1) Kansai International Airport (KIX), Japan
The Kansai International Airport is an airport located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, 38 km from Osaka Station, Japan. Designed by an Italian architect named Renzo Piano, this airport is built on an artificial island since the land is scarce and overpriced in the country. Inaugurated on 4 September 1994, Kansai was the ideal solution to relieve overcrowding at Osaka International Airport. The Kansai artificial island 4 km in length and 2.5 km wide, exposes the airport to has many hazards, like earthquakes and cyclones. But those are not the only problems. It is said that in the next four to five decades, the sea levels are expected to rise due to global warming, which would cause the airport to submerge in the ocean water.
2) Gibraltar International Airport, Southern Europe
Gibraltar International Airport is probably the most unusual airport in southern Europe. The city's main street, Winston Churchill Avenue, intersects with the runway and has to be closed when a plane needs to land. There is a stoplight on the road telling cars to stop, but there have been a number of close calls in the airport's history. The short runway also ends abruptly at the sea on both ends, forcing pilots to stop very quickly immediately after landing.
3) Courchevel Airport, France
If you have landed at the Courchevel Airport, the French Alps may be associated with danger in your memory. While Lukla’s 527 metres troubles us, Courchevel’s even shorter 518 metres runway is a jaw-dropper. In addition to this, the runway has an 18.5 percent down-gradient which means even while taking off, the airplane must travel down the slope of the runway, making both take-off and landing, extremely dangerous.
4) Madeira Airport, Portugal
The Madeira Airport is located 13.2 kilometres away from the Funchal, in Santa Cruz and is also referred informally to as Funchal Airport. On 29th March 2017, the airport was rebranded and renamed Cristiano Ronaldo International Relatively a small-sized runway, this area was built to meet common needs by using pillars. The runway was once infamous for its small size, but over the years, it has been expanding, and in the year 2000, the runway was of 2,781 m (9,124 feet) almost doubling the size of the original runway. The harsh weather conditions on the island make plane operations of landing and take off very dangerous.
5) Narsarsuaq Airport, Greenland
The extreme airports in Greenland are often covered in ice. At only 5,900 feet (1,800 meters) in length, and canvassed in smooth ice, this runway is difficult for pilots.
The weather is also often stormy, creating intense turbulence and low visibility on approach making it very uncomfortable for both flight crew and passengers. Wind shears affect planes which, coupled with the icy runway, can direct them off their course. Also the nearby active volcano also occasionally erupts, sending ash into the clouds which can stall and destroy engines.
6) Paro Airport, Bhutan
Sitting atop a magnificent 2,225 metres above sea level, this pilot’s nightmare is surrounded by intimidating mountains approximately 5,486 metres high. In addition to rough weather conditions that do not allow for easy landing- in fact, landing is allowed only during the day- the runway is not even in clear vision of the pilot and requires the airplane to be maneuvered a steep 45 degrees before drastically dropping onto the runway.
7) Svalbard Airport (LYR), Norway
8) Toncontin Airport, Tegucigalpa
Toncontin Airports is located in the mountains and are very hard to land on, due to It's varying terrain and often short approaches. In order for planes to prepare for the descent, they must make a rapid 45-degree bank turn to reach the runway in a valley, an approach likened to landing on an aircraft carrier. After this bank, planes must rapidly drop in altitude, being careful not to scrape the terrain directly underneath. Wind gusts and poor weather also hamper the approach.
9) Barra International Airport, Scotland
Barra International Airport is situated on the sandy bay of Traigh Mhòr, the airport is just five feet above sea level. The runway is hence submerged in cases of high tide. This requires the aircrafts to follow a strict schedule and only attempt a landing in particular conditions.
10) Gisborne Airport, New Zealand
Gisborne Airport of New Zealand is also considered to be one of the world's most difficult airports. Located on the outskirts of Gisborne, this airport actually has a railway intersecting its runway at one point. It has three grass runways and one main runway, landings require accurate coordination with approaching trains. For this reason, it is not uncommon for either planes or trains to be delayed to allow the other to safely pass.
The most popular very dangerous airports in world.
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