6 Scariest Airports in the World

Have you ever been on a flight when suddenly out of nowhere, everything starts shaking and you secretly go over a checklist of every God who will give your soul a listen?  

 This usually ends in a couple of minutes while your fellow passenger snores his way through the thunderstorm.  

 Compiled below is a list of airports which would wake your fellow passenger and have them repeat your prayers.  

 

1)Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Chaurikharka, Nepal 

On a slope of the Himalayan Mountains, is the first test for all those wishing to climb the Everest. The runway is only 1500 feet long and 65 feet wide. Because of this, it can only accommodate small planes and helicopters.  

 To add to that the weather is highly unpredictable. Fog, high winds and clouds are common when you are at 3000 meters above sea level.  

 

2) Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Saba  

Please buckle up your seat belts as your pilot attempts to take off on a 1300 feet long runway. No worries though, if you overshoot the runway, your holiday will turn into the latest season of the TV series ‘Lost’.  

 Don’t lose hope yet though (unless you’ve googled Lost). Only Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) aircrafts are allowed to use the runway. So the chances of the aircraft overshooting are slim. 

 

3) Princess Juliana International Airport, Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten 

This charmingly named airport has very low-altitude flyover landing approaches. This is largely because one end of its runway is extremely close to the shore and beach. 

 What this means is that landing planes can literally lift you off your feet due to the air pressure created. 

 

4)Barra Airport, United Kingdom 

With a special talent for playing hide and seek, it is one of the only airports in the world where planes land directly on the beach. The landing strip goes under during high tide.  

 “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Captain Houdini speaking. Please buckle up while we wait for our airport to reappear, thank you again, for flying with us.”  

 

 5) Sandane Airport, Anda  

The runway is borrowed between two fjords, making the landing extremely difficult. Fast winds and a runway measuring only 970 meters have left this airport with a list of accidents.  

 In October 2016, during an approach to landing, the sailplane did not reach the runway and landed in the sea. Luckily no one was hurt.  

(Source: https://www.aibn.no/Aviation/Published-reports/2017-08) 

 

6) Ice runway Antarctica   

This honourable mention is more of an airstrip than an airport. However, this runway is worthy of our attention because almost every landing could be considered a miracle. Airplanes require retractable ski-equipped landing gear to be able to safely land on this runway. Turnarounds are not uncommon as the weather is unpredictable making the conditions very risky to land.  

As frightful as it may be to experience these airports first hand, we must note that the pilots are trained to land in such treacherous conditions or conduct a turnaround if the conditions are not optimal.  

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