Inside Watch

Fast your seat belts! Short runways, steep slopes or unpredictable winds. There are airports where pilots and passengers alike have to have nerves like wire ropes for their approach.

Toncontin International Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

The airport of the Honduran capital is clearly one of the 10 most dangerous airports in the world. Seven people died here in 2008 after an Airbus A320-200 sped over the runway, which was just two kilometers long.

Funchal Airport auf Madeira, Portugal

Only pilots who have received special instruction are allowed to touch down on the runway, which is partly only supported by stilts, directly on the cliff. Only when you, as a passenger, have the feeling of crashing on the mountainside, does the pilot turn to the right at the last moment to descend.

Barra Airport, Scotland

On the Scottish island, the beach in the shallow bay of Traigh Mhòr also forms the runway. When the tide sets in, the entire beach or runway area is flooded.

Gibraltar Airport, Gibraltar

For reasons of space, the runway on the Iberian Peninsula, which is just under 2000 meters long, runs over the middle of a main road. For every take-off and landing maneuver, the road traffic must be brought to a complete standstill by a complete block.

Tenzing-Hillary Airport Lukla, Nepal

A runway just 527 meters long with a 12 percent incline, a 600-meter-deep abyss at the end of the runway and extreme weather conditions also make this place one of the 10 most dangerous airports in the world. Advantage: If you have survived a landing on this airfield in one piece, you will not be deterred by the ascent of Mount Everest.

Courchevel Airfield, France

007 sends his regards. This airport, which has already served as a backdrop for two James Bond films, is located in the middle of the French ski area, at a height of 2007 meters. With a length of only 537 meters and an enormous gradient of 18.5 percent, machines are only allowed to land uphill here.

Princess Juliana International Airport on St. Maarten, Caribbean

As a bather, you live dangerously here. Larger planes such as the Boeing 747 land just a few meters above the beach and often throw up stones or break car windows.

Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C., USA

The capital’s airport is located between two closely guarded no-fly zones. When trying to land, the pilot should try not to get too close to adjacent buildings such as the Pentagon or the CIA headquarters.

Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on Saba, Netherlands Antilles

Is it an aircraft carrier? No, it is actually an airport. It is not possible to roll the machine over the 396 meter long runway because the cliffs at both ends of the runway fall straight into the sea.

Paro Airport, Bhutan

The airport at an altitude of 2236 meters in the lower Paro Valley can only be approached by sight. In the rough terrain between the forested mountains of the Himalayas, you have to rely entirely on your pilot’s flying skills.

Inside Watch

The 10 Most Dangerous Airports in the World

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