Pages

Saturday 8 June 2013

10 WORLD'S MOST REMOTE AIRPORTS


New Picture 59
The World's Ten Most Remote Airports
By Máté Petrány,
Jalopnik, 4 June 2013.

Humans like to be able to reach every point of the planet, don't we? That sometimes means going by car or, even, by foot with a machete. To go further into the globe we still have to use some trusty (and often old) planes, which means we need remote airports.

Here are ten locations around the globe that make you take a good look at the pilot before take-off. [Note: This list was produced from Jalopnik’s readers’ suggestions.]

10. Wiley Post - Will Rogers Memorial Airport, Alaska

New Picture 60

New Picture 70
Image: Wikimapia

The farthest north airport in the US is used by an average of 33 planes every day. That makes it a very busy airport compared to the rest of the list.

Epic Cheese commented on For Sweden's suggestion: “I had an uncle who worked as a airline mechanic out of Barrow in the '80s....he has so many stories of life out there.” So, let's hear some! Suggested By: For Sweden.

[More]

9. Nyingchi Mainling Airport, Tibet

New Picture 61

New Picture 71
Image: BigChan/Wikimedia Commons

Tibet is not as remote as it used to be before Brad Pitt went there, but you will still need a pretty advanced GPS system to land a jet at the strip 9,675 feet above sea level, surrounded by the peaks of a Himalayan mountain side that's generating fog, rain and heavy crosswinds. Suggested By: For Sweden.


[More]

8. Alert Airport, Canada

New Picture 62

New Picture 78

The world's northernmost permanent airport used to be a military-only facility, but nowadays, a private company also flies there carrying fuel and sleds. Alert is also used as an emergency source of fuel for allied military aircrafts. Suggested By: Thomas Cotrel.

[More]

7. Paro Airport, Bhutan

New Picture 63

New Picture 73
Image: Douglas J. McLaughlin/Wikimedia Commons

Bhutan's only international airport is one of the most challenging in the world, used by just three airlines flying only at daylight. Suggested By: Jayhawk Jake, resident KIA fanboy.

[More]

6. Mataveri International Airport, Easter Island

New Picture 64

New Picture 74
Image: Jialiang Gao/Wikimedia Commons

Being 2,336 miles from Santiago, Chile, Easter Island's international airport was once designated as an abort site for the U.S. Space Shuttle when polar orbital flights from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California were planned. Since 1987, it can take wide-bodied jets. Suggested By: Jay_Hoff.

[More]

5. Gorge River Airstrip, New Zealand

New Picture 65

According to muhnkee_2 - Avantime Owner and 100% Jaloper, the airstrip in the south west corner of New Zealand's South Island is "5 days walk from the nearest road, and home to New Zealand's remotest family (of nutters)."

No jets around here:



4. Svalbard Airport, Norway

New Picture 66

New Picture 75
Image: Bjoertvedt/Wikimedia Commons

Basically, everything is very remote in Svalbard. That obviously includes the airport too. Still, 126,350 passengers use it every year, so there's probably a coffee machine. Suggested By: Brian, The Life of.

[More]

3. Chokurdakh Airport, Russia

New Picture 67

New Picture 76

Russia had to make it onto this list after having the most remote road in the world, and For Sweden nominated Chokurdakh. He is right, you just don't want to miss that land strip. Suggested By: For Sweden.

[More]

2. Ascension Island in the Atlantic

New Picture 68

New Picture 77
Image: MercoPress

I'll just let f86sabre explain: “1400 miles from South America and and 1000 miles from Africa. The airport is used by the RAF, US military and commercial flights as a diversion strip. The island also hosts one of the main GPS communications antennas and what may be the world's worst golf course.” Suggested By: f86sabre.

[More]

1. Jack F. Paulus Skiway, South Pole

New Picture 69
Image: JHG/Wikimedia Commons

Let's put it this way:

The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is so far out there that we don't even have a Google satellite image of it. From October and February, there are several flights per day of ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules aircraft from McMurdo to supply the station. They call those flights "Operation Deep Freeze". Suggested By: leicester.

[More]

[Source: Jalopnik. Edited. Some images and links added.]

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please adhere to proper blog etiquette when posting your comments. This blog owner will exercise his absolution discretion in allowing or rejecting any comments that are deemed seditious, defamatory, libelous, racist, vulgar, insulting, and other remarks that exhibit similar characteristics. If you insist on using anonymous comments, please write your name or other IDs at the end of your message.