15 MOST Unique Airports

  • 4 months ago
15 MOST Unique Airports
Transcript
00:00From airports built on artificial islands to those nestled between mountains or featuring breathtaking rooftop gardens,
00:07each one is a getaway to the region it serves. Today,
00:10we're counting down 15 of the most unique airports in the world, starting with number 15, the Kansai International Airport in Japan.
00:17Land is a scarce resource in Japan,
00:20so engineers headed roughly three miles offshore into Osaka Bay to build this structure.
00:26Work on the man-made island started in 1987, and by 94, jumbo jets were touching down.
00:31Travelers can get from the airport to the main island of Honshu by a car, railroad, or even high-speed ferry.
00:37Kansai's artificial island is about two and a half miles long and about 1.6 miles wide.
00:42Earthquakes, dangerous cyclones, an unstable seabed, and sabotage attempts from protesters are just some of the variables
00:49engineers had to contend with. As impressive as the airport is,
00:52concerns have been raised that climate change and rising sea levels do pose a very real threat to its existence.
00:58In other words, when this was built, engineers probably didn't account for global warming,
01:02so in about 50 years or so, this airport might just be underwater.
01:06The city's original International Airport, Itami Airport, was surrounded by buildings.
01:11It couldn't be expanded, and many of its neighbors had filed complaints because of noise pollution. A new airport was part of a number
01:17of new developments to revitalize Osaka, which had been losing economic and cultural ground to Tokyo for most of the century.
01:24It consists of two terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Terminal 1 is designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano,
01:30and it's the longest airport terminal in the world.
01:33It also serves as an international hub for all Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Nippon Cargo Airlines,
01:39and it also serves as a hub for Peach, the first international low-cost carrier in Japan.
01:45In 2020, Kansai received Skytrax Awards for Best Airport Staff in Asia,
01:49World's Best Airport Staff, and World's Best Airport Baggage Delivery.
01:54Number 14. Gibraltar Airport.
01:57Gibraltar International Airport, previously known as North Front Airport, is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.
02:05The runway and aerodrome is owned by the Ministry of Defense and operated by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar.
02:12National Air Traffic Services holds the contract for the provision of air navigation services at the airport.
02:17So what makes it so unique? Well, Winston Churchill Avenue, the main road heading towards the land border with Spain,
02:24intersects the airport runway, and consequently it has to be closed every time an aircraft needs to land or depart.
02:30The short runway also abruptly ends at the sea on both ends, forcing pilots to hit the brakes.
02:35So that's not too great.
02:37The History Channel program, Most Extreme Airports, ranked this airport the fifth most extreme airport in the world.
02:43It's exposed to strong crosswinds around The Rock and across the Bay of Gibraltar,
02:48and the runway featured in a BBC Top Gear special and was also used by Jaguar to launch of a new range.
02:53A custom-painted Boeing 737 was used in conjunction with a fleet of cars.
02:58The airport appeared on Channel 5's series, Gibraltar, Britain in the Sun, which was broadcast from June to July 2013.
03:05The airstrip and the Four Corners border crossing, a feature at the end of Carol Reed's 1963 production of The Running Man,
03:11and several takes were shot as Remick and Harvey chase each other,
03:15firstly through the border and later as the light aircraft took off from the eastern end of the runway,
03:19narrowly missing an RAF Halifax aircraft, which was supposed to be taking off too.
03:25Number 13. Madeira International Airport, Portugal.
03:29Engineers had to build a platform to expand this runway, where the landing strip is located between steep cliffs and the ocean.
03:36They built a series of platforms on an artificial island extending from the current runway.
03:41Over 180 columns hold up the runway, which have to withstand serious shock and loading during landings.
03:47Madeira Airport, officially Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, is an international airport in the civil parish of Santa Cruz,
03:54in the Portuguese archipelago, an autonomous region of Madeira.
