Staying at airports is more of a forced measure than entertainment and pleasure: a couple of hours waiting for boarding, slightly “diluted” by pleasant shopping in duty—free stores, during which you often have to unsuccessfully look for a free seat. However, not all airports in the world fall under the category of noisy and boring transport hubs — there are real pearls among them. Landing on a mini-runway in Madeira or taking off, almost touching a sheer cliff in Nepal, as well as landing on an immaculately smooth icy surface — all this is in today’s selection of “Subtleties”.
Nepal
The abode of the gods Nepal perfectly confirms the title of a heavenly country — it is not only located right at the edge of the sky in the Himalayas, but also makes you think about the eternal right from the first minutes of acquaintance with the country.
Looking out of the porthole at the tiny runway at Lukla Airport, which is almost at the foot of Mount Everest, it’s hard to believe that “this is where we will land.”
Lukla fully justifies the title of the most dangerous airport in the world: a modest-sized strip of asphalt receiving planes from all over the world is located at an altitude of 2800 m above sea level, is fanned by strong winds and is often decorated with impenetrable fog. Its length is only 500 m, in addition, one end rests directly on the rock, and the other ends right in front of a 600-meter cliff. They say that many people achieve enlightenment right on the plane!
Madeira
To tell the truth, since Madeira reconstructed its airport, there have been an order of magnitude fewer opportunities for “aha” when landing. But the current portrait of the runway at Funchal Airport can cause surprise and distrust at the same time.
What is surprising here: the “tail” of the runway is carried out on concrete supports directly into the Atlantic Ocean, and when landing, the illusion of complete “immersion” in the depths of the sea is created. Among other things, landing requires a sharp descent and skillful maneuvering, so that thoughts about the impermanence of existence still flicker in the minds of passengers.
Courchevel
The mecca of lovers of skiing and parties with a golden fleur, Courchevel generously gives adrenaline to tourists arriving at the snowy expanses of the Three Valleys long before they get up on skis. Courchevel Airport is the highest European airport with an asphalt runway: it is located at around 2010 m above sea level.
It is, of course, surrounded by mountains, which strive to “please” the pilots with a sudden change of weather. If this does not seem enough to you, we inform you the main thing: the Courchevel runway is partially located on the slope of a mountain with a slight slope. Planes land uphill (and thereby quickly slow down), and start downhill, which is why they instantly accelerate to breakaway speed. So the main thing that those arriving in Courchevel think about is not the degree of snow—covered slopes, but “I wonder if we will reach the horizontal part of the strip?”.
Saba
The picturesque island of Saba in the Netherlands Antilles lazily splashes in the turquoise waves of the Caribbean Sea. A delightful beach holiday, luxurious nature and remarkable diving are its main tourist “chips”. However, that’s not why the Sub “lit up” in our digest.
The island’s airport entered all aviation directories as having the shortest runway in the world – its length is only 400 meters.
The airport accepts only small propeller planes landing here from neighboring islands — Sint Maarten and Saint Kitts and Nevis. To make the landing even more memorable, nature has provided the airport with a mountain at one end of the runway and a steep bank on the other.
Antarctica
Asphalt and concrete are by no means the only coatings on the runways of airports in the world, as evidenced by the airport with the romantic name “Blue Ice”. It is located in Antarctica and exists only a few months a year, while the relatively mild Antarctic summer allows tourists to admire the boundless snowy expanses of the White Continent.
The strip is being prepared in early October, and already in December the ice becomes not strong enough to withstand transport planes arriving here from Argentina and Chile. Actually, the preparation of the airport requires minimal effort: only to clean the icy surface from snow. By the way, the planes standing on the dock slightly push through even such strong ice, plunging the landing gear into a transparent abyss. Yes, it is also the most expensive landing in the world — a one-way ticket costs 10,000 USD!