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.
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 with MITRE, 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 says. "In 50 years or so, this
might be underwater."
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.
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," Schreckengast says. "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," he says, "It just happens to be the best place to
land, so sometimes it's a road and sometimes it's a runway."
3. Madeira International Airport
Madeira, Portugal
Madeira
is a small island far off the coast of Portugal, which makes an airport
that is capable of landing commercial-size aircraft vital to its
development. This airport's original runway was only about 5000 feet
long, posing a huge risk to even the most experienced pilots and
limiting imports and tourism.
Engineers
extended the runway to more than 9000 feet by building a massive girder
bridge atop about 200 pillars. The bridge, which itself is over 3000
feet long and 590 feet wide, is strong enough to handle the weight of
747s and similar jets. In 2004, the International Association for Bridge
and Structural Engineering selected the expansion project for its
Outstanding Structure Award, noting that the design and construction was
both "sensitive to environmental and aesthetic considerations."
4. Don Mueang International Airport
Bangkok, Thailand
From
a distance Don Mueang International looks like any other midsize
airport. However, smack-dab in the middle of the two runways is an
18-hole golf course.
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, however, have limited the public's
access to the greens.
5. 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.
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. 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.
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," Schreckengast says. "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. Courchevel International Airport
Courchevel, France
Getting
to the iconic ski resort of Courchevel requires navigating the
formidable French Alps before making a hair-raising landing at
Courchevel International Airport. The runway is about 1700 feet long,
but the real surprise is the large hill toward the middle of the strip.
"You
take off downhill and you land going uphill," Schreckengast says. He
adds that the hill, which has an 18.5 percent grade, is so steep that
small planes could probably gain enough momentum rolling down it with no
engines to safely glide off the edge. Landing at Courchevel is
obviously no easy task, so pilots are required to obtain certification
before attempting to conquer the dangerous runway.
8. Princess Juliana International Airport
Simpson Bay, Saint Maarten
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.
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 hearing—Schreckengast says that 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.
9. Svalbard Airport
Svalbard, Norway
Svalbard
is a cluster of Norwegian islands sitting in the Arctic Ocean. While
there are three airports within the archipelago, two of which are used
mainly to transport miners, Svalbard Airport is open to commercial
travel, making it the world's northernmost airport that tourists can
book tickets to.
Engineers used the region's
brutally cold climate to their favor during construction and built the
runway on a layer of permafrost. The airport was completed in 1975, but
slight seasonal changes caused sections of the runway to become uneven,
forcing the need to repave the runway on several occasions. A project
was launched in 1989 aimed at insulating troublesome sections of the
runway from the ground, which proved relatively successful. However, a
2002 study indicates that rising temperatures in the area may increase
the need and frequency of maintenance efforts and repaving.
10. 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.
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," says Schreckengast, a former Navy
pilot who is no stranger to landing on less than lengthy runways. "It's
challenging, but if you don't have something like that, 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.
