TELEVISION COMMERCIAL

Toncontín Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Having negotiated the rough-hewn mountainous terrain, pilots must execute a dramatic 45-degree, last-minute bank to the left just minutes prior to touching down in a bowl-shaped valley on a runway just 6,112 feet in length. The airport, at an altitude of 3,294 feet, can accommodate aircraft no larger than Boeing 757’s.

Paro Airport, Bhutan.

Tucked into a tightly cropped valley and surrounded by 16,000-foot-high serrated Himalayan peaks, this is arguably the world's most forbidding airport to fly into. It requires specially trained pilots to maneuver into this stomach-dropping aerie by employing visual flying rules and then approaching and landing through a narrow channel of vertiginous tree-covered hillsides.

Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong

Although it closed in 1998, this infamous urban airport will go down in history as one of the scariest of all time. Planes would practically graze skyscrapers and jagged mountains surrounding Kowloon Bay as they took off and landed on a single runway that shot headlong into Victoria Harbour.

Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla, Nepal

Recently renamed after the famous Everest climber-conquerers, mountainous Tenzing-Hillary Airport not only has one of the steepest uphill runways in the world, but its drop-off, into the wind shear-prone Himalayan valley below, is sure to give even the heartiest mountaineers pause. Here, daily 30-minute flights from Katmandu are only allowed to land during daylight, weather permitting.

Courchevel Airport, France.

Part of massive Les Trois Vallées ski resort in the French Alps, Courchevel’s airport is notorious for its super-short ski slope-esque runway (it’s just 1,722 feet), which is punctuated with a vertical mountainside drop. Ice and unpredictable winds are always a concern for pilots, who must meet rigorous training requirements before being able to land in this stunning winter wonderland.

Tioman Island, Malaysia

Landing on this volcanic South China Sea isle—referred to as giant sleeping dragon for its emerald ridges and misty plumes—has set many a pilot’s and passenger’s hair on end. Its approach, directly into a mountain with a 90-degree turn to align with the runway, ends short with a cliff—if you don’t jam on the breaks you’re a goner.

Saba Island Airport

Saba Island is an idyllic, secluded, honeymoon destination. Travel and Leisure voted it the best island in the Caribbean. But before all you soon to be marrieds rush to book a post wedding trip to Saba, please make sure your partner to be can handle a ride on a Win Air DHC-6 Twin Otter.

The landing strip is a reported 1300 feet, which makes it one of the shortest commercial runways in the world. Furthermore, the strip is flanked on one side by steep hills, and on the other side and at both ends of the runway by cliffs dropping into the sea. This creates the possibility that an airplane might overshoot the runway during landing or takeoff and end up in the sea or on the cliffs.

Maderia Airport, Funchal

Wedged in by mountains and the Atlantic, Madeira Airport requires a clockwise approach for which pilots are specially trained. Despite a unique elevated extension that was completed back in 2000 and now expands the runway length to what should be a comfortable 9,000 feet, the approach to Runway 05 remains a hair-raising affair that pilots absolutely dread. They must first point their aircraft at the mountains and, at the last minute, bank right to align with the fast-approaching runway.

Alberto Carnevali Airport in Merida, Venezuela

The airport of the city of Merida, Venezuela is in between a valley with 17,000-foot mountains and houses at the end off the runway.

And now for some fun:

Airport:

The animated story of one man's epic journey, created entirely from public domain symbols. In other words, an airport story told in the language of airport infographics.