25 Most Insane Runways In The World

Found high in the French Alps this runway has been labeled the 7th most dangerous in the world. It’s even on an incline!

Yes, all that blue stuff you see is water! This airport is actually an artificial island.

Often considered one of the scariest runways in the world, this one literally runs right off of a cliff

It’s probably scarier being on the beach that it is in the airplane

Although it is nearly 3,000 meters high, it’s only a few hundred meters long.

Both overshooting and undershooting this runway would be disastrous

This is another runway without much wiggle room

Only for flights during the day, you can probably see why…because it’s a beach.

If you look closely you’ll see a road crossing the runway. That is not a taxi way. It’s actually Winston Churchill Avenue, a relatively busy street and it has to be closed every time a plane lands.

Serving McMurdo Station, the name of this runway says it all.

Surrounded by mountains this airport has some very short runways.

Found on Catalina Island off the coast of California this is another runway that ends with a steep drop off.

And this is another runway that ends up on a beach, except this one has a slope too. And a danger sign.

It seems as though Japan likes to build its airports in the middle of large bodies of water.

Because the airport runway was too short and dangerous, the government did something drastic, they put the runway on a bridge. Their solution has won several engineering awards.

Found high in the Himalayas, night time and fog landings are forbidden.

Built upon a layer of permafrost, this runway serves the archipelago of Svalbard, the northernmost settlement on Earth that has a permanent civilian population (basically that is not a research station).

Although it might not look dangerous, this airport has a reputation for turbulent landings due to the winds created by the channeling effect of Cook Strait nearby.

Dirt…dirt everywhere. In spite of that small disconcerting detail, this is actually going to be an international airport soon with flights to Australia.

Found on the southern tip of Agatti Island off the coast of India, this is an all around precarious landing.

Surrounded by buildings, this airport in the heart of São Paulo poses some unique challenges for pilots.

Once again, an airport with water in terrifying places.

And yet again…

The second Antarctic runway on our list, this one requires the planes to have skis!

Located between two steep hillsides that dive down into fjords, this airport is also subject to high winds. It has been listed several times as one of the world’s scariest runways.