03:57It mostly hosts flights to European metropolitan destinations due to the importance of the leisure destination,
04:04and it's pivotal to the movement of cargo in the area.
04:07During its renaming ceremony in 2017,
04:09however, the airport drew media notoriety for an infamous bust of Ronaldo unveiled at the ceremony,
04:16now replaced as it, well, let's just say it wasn't a great likeness.
04:19As already mentioned, the airport's considered one of the most peculiarly perilous airports in the world due to its location.
04:25However, it did also receive the Outstanding Structure Award in 2004 by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineers.
04:32The airport involves coordinated efforts in spotting landmarks on approach since there's no instrument landing,
04:37and the airport's also dangerous due to strong winds, high mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.
04:44Number 12. Don Mueang International Airport, Thailand.
04:48From a distance, Don Mueang International Airport looks like any other mid-sized airport.
04:53However, smack dab in the middle of two runways is an 18-hole golf course.
04:58One of the major problems is that the only taxiways were located at the end of the runways,
05:02but when recommendations were made that they build an additional taxiway in the middle from side to side,
05:07the response from those in charge was, absolutely not, that is going to take out our green and our one fairway.
05:13Well, the airport and the course were originally an all-military operation and have since opened up to commercial traffic.
05:19Security threats, however, have limited the public's access to the greens and the airport's considered to be one of the world's oldest
05:25international airports and one of Asia's oldest operating airports.
05:29It was officially opened as a Royal Thai Air Force Base on the 27th of March 1914,
05:34although it had been in use earlier. Commercial flights began in 1924.
05:39The airport's also featured an exterior walkway connected to the Amari Hotel.
05:43The first commercial flight was an arrival by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. In September 2006,
05:48the airport was closed and replaced by the newly opened Suvarnabhumi Airport before reopening on the 24th of March 2007.
05:56In 2015, it became the world's largest low-cost carrier airport,
06:01and it still maintains its position as the second busiest airport in the country.
06:05Number 11. Ice Runway, Antarctica.
06:09Well, you can see why this airport or airstrip made this list.
06:13Williams Field, otherwise known as the Ice Runway, is a United States Antarctic Program airfield in Antarctica.
06:19Williams Field consists of two snow runways located on approximately 25 feet of compacted snow,
06:25lying on top of 8 to 10 feet of ice, floating over 1,800 feet of water,
06:30while the airport, which is approximately 7 miles from Ross Island, serves McMurdo Station and New Zealand's Scott Base.
06:36Until the 2009-10 summer season, Williams was the major airfield on the continent for aircraft operations.
06:43Now, Williams Field is named in honor of Richard T. Williams, a United States Navy equipment operator,
06:48who drowned when his D-8 tractor broke through the ice on January 6, 1956.
06:53Williams and other personnel were participants in the first operation Deep Freeze,
06:57a U.S. military mission to build a permanent science research station at McMurdo.
07:02The extraordinary conditions encountered at Williams Field include the fact that the airfield is in a continuous slow slide towards the sea.
07:10Seaward movement of the floating McMurdo ice shelf upon which the airfield is constructed has forced Williams Field to be relocated three times
07:18since its original construction. In 1956, a Douglas C-124C Globemaster II of the United States Air Force was damaged beyond repair
07:26when the nose gear failed on landing.
07:28All 17 occupants survived, and the plane's parts were used to fix two other Globemasters damaged in accidents at McMurdo earlier that year.
07:36In 1957, a Douglas R-4D-6L of the U.S. Navy crashed on takeoff due to water freezing in the fuel lines.
07:44There weren't any fatalities, and the plane was written off. And in 1971, a Lockheed LC-130F Hercules of the Navy
07:51crashed on takeoff in poor visibility,
07:53when the left main ski hit a five and a half foot snowbank, and the right wing hit the ground and broke between the engines.
07:59There were no fatalities, and the plane was taking part in Operation Deep Freeze.
