks it as the 10th most dangerous airport in the world.
10 Lukla Airport
Tenzing-Hillary Airport also known as Lukla Airport, is a small airport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu, Solukhumbu district, Sagarmatha zone, eastern Nepal. In January 2008, the airport was renamed in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first persons to reach the summit of Mount Everest and also to mark their efforts in the construction of this airport. The surrounding terrain, thin air, highly changeable weather and the airport's short, sloping runway make it one of the most challenging landings in the world. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports ranked it as the most dangerous airport in the world.
The airport is popular since Lukla is the place where most people start their climb of Mount Everest. There are daily flights between Lukla and Kathmandu during daylight hours with good weather. Although the flying distance is short, it can easily be raining in Lukla while the sun is shining brightly in Kathmandu. High Winds, cloud cover and changing visibility often mean flights can be delayed or the airport closed completely. The airport is contained within a chain link fence and patrolled by the Nepal armed police or civil police around the clock.
A huge mountain on one end, a thousand meter drop on the other. And it's at 2900 meters elevation, so you don't exactly have full power.
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