Blessing TenumahA runway is a strip or hard ground where aircraft land and take off. There are different sizes of runways in various airports and they all have their various sizes. It might be scary to land or even take off on an airport that has a short runway but it is very safe as these runways are being built to be safe and they have precautions as well. Airports that have smaller runways hardly allow bigger aircraft to land or even take off as it might be dangerous. It is completely safe once everything is being followed in the right way.
Top 10 Shortest Runways in the World (2023)
1. Westray Airport, Scotland
This airport is located in Scotland and it is known to have the shortest runway in the world. Its runway is only 291 meters long and it has a CAA ordinary license allowing flights for public transportation of passengers of flying instructions as authorized. This airport has all the necessary amenities that are needed and you should have more information about their flying times to know what is needed.
2. Netherthorpe Airfield, England
This airfield is part of a local landowner estate, the aerodrome is operated by the Sheffield Aero Club which has three hangers. The airfield has a 382-meter (1,253 ft.) long runway, the second-shortest commercial runway in the world. This airfield has lots of history as it has been active for a long period, during world war the post-world war and this has made it very relevant. Over the years it has also been used as a flying school and this has helped in preserving the name.
3. Juancho E Yrausquin Airport, Saba
This is a very popular airport that has one of the smallest runways in the world and it is known as the smallest airport in the world. It has the shortest commercially-used runway among single-strip airports. It is located on a cliff which makes it a spectacular sight. Only scheduled flights can use the runway, although charter flights connect the airport to neighbouring islands. This airport offers all the basic things that an airport is supposed to have and aside from it being small it is very beautiful.
4. Heligoland Airport, Germany
This airport is located in the German archipelago on the Island of Dune. This airport served as a military field during the Second World War and it was destroyed was later built to standard in 1962. Accessing the airports can be done by using ferry boats from the port on the other side of Dune which is accessed by a single taxi service.
5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Nepal
Despite the small size of this airport and its small runway. The Tenzing- Hillary airport was able to handle 119, 801 passengers in 2017 and this created additional value to the airport revenue. It is known as one of the most dangerous airports in the world and this is due to its runway length it is 2744m above sea level which makes it one of the highest airports in the world. Landing at the airport is made more difficult by the lack of navigational landing guides, which limits the site to daytime operations usually between 6 am and 9 am.
6. Courchevel Airport, France
This airport is mainly used by helicopters because of its small runway. The runway was originally 1,230ft long but was extended to its current size for the 1992 Winter Olympics. Its width was doubled from 40m to 80m. There are so many regulations that have been set towards these airports by the French authorities, Alpine Airlines. DGAC only permitted commercial passenger flights to the airport in 2015. Other limitations include no go-around procedures due to their surroundings and the lack of instrument approach procedure.
7. Kars/Rideau Valley AirPark, Canada
This is a radical aerodrome that is found three nautical miles south of Kars, Ottawa Canada. The airport has one 594-meter (1,800 ft.) grass runaway and operates mostly glider and ultra-light traffic.
8. Gustaf III Airport, Saint Barthélemy
It is also known as Rémy de Haenen Airport or Saint Barthélemy Airport and it is located on St Jean on the volcanic Island of St Barthélemy. This Island is a popular tourist destination in winter for celebrities and it operates small regional and commercial flights between other destinations in the Caribbean carrying less than 20 passengers. The Princess Juliana International Airport in Saint Martin serves as a transport hub for Gustaf III Airport, and this enables passengers when arriving on a larger jetliner can transfer to smaller regional aircraft.
9. Cordova Municipal Airport, Alaska
This is a state-owned public airport that is owned by the state. This airport has one of the shortest runways in the world which is used as a landing area for seaplanes. The runway operates 8,800 flights yearly and it is about 549 meters.
10. John A Osborne Airport, Montserrat
This airport is located on the British Overseas territory of Montserrat. The former airport was destroyed by the Soufriere Hills volcano eruption in 1997 along with most of the southern half of Montserrat, which has been designated as an exclusion zone, including its capital Plymouth. A public road underneath’s through the runway and not until 2005 before the airport was built there. This island was only accessible by ship and helicopter before it was constructed in 2005 and since then it has been serving the public. The airport has all that is needed and they take passengers to several destinations and they operate on different airways.
Conclusion
We have given you information about the shortest runways in the world and there is so much information that should be known about these runways. The top 10 shortest runways are located in different countries and some of them are known to be the smallest airports in the world.