Thrilling beyond belief – three airports that’ll make your heart stop during takeoff and landing

By Rita

According tothe American travel website Yahoo Travel, the world’s most nerve-wracking airports are almost all located in extreme geographical and climatic conditions. Below are three such exciting airports that can make your heart nearly stop when planes take off or land.

Courchevel Airport, France
Located in the French Alps, Courchevel Airport only accepts private aircraft, but that might actually be a good thing. The runway here is highly unusual — not only does it have an uphill slope, but it is only 1,800 feet (558 meters) long (Charles de Gaulle International Airport’s commercial runways are 4,340 meters). What’s worse is that on the other side of the runway is a completely steep, vertical mountain wall. Landing here in high winds and icy conditions is truly a nail-biting experience.

▲ Courchevel Airport covered in snow, with a vertical cliff on the other side (Photo / Wikimedia Commons)

Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Caribbean
Located on the island of Saba in the Caribbean, this airport can only be reached by small aircraft. Strictly speaking, the runway is almost built on a cliff, with a total length of just 1,299 feet (403 meters), making it the shortest commercial runway in the world. Because the airport looks as tiny as a grain of rice from afar, passengers often feel as if they’re about to crash into the mountain when landing.

▲ Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport has the shortest commercial runway in the world (Photo / Wikimedia Commons)

Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar International Airport is the only airport in the world that cuts through a road — and it's one of the busiest highways. As if that weren’t enough, its runway is very short, so pilots must maintain peak performance during takeoff to avoid flying the plane into the sea. Due to unstable air currents in the region, aircraft always experience intense turbulence when approaching the airport, often leading to diversions or go-arounds.

▲ Gibraltar Airport’s runway crosses a major highway (Photo / Wikimedia Commons)