7 strange and unique airports
Making a connection at one of these airports would be quite an experience, and we’ve taken a look at seven strange and unique airports from all around the world.
US Federal Transfer Centre, Oklahoma City, USA
If you find yourself at the US Federal Transfer Centre, needless to say things have taken an interesting turn in your life. Located next to Will Rogers World Airport, this facility is used for holding inmates and transferring them between federal prisons.
Black Rock City Municipal Airport, USA
This airport is unique in the sense that it only operates for a week every year. Black Rock City Municipal Airport opens briefly every year for the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, playing host to around about 150 aeroplanes during the week.
Kansai International Airport, Japan
Entirely offshore, Kansai International Airport services a region that has no space to run a 24 hour airport in the city where no land can be expropriated. Over 21 million square metres of landfill was excavated from nearby mountains to put it together.
Kai Tai Airport, Hong Kong
While it’s no longer operational, Kai Tai Airport was once instrumental with linking Hong Kong with the outside world. From 1925 to 1998 landing on this little chunk of reclaimed land with high-rises on both sides was a harrowing experience in larger aircraft.
Sea Ice Runway, McMurdo Station, Antarctica
During the summer Antarctic field season the Sea Ice Runway acts as the principle runway for the US Antarctic Program. A proper runway for wheeled aircraft is constructed at the start of each season and used up until early December, until the ice breaks up.
Paro Airport, Bhutan
Flying into the only international airport in Bhutan is no easy task, with pilots having to navigate through two treacherously narrow valleys and performing a turn in its approach to the strip. Paro Airport is serviced by Bhutan’s National Airline Druk Air.
Barra Airport, Scotland
What makes this short-runway airport located at the north tip of the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides is the fact that it’s the one airport in the world where scheduled flights use the beach as a runway (provided of course that the tide is out).
Images: Getty