15 Most Dangerous Airports to Land At

Airline travel is called as one of the safest and easiest ways of traveling because it is free from hassles and consumes less time as compared to other forms of commute. However, most of the people are unaware of the fact that some airports which might seem extremely beautiful and attractive could be really dangerous in terms of landing for pilots.

Today, you’ll be reading about some of the most dangerous airports from around the world. It is being said that the mentioned airports are only accessible by the highly trained pilots because they are instructed to perform certain stunts so that they could reach their destination in the right manner.

1. McMurdo Air Station

McMurdo Air Station

Photo: Eli Duke

McMurdo Air Station gained the highest position in our list because it is literally situated on ice. McMurdo is situated in Antarctica and due to the absence of proper infrastructure, it gets extremely difficult for the pilots to land their plane on the destination.

Since it is mostly dark in the area, therefore, most of the pilots chose not to opt for the flights which are landing at McMurdo Air Station.

2. Gibraltar International Airport

Gibraltar International Airport is the second most dangerous airport which is actually situated between the city streets. From the bird eye-view, the airport consists of a unique design but for the pilots, it is the most dangerous destination.

Gibraltar airport intersects the street and whenever there is a landing or taking-off, the street tends to shut-down so that pilots could approach the runway in an accurate manner.

3. Narsarsuaq Airport in Greenland

Narsarsuaq Airport in Greenland

Photo: Algkalv

Similar to the other ice airports, Narsarsuaq Airport is continuously covered in Ice. The temperature in this area can reach extreme which makes it difficult for the pilot to properly execute their tasks.

The weather in this area is very stormy which leads to continuous turbulence in the plane.

4. MCAS Futenma in Okinawa

MCAS Futenma in Okinawa

Photo: Sonata

MCAS Futenma Airport in the USA, Okinawa is supported by the Navy and is also known as the dangerous airports in the world because of its shallow length and very limited support from the boundaries which makes it ultimately difficult for the pilots to safely land on the runway.

All of the flights at this airport are closely monitored in terms of security also.

5. Maedeira Airport Portugal

Maedeira Airport Portugal

Photo: Lt300

It would be super hard for the readers to believe that Medeira Airport in Portugal is created with the help of bridge columns. Initially, it was the smallest and the most dangerous airports. However, in 1977, a deadly crash happened because of which the overall coverage of the runway was increased in order to make it acceptable for the pilots.

6. Paro Airport in Bhutan

Paro Airport in Bhutan is also created on the steep mountains and it consists of the narrow landing strips of 5,500 meters which makes it difficult for the pilots to land the plane properly. Due to high winds and descents, pilots are trained to take quick strip ranks in Nanoseconds only.

7. Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten

Princess Juliana International Airport in St.Maarten

Photo: Wilson Hui

Princess Juliana International Airport is created on the public beach. Although it might not be one of the most dangerous airports in the world it is surely the scariest ones where people at the beach can easily hear the loudest sound of the plane landing and can see it from the nearest place.

If you are liking this, don’t forget to check out our list of the best airports in the world as well.

8. Toncontin Airport in Honduras

Toncontin Airport is simply situated between the short terrains which pilots are supposed to cross while taking a steep and very quick turn towards the valley. Since this airport is near to some very approaching mountains therefore, pilots are supposed to maintain an adequate level of altitude in order to execute the command of taking/landing the plane accurately.

9. Courcheval International Airport in France

Courcheval International Airport in France consists of the shortest runway in the world with 1,722 feet. The airport also consists of the downward gradient of 18% which makes it extremely difficult for the pilots to properly take-off the plane.

Additionally, Courcheval International Airport is situated between the Alps where pilots are supposed to take the plane through a narrow valley so that they could reach the runway touch-point.

10. Lukla Airport in Nepal

Lukla Airport in Nepal

Photo: valcker

Lukla Airport runway literally ends on the cliff. This Airport in Nepal is created high up in the mountains. Lukla Airport is named as the highly dangerous ones in terms of flight take-off because the pilot is supposed to control the pressure of winds in order to properly take-off the plane.

11. Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport in the Island of Saba

If you are interested in witnessing the landing and taking off from the only land spot on an island then, you should decide to visit the airport situated on the Island of Saba. It is said that only the bravest and the most skilled pilots decide to land at this airport because it is way oo dangerous from all the aspects.

12. Kai Tak Airport

Kai Tak Airport was recently closed down in Hong Kong because it was too dangerous for the people around them. The airport was situated in the middle of highly populated city and because of the same reason, the government made the decision of shutting it down.

13. LaGuardia Airport

LaGuardia Airport in New York City is considered the dangerous airport because of its close linkage with the city. This airport is situated in the middle of the densely populated city and one incident associated with the airport could adversely impact the lives of people.

14. Wellington International Airport

The Wellington International Airport consists of the one-lane 6,351-foot runway which starts from the water and also ends at the water. Wellington Airport is called one of the trickiest ones because it is always full of gushing winds which makes it difficult for the plane to land smoothly on the runway.

15. Gisborne Airport in New Zealand

Gisborne Airport is the dangerous airport in New Zealand which consists of the railway intersection in between the runway. It is very difficult for the pilot to land on Gisborne airport because they are expected to coordinate with the grass-covered railway track in order to avoid interaction with approaching trains around.

No doubt that all of the mentioned airports are the highly dangerous ones to land at but the interesting part is that these airports fortunately never witnessed any type of deadly air crashes or incidents.

The airports might seem dangerous in terms of the landing procedure but as a traveler, if you decide to go to these places then, you can easily enjoy some beautiful sights.

So are you planning to visit these places anytime soon? Make us aware by leaving your comments below.

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