08:04Number 10. Cangahas Airport, Brazil
08:08While having an airport only five miles from the city center may be a convenience for commuters,
08:13it does place a strain on both pilots and air traffic control.
08:16It becomes a bit of a challenge in terms of safety just to get the plane in there,
08:20not to mention the noise restrictions and the terribly awkward arrival and departure routes that also need to minimize your nose print.
08:27In other words, it becomes quite challenging for pilots.
08:30Fortunately, Sao Paulo's many high-rise buildings are far enough away from the airport that they aren't an immediate obstacle.
08:37But it's those very restrictions that make it, well, a bit unique.
08:41Cangahas Airport is one of the four commercial airports serving Sao Paulo and Brazil.
08:45But as I mentioned, it's got slot restrictions operating with a maximum of 30 operations per hour,
08:51being one of the five airports with such restrictions in Brazil. Even so, in 2019,
08:55it was the second busiest airport in Brazil by passenger traffic.
08:59The central hall of the passenger terminal is considered one of the most outstanding examples of modern architecture in Sao Paulo.
09:06However, modernizing and enlargement work has been conducted at the terminal from 2003 onwards,
09:11while trying to preserve the look of the older historic section.
09:14The airport has been troubled by slippery runways and has had several accidents where water accumulation has been a significant factor.
09:21The most notable one being the TAM Airlines flight 3054 in 2007.
09:26June 2007, its rainwater drainage grooves were only finished in September of 2007.
09:31And as a consequence of this accident and its subsequent public outcry, the airport's operations were significantly altered.
09:37And in 2008, Cangahas lost its designation as an international airport.
09:43Number nine, Courchevel International Airport in France.
09:47So what makes this one unique? Well, how about the large hill towards the middle of the runway?
09:51In fact, I'll just quote one of the pilots who has landed there on a regular basis, quote,
09:56You take off downhill and you land going uphill, he said. Adding that the hill has an 18.5% grade,
10:02it's so steep that small planes could probably gain enough momentum rolling down it with no engines to safely glide off.
10:09The airfield is a very short runway of only 1762 feet with a gradient of 18.5%.
10:15There's no go-around procedure for landings here.
10:19The airfield is primarily used by small fixed-wing aircraft, such as the Cessna 208 Caravan, as well as a few
10:25helicopters, as the runway has no instrument approach procedure or lighting aids, making landing a pretty difficult thing in low fog or clouds.
10:33The History Channel show, Most Extreme Airports, ranks it as the seventh most extreme airport in the world.
10:38It's also featured in films, including the James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies.
10:42In 2016, a Eurocopter EC120 Calibri FGVTA lost control on the final approach at 10 meters.
10:50The helicopter struck the ground and landed on its right side, causing the total loss of the aircraft.
10:55In 2017, an EAPC Pilatus PC-12 crashed on landing,
11:00following the pilot flying, carrying out the final 5% lower than the glide slope.
11:05In 2019, Blue Wings Piper PA-46 crashed into a wall of snow after the pilot throttled back too late on landing.
11:12There were two minor injuries recorded, and in 2019, a Cessna P-210 crashed due to landing before the runway threshold.
11:19So yeah, a pretty dangerous airport to land at.
11:23Number 8. Princess Juliana International Airport, San Martin.
11:28Nothing says fun in the sun like roaring engines and the smell of jet exhaust.
11:32While not many airports are flanked by oceanfront property filled with tourists standing under incoming aircrafts,
11:38Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
11:43The airport is located on the Dutch side of the island, close to the shore of Simpson Bay Lagoon.
11:48In 2015, the airport handled over 1.8 million passengers and around 60,000 aircraft movements.
11:54The airport serves a hub for Winair and is the major gateway for the smaller Leeward Islands.
11:59So what makes it unique? Well, as I've already mentioned, the airport has a very low-altitude flyover landing procedure,
12:05because on one end of its runway, it's extremely close to the shore and Maho Beach.
