Alex O'Brien
International Travel

8 of the scariest airports in the world to land at

These days we tend to take air travel for granted, but the pilots landing at these potentially perilous airports certainly wouldn’t. Here are the eight scariest airports in the world.

To see the airports, scroll through the gallery above.

1. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Nepal

Otherwise known as Lukla Airport, this is often voted the 'world's most dangerous airport' for the 2800 metre drop at the end of the runway and the lack of control tower, radar or navigation.

2. Pegasus Airfield, Antarctica

As the name suggests, this is less an airport, more a field... covered in ice. The name actually comes from a C-121 Lockheed Constellation named "Pegasus" that crashed at a remote airstrip in Antarctica while attempting to land.

3. Gustaf III Airport, St Barts

The descent into St Barts is so steep, pilots need special training to land there. And departing planes fly right over the heads of sunbathers. Scary!

4. Gibraltar International Airport, Gibraltar

This airport's runway has a busy highway bisecting it. Every time a plane takes off or lands, the road must close, creating one of the most insane airport traffic patterns in the world, as well as insane traffic.

5. Gisborne Airport, New Zealand

Gisborne's airport is crossed over by a railway line. The railway tracks splits the runway almost in the middle and very often trains or aircraft are stopped until one of them moves on.

6. Courchevel Airport, France

This airport is primarily to serve the nearby ski field and has a very short runway of only 537 metres. The airport is considered dangerous, as it features a difficult approach, an upslope runway and ski runs in the adjacent area.

7. Madeira Airport, Portugal

This 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. However, due to accidents, including a Boeing 727 which plunged off the end of the runway in the 70s, Madeira extended its tarmac to 2781m.

8. Queenstown, New Zealand

Perhaps it's more famous for its scenery than danger but it takes real skill to land at Queenstown Airport due to the mountainous terrain. However, special procedures have been developed to ensure safe operations – good news now that night-time flights have been introduced.

Aren’t those images just incredible! Have you ever been lucky enough to survive a successful landing at one of these scary airports?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.

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Tags:
travel, flying, Airports, scary, dangerous