Are You Afraid Of Take-Offs Or Landings? Here Are The 10 Scariest Airports To Avoid

Are you scared of flying? Have an issue during take-offs and landings? You might want to change your destination or even cancel your flight when it comes to these destinations.

Take off and landing is just a small but risky part of a journey. In these airports, most pilots have to attend special training, see, read and practice on the actual runway, thus they do have to dither homework prior to going to these airports. Zahorornacky Gregory, an assistant professor in the Aeronautical Science Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a former active captain with over 15000 hours flying, said.

The following are the world’s most dreaded airport runways in no particular order, that test the pilot’s skills and preparation.

1. Parro International Airport, Parro, Bhutan

It is the only International Airport in the country. It is elevated to 2,244.5 meters above sea level. In order to land most pilots have to ensure there is enough visibility and navigate between hills and over mountains before making a curve in order to access the runway. Only 20 pilots have been approved in 2020 to land there.

2. St. Helena Airport, St. Helena

It is a remote British island in the Atlantic, where Napoleon was exiled. The airport was completed in 2016, but what conditions have been a worrying concern since the island has a rugged topology. Only specially trained are allowed to land and take off from the airport.

3. Sào Paulo Congonhas Airport ,Sào Paulo, Brazil.

The airport was built in 1936. Due to crowding in Sào Paulo, most aircraft fly over rooftops until they reach the runway. On July 2007 an airliner crashed that killing 187 people on board and 12 people on the ground. Since the 2007 situation, improvements have been done to reduce slipperiness and installation of an Engineering Material Arresting system (EMAS) to prevent aircraft from overrunning the runway.

4. Phoenix Airfield, Ross Island Antarctica.

The airport was created in 2017 to provide access to the US research centre at Mc Murdo Station on the Southern tip of Ross Island. The runway is made of compacted snow, which is a hard surface to land or take off and can be melted easily. The pilots have to land with unpredictable weather and nighttime landing without any runway lights. Thinking about going here? Here is a glimpse to expect.

5. Gibraltar International Airport, Gibraltar.

Built in 1939, the 1,676 meters runway has water on both sides that force pilots to hit the brake immediately after they land. To make matters worse, the runway intersects with a street thus when landing or taking off the street has to be cleared /closed for safety reasons.

6. Juancho E Yrausquin Airport ,Saba.

It is located in the Caribbean and has the world’s shortest commercial runway, 400 meters only, and has sheer drops into the sea at both ends. Only a special number of pilots can land here. Here is a cockpit view of the landing.

7. Kushok Bakule Rimpochee Airport, Leh India.

It is 3,256 metres above sea level, surrounded by mountains, and is prone to strong afternoon winds thus only special pilots can take off in the morning.

8. Courchesel Altiport , Courchesel France.

It is located in French Alps with a runway of 537 meters long and a steep 18.6% uphill gradient to help plane decelerates during landing pilots planning to fly here have to pass among them, special qualifications including a test by a mountain flight instructor and fly at least once every 6 months.

9. Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Mainten.

It was opened in 1964, in the Caribbean. Flights have to fly over a public beach, and sunbathers get a blaster wind and sand as the plane lands. Here is a glimpse.

10. Tanzing Hallony (Lukla) Airport, Lukla ,Nepal.

Built-in 1964, the airport provided access to the base camp at Mt. Everest which has an elevation of 2,860 metres, 572 meters long runway located on a cliffside, and slants upwards which does help the planes to slow down. Pilots do have to fly at higher speeds to contend with the present lower density.

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