12:10In other words, planes appear to be coming into land just feet above the heads of the public.
12:15The proximity of Maho Beach to the runway has made the airport one of the world's favorite places among plane spotters, despite the dangers.
12:22But in 2017, a New Zealand woman did die from injuries sustained by jet blast from a departing aircraft,
12:28and tourists have often been criticized for their dangerous behavior on the beach.
12:33In 1972, a de Havilland Canada Twin Otter, operated by Air Guadeloupe on behalf of Air France,
12:39crashed at night into the ocean near Saint Martin. En route from Guadeloupe, all 11 passengers on board, including both pilots, died.
12:46In 2014, Skyway Enterprises Flight 7101, a Shorts SD360 on behalf of FedEx, was climbing out of Saint Martin's runway 28,
12:55when the aircraft lost height and impacted the water about two nautical miles off the coast.
13:00Both pilots died, and in 2017, a tourist was severely injured holding an airport fence
13:05when jet blast from a plane taking off resulted in her losing grip from the fence.
13:09She was transported to hospital, where she later died.
13:13Moving on to number seven, Svalbard Airport, Svalbard, Norway.
13:18This 8,000-foot runway is built directly on ice, and under the runway are culverts allowing water to run from the mountain.
13:26Is that unique enough for you? Due to the lack of runway lights, flights are not only permitted during daylight,
13:31thus hindering flights during the winter months when the sun never rises,
13:35the airports needed to be built on permafrost, with the runway insulated against the ground, so it won't melt during the summer.
13:41Svalbard Airport is the main one serving in Svalbard, Norway.
13:44It's about 3.1 miles northwest of Longyearbyen on the west coast, and is the northernmost airport in the world with scheduled public flights.
13:52In 1959, it was first used for occasional flights, but could only be used a few months a year.
13:57Construction of the new airport started in 1973, when the airport was opened on the 2nd of September 1975.
14:04And by 2014, the airport handled over 154,000 passengers.
14:08Scandinavian Airlines operates daily flights, and Lufthansport provides services to the other two airports on Svalbard.
14:15There are also regular charter flights, and that said, as with many other entries on this list,
14:19the airport has seen a few accidents in its time.
14:22In 1986, a Cessna 185 crashed immediately after leaving Svalbard Airport en route to Nyhavn, killing all six on board.
14:30And in 1996, Nukovo Airlines flight 2801 from the airport in Moscow crashed into a mountain about 14 kilometers from the airport.
14:39All 141 people on board died, making it the worst air crash in Norwegian history.
14:45Number 6. Wancho E. Joraskan Airport in Saba.
14:49All right, next on the list is the airport with the shortest commercial runway in the world, at a tiny
14:561,312 feet long, flanked on one side by high hills with cliffs that drop off into the sea at both ends.
15:03The airport is closed to jet traffic,
15:05but regional airline propeller aircraft are able to land there, under waivers from the Netherlands Antilles Civil Aviation Authority.
15:12The most common aircraft to land here are the Stahl, short takeoff and landing capable De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter,
15:19and Britain Norman BN2 Islanders. Jet aircraft are unable to land here because the runway is way too short.
15:26A small ramp and terminal are on the southwest flank of the runway, and the ramp also has a designated helipad.
15:32The tower is an advisory service only, and doesn't provide air traffic control.
15:36Aviation fuel is not available on the island of Saba, and the only airline currently providing scheduled services
15:42is locally owned by Winair, which operates daily flights to St. Martin aboard the DHC-6 Twin Otter.
15:48Only well-trained pilots are allowed to fly in the area.
15:52The approach is almost at a cliff alongside a jagged terrain, and a sharp bank left before an immediate landing.
15:59The idea of building an airport here is credited to Remi de Heenen, who brought the idea to the Saba Economic Council,
16:05along with a contractor named Jacques Deliverre.
