10 Crazy Airports

Engineers tasked with building an airport are faced with countless challenges. The ideal spot needs ample space, endless flat ground, favorable winds and great visibility. But locations in the real world are rarely ideal, and engineers are forced to work with what they have, making sure that the end product is the safest possible structure for pilots.

Consequently, there are some crazy airports out there, which go to make hurtling at them at hundreds of miles an hour even more exciting. So here then, is our gallery of the top 10 world’s wackiest airports, in no particular order…

#10 Toncontin International Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Near the center of Honduras’ capital city, Tegucigalpa, is the notorious Toncontin International Airport, which has been the subject of scrutiny following several accidents, including a 2008 crash that killed five. The airport opened in 1934, an era when planes were less powerful and didn’t require such lengthy runways.

Why it’s unique…
Toncontin’s runway is just over 7,000 feet long and situated in a valley surrounded by mountains. Despite the stubby runway, planes as large as Boeing’s 757 routinely land at the airport. However, seven thousand feet is awfully short for 747s, let alone anything larger, and planes are forced to land and take off in the same direction because they won’t be able to clear the mountains otherwise. There’s one way in and one way out, consequently, Honduran officials have launched an initiative to reroute commercial traffic to the safer Soto Cano Air Base.

#9 Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s original airport, Kai Tak, was surrounded by high-rise buildings and residential areas, with a runway that jutted into the water. Officials knew they needed a replacement, especially to facilitate the enormous amount of cargo passing through the region, so they built this 3.2-sqaure-mile island. Construction started in 1991, and involved merging two smaller islands together with reclaimed land.

Why it’s unique…
What makes Hong Kong International Airport stand out from other island-based airports is the fact that there is a luxury golf course and massive expo center within walking distance from the runway. The airport consistently ranks as one of the busiest cargo hubs in the world – 3.35 million metric tons of cargo passed through it in 2009 – so amenities like the Sky City Nine Eagles Golf Course cater to the constant stream of professionals passing through. A quick round of nine holes at night costs about US$60.

#8 Congonhas Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Most major cities have an airport, but rarely are they built just 5 miles from the city center, especially in metropolises like Sao Paulo. Congonhas’ close proximity to downtown can be attributed in part to the fact that it was completed in 1936, with the city experiencing rapid development in the following decades.

Why it’s unique…
While having an airport only 5 miles from the city center may be a convenience for commuters, it places a strain on both pilots and air traffic control crews. It becomes a challenge in terms of safety to just get the plane in there. Then you throw on noise restrictions and these terribly awkward arrival and departure routes that are needed to minimize your noise-print and it becomes quite challenging for pilots. Fortunately, Sao Paulo’s many high-rise buildings are far enough away from the airport that they aren’t an immediate obstacle for pilots landing or taking off.

#7 Ice Runway, Antarctica
The Ice Runway is one of three major airstrips used to haul supplies and researchers to Antarctica’s McMurdo Station. As its name implies, there are no paved runways here—just long stretches of ice and snow that are meticulously groomed.

Why it’s unique…
There is no shortage of space on the Ice Runway, so super-size aircraft like the C-130 Hercules and the C-17 Globemaster III can land with relative ease. The real challenge is making sure that the weight of the aircraft and cargo doesn’t bust the ice or get the plane stuck in soft snow. As the ice of the runway begins to break up, planes are redirected to Pegasus Field or Williams Field, the two other airstrips servicing the continent.

#6 Dammam King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia
King Fahd International is the largest airport in the world in terms of landmass, sprawling over 300 square miles of desert. The airport is so enormous that it is actually about 11 square miles larger than Saudi Arabia’s neighbor, Bahrain.

Why it’s unique…
Among the many features that make this airport stand out is a mosque large enough to take in thousands of people. Also notable, though not entirely uncommon in Saudi Arabia, is the Royal Terminal, which is designed to service the Royal Family and is outfitted with an elegant reception hall and a pressroom. One of the major obstacles during the construction of the airport was the lack of fresh water to mix concrete.

#5 Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Saba, Netherlands Antilles
Getting to this paradise-like island can be a bit distressing thanks to a 1300-foot-long runway, slightly longer than most aircraft carrier runways.

Why it’s unique…
Large planes aren’t landing here, but the small runway is difficult even for Cessnas and similar aircraft. The little X means don’t land there. This little airport is a vital supply line to the island, without it the people here don’t get things they routinely need, like mail. Given the limited amount of land and rolling topography of the island, not many other options exist.

#4 Princess Juliana International Airport, Simpson Bay, Saint Maarten
This one is almost infamous amongst fans of the bizarre. Nothing says fun in the sun like roaring engines and the smell of jet exhaust. Landing on this Caribbean island forces pilots to fly over a small strip of beach, clear a decent-size fence and pass over a road just before hitting the runway.

Why it’s unique…
Not many airports are flanked by oceanfront property filled with tourists standing under incoming aircraft. While the tourists are not really in harm’s way – with the exception of their ear drums. Apparently however, trucks driving on the small road between the beach and the runway could be at risk. The challenge is to make sure there’s not a big semi truck coming through when the plane is landing. It becomes a vertical obstacle, and, if the truck is light, the jet blast could blow it over.

#3 Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
From a distance Don Mueang International looks like any other mid-size airport. However, smack in the middle of the two runways is an 18-hole golf course.

Why it’s unique…
Schreckengast, who has worked on consulting projects at this airport, says one of the major problems is that the only taxiways were located at the end of the runways. “We recommended that they build an additional taxiway in the middle, from side to side, and they said ‘absolutely not, that will take out a green and one fairway.’” The airport and the course were originally an all-military operation, but have since opened up to commercial traffic. Security threats, naturally, have limited the public’s access to the greens.

#2 Gibraltar Airport
Between Morocco and Spain sits the tiny British territory of Gibraltar. Construction of the airport dates back to World War II, and it continues to serve as a base for the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, though commercial flights land on a daily basis.

Why it’s unique…
Winston Churchill Avenue, Gibraltar’s busiest road, cuts directly across the runway. Railroad-style crossing gates hold cars back every time a plane lands or departs. There’s essentially a mountain on one side of the island and a town on the other. The runway goes from side to side on the island because it’s the only flat space there, so it’s the best they can do. It’s a fairly safe operation as far as keeping people away, it just happens to be the best place to land…so sometimes it’s a road and sometimes it’s a runway.

#1 Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan
Land is a scarce resource in Japan, so engineers headed roughly 3 miles offshore into Osaka Bay to build this colossal structure. Work on the manmade island started in 1987, and by 1994 jumbo jets were touching down. Travelers can get from the airport to the main island of Honshu via car, railroad or even a high-speed ferry.

Why it’s unique…
Kansai’s artificial island is 2.5 miles long and 1.6 miles wide – so large that it’s visible from space. Earthquakes, dangerous cyclones, an unstable seabed, and sabotage attempts from protestors are just some of the variables engineers were forced to account for. As impressive as the airport is, Stewart Schreckengast, a professor of aviation technology at Purdue University and a former aviation consultant, cautions that climate change and rising sea levels pose a very real threat to the airport’s existence. “When this was built, [engineers] probably didn’t account for global warming,” he told Popular Mechanics magazine. “In 50 years or so, this might be underwater.”

Original article here.