16:08De Heenen had previously made several landings of a Vought-Sikorsky OS-2U seaplane off Fort Bay Harbor as early as 1946.
16:16After surveying the island by air, de Heenen suggested then privately owned Flatpoint as the site for the airport.
16:22The land was cleared and graded in only a couple of weeks,
16:25and de Heenen made the first landing on an aircraft on the island of Saba on February 9th, 1959,
16:31with nearly the entire population of the island in attendance.
16:35Number 5. Copalis State Airport, Washington.
16:39Airports really don't come more unique than this one,
16:42especially when you consider that one way to get to Washington's Griffith-Priday Ocean State Park is to land on this
16:484,500-foot-long strip of beach. The airstrip's located on an ocean beach near the mouth of the Copalis River in the North Beach
16:55Conservation Area, adjacent to the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
16:59It's the only airport in Washington State where landing on the beach is legal.
17:03The runway is between the mouth of the river and a barrier of rocks with orange reflective markers at both ends.
17:09The Department of Transportation also notes that pilots should aim for dark wet sand,
17:14which is more stable to land on than light-colored soft sand. As with other beach-based landing areas,
17:20Copalis State Airport is submerged every time the tide rolls in.
17:24Pilots considering spending some time on the beach should make sure to park their aircraft high above the tide mark in order to ensure
17:30that their planes aren't taken out to sea.
17:33It's got a one-runway that's designated 1432, with a sand surface measuring about 4,500 feet by 150 feet wide.
17:40The runway is only available during low tide. Due to river migration and beach erosion,
17:44the runway length has been reduced by approximately 1,100 feet.
17:49For the 12-month period ending in May of 2011, the airport had 200 general aviation aircraft operations and an average of about 16 per month.
17:58Number four, Barra Airport, Scotland.
18:02There are runways that are difficult to see in bad weather conditions.
18:05And then there are runways like this one, ones that completely disappear whenever there's a high tide.
18:11This airport's located on a Scottish beach in the shallow bay on a remote island.
18:15So pilots flying to the airport have to worry about severe weather conditions in addition to the rising tides.
18:21Barra Airport is a short runway airport or stall port,
18:24situated in the wide shallow bay of Treymoor at the northern tip of the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides.
18:30Once again, the airport is unique and it's believed to be the only one in the world where scheduled flights use a
18:36tidal beach as the runway.
18:38It opened in 1936 and the airport's only destination is Glasgow.
18:42The beach is also popular with visitors and cockle pickers who are asked to observe the windsock to see if the airport's in operation.
18:49In 2011, Barra Airport was voted number one in the world's top airport approaches by a poll conducted by privatefly.com,
18:56up from 10th place in 2010.
18:59The beach is set out with three runways in a triangle marked by permanent wooden poles at their ends in directions
19:05725, 1129 and 1533.
19:09This almost always allows the DHC Twin Otter aircraft that serve the airport to land into the wind.
19:14Barra Airport also has a Civil Aviation Authority Ordinary License that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying
19:22instruction as authorized by the license Highland and Islands Airport Limited.
19:27Number three, Hong Kong International Airport.
19:30Now, what makes Hong Kong International Airport stand out from the other island-based airports is the fact that there's a luxury golf course and a
19:37massive expo center within walking distance from the runway. Yeah, that's right.
19:42It's another airport with a golf course.
19:44It almost seems like the people who plan these things actually know what they're doing.
19:47And they kind of do. You see, the airport's consistently ranking as one of the busiest cargo hubs in the world.
19:533.5 million metric tons of cargo passed through it in 2009.
19:57So amenities like Sky 9 City Eagle golf course cater to the constant stream of professionals passing through.
20:03A quick round of nine holes cost about 60 bucks.
20:07Opened in 1998, the airport's the world's busiest cargo gateway and one of the world's busiest passenger airports.
20:13It's also home to one of the world's largest passenger terminal buildings.
20:16It runs 24 hours a day and it's the primary hub for Cathay Pacific, Greater Bay Airlines,
20:21Hong Kong Airlines, HK Express and Air Hong Kong.
20:25More than 100 airlines operate flights from the airport to over 180 cities across the world.
20:30In 2015, HKIA handled over 68.5 million passengers,
20:35making it the eighth busiest in the world by passenger traffic and the fourth busiest by international passenger traffic.
20:41Since 2010, it's also surpassed Memphis International Airport, becoming the world's busiest airport by cargo traffic.
20:48Except in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic related disruptions.
20:532. Tocantin Airport, Honduras
20:57Tocantin Airport is a civil and military airport located about four miles from the center of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
21:04The approach to the airport is considered to be one of the most difficult in the world to all aircraft,
21:09especially in inclement weather.
21:11This airport's received much notoriety due to the proximity to mountainous terrain,
21:15its short runway and its historically difficult approach to runway two.
21:20For years, efforts were made to replace it with Sotocano Air Base in Comayagua,
21:24which didn't occur until 2021 when Comayagua International Airport opened there.
21:29In the meantime, it was significantly improved by the work of Inter Airports, a company contracted by the Honduran government.
21:36The airport has a single asphalt runway situated at an elevation of over 3,200 feet.
21:41Until May 2009, the runway was only about 6,100 feet in length.
21:45In 2007, the approach to runway two was made significantly easier by work that systematically bulldozed a large portion of the hillside.
21:53Following this work, in May of 2009, the southern end of the runway received a 984-foot extension,
21:59lengthening it to 7,096 feet.
22:01Boeing 737-200s operated by seasonal charter airline Aviesta are the largest aircraft that normally land here.
22:08Its runway is still significantly shorter than most of other international airports,
22:13and it's so short, in fact, that many aircraft seen by planespotters are said to be touching down on the displaced threshold of the runway.
22:19Historically, larger aircraft have occasionally landed here, such as Douglas DC-8s on a mission with Orbis International in 1987,
22:27a C-17 Globemaster in 2008, 9, and 11, and Boeing 757s operated by American,
22:33which is in 2015, replaced them with Airbus A319s.
22:36In the early 80s and 90s, Sasha operated Boeing 727s and 37s from its hub at Tokonton.
22:48Not many airports have a mosque large enough to take in thousands of people,
22:52but there are many things which make this place unique,
22:56not least of which is the Royal Terminal, which reserved for the royal family of Saudi Arabia,
23:01government personnel, and official guests.
23:03It covers an area of 177,000 square feet and has four bridges linking the terminal to the aircraft.
23:09Sadly, however, despite its specialized purpose, the terminal is rarely used by the royal family,
23:14who generally prefer to utilize a similar special terminal at King Abdulaziz Air Base.
23:20The airport mosque was built on the roof of the car park and in the middle of a landscaped area of over a half a million square feet.
23:26The mosque can accommodate up to 2,000 worshippers and access to it can be easily gained from the passenger terminal.
23:32The airport also has its own plant nursery with a total area of over 2.3 million square feet,
23:38which encompasses three greenhouses and over 400,000 square feet of green fields.
23:43The nursery supplies the airport gardens and planted areas with trees and plants.
23:47In addition to this, the control tower stands 281 feet and this height allows visibility over all operational parts of the airport.
23:54The airport's named for King Fahd, 1982 to 2005, under whose reign it was constructed and inaugurated.
24:01The design of the airport really began in 1976, with construction beginning in 83,
24:06and the basic infrastructure of the airport was complete by the end of 1990,
24:10which allowed the U.S.-led coalition forces to use the airport during the Gulf War in early 91 for the storage of military aircraft,
24:17including over 140 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, among other aircraft, such as the AH-64 Apaches,
24:24CH-47 Chinooks of the 101st Airborne Division.
24:28Thanks for watching everyone. I'll see you next time.
24:31Thank you to our channel members.