[Travel] Unusual airports

[Badger]

Strangely, I bumped into the bloke in a bar in Vancouver a week later, right as rain, happily and he hadn't had a heart attack. He said the Medical Facilities in Yellowknife were absolutely state of the art and if you were ever taken ill on a plane, that was the place to go!

A friend was telling me the other day about doctors in Yellowknife. Apparently they get paid an absolute fortune to go there, because no one really wants to live in Yellowknife all year. So, most doctors will go there for a few years, save a load of money, and then return to civilisation.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Courchevel airport in The Three Valley is interesting.....with a cliff edge at one end.

I've skiid past that. No idea what the shed was or why a bit of the hill was fenced off. I had no idea it was a bloody airport!

 

[The Large One]

Other interesting landings... Osaka....sea, sea, sea, sea, sea, sea.....there is a runway here somewhere right?? sea, sea, sea.....runway!

Nice is very much like that too.

 

[Two Professors]

I don’t know. I’ve not kept up with recent Bond films. But the way Couchevel has gone in recent years it is now like Little Russia.

The most famous Bond ski scene in the alps was filmed on the Schilthorn in Switzerland which I have snowboarded. And Entering into the spirit of things I had two martinis on top of the lunch time wine and snowboarded all the way from the top. I recall I did most of it on my arse.

Remember doing Seaford Head down towards the 19th hole on a dustbin lid in the snow,but doesn't compare to that!

 

[AnotherArch]

I quite like Gibraltar airport whose runway basically runs across the Spanish entrance and exit to/from the country, necessitating all traffic to be held up whenever a plane flies in or out, which sometimes amounts to as much as two hours a day. A diversion route was planned in 2009 but to-date still hasn't been built!

When you stroll across this Gibraltar runway adjacent to the traffic, you can see the natural 'hump' in the runway, following the earth's curvature I suppose, but I was surprised how bumpy the surface was. Can't say that I have seen the middle of any other runways this close, though.

Exiting Basel/Basle airport was interesting - turn left for German, turn right for Switzerland.

 

[Barham's tash]

Chania, Crete is interesting as it's on top of a cliff so you come in about 500 feet off the ground then all of a sudden you've landed. Like all Greek airports it's pixellated on google maps

Don’t recall that having flown in but I do recall the military jet activity being very high.

We had a Villa off the peninsula overlooking the approach to the airport. ‘Twas a tad noisy at times.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kentgully]

Jodhpur, is a tiny airforce base, so no photos, they tell you on arrival that your bags can be collected from carousel 1...... it only has 1

 

[Two Professors]

Nice is very much like that too.

And Akrotiri.Sure our Hercybirds had their wheels in the water sometimes.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Courchevel airport in The Three Valley is interesting.....with a cliff edge at one end.

Although I've never actually flown into there myself, I've stood and watched planes land and take off. That 'jump' is for slowing them down when they land



It's particularly popular with certain trout lipped, walnut skinned, fur and jewellery encrusted Russian women. Hop on the Skidoo and a few hundred metres down to your chalet. I would imagine it beats the airports, coaches, minibuses and cars that I usually have to endure

When I was last there, about 4 or 5 years ago, the restaurant by the airport was doing a bowl of pasta for one at the bargain price of 45 Euros

We decided to lunch elsewhere

 

[Wilko]

What a great thread this is. Thanks to the OP for starting.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Although I've never actually flown into there myself, I've stood and watched planes land and take off. That 'jump' is for slowing them down when they land



It's particularly popular with certain trout lipped, walnut skinned, fur and jewellery encrusted Russian women. Hop on the Skidoo and a few hundred metres down to your chalet. I would imagine it beats the airports, coaches, minibuses and cars that I usually have to endure

When I was last there, about 4 or 5 years ago, the restaurant by the airport was doing a bowl of pasta for one at the bargain price of 45 Euros

We decided to lunch elsewhere

Same here, only watched, and marvelled at the goings on at the airport. On the restaurant front I remember being in one place and it was silly money for some basic pasta or pizza but if you wanted to quadruple the price of your chosen dish they’d shave some truffle onto it for you. I think they were trying to capture the Russian market.

That said there are some truly wonderful restaurants in the Three Valleys. Over the years the holidays have become less about skiing and more about eating; the snowboard just helps me navigate the restaurants.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

[MENTION=20]Publius Ovidius[/MENTION] that reminds me of Hamilton Island Airport in Queensland.

I particularly liked the luggage collection system. A luggage buggy is driven to the plane, all the cases are loaded on, then it drives back and stops outside the terminal. At that point it's a free-for-all to collect your cases directly from the buggy.

I assume they lost yours

 

[Templeton Peck]

I flew out of Mesa Airport in Arizona a couple of years ago. Small town airport which used to be Williams Air force Base. Nothing remarkable about it other than you can eat outside in the Patio area which is literally next to the runway with a small chain-link fence stopping you walking out on to it.

 

[Badger]

I assume they lost yours

No, I wasn't flying Delta.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Same here, only watched, and marvelled at the goings on at the airport. On the restaurant front I remember being in one place and it was silly money for some basic pasta or pizza but if you wanted to quadruple the price of your chosen dish they’d shave some truffle onto it for you. I think they were trying to capture the Russian market.

That said there are some truly wonderful restaurants in the Three Valleys. Over the years the holidays have become less about skiing and more about eating; the snowboard just helps me navigate the restaurants.

Snowboard ? And I was just about to give your post a thumbs up

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Skiathos has a ridiculously short runway, hard on the brakes only experienced pilots allowed.

The runway at Skiathos airport is completely head-mental. If you get to the airport a bit early you can walk ten minutes down a side road to the shingly beach and watch your 757 come in to land - about fifty feet over your head! Take offs and landings are a plane-spotter's paradise and quite the tourist attraction. If you're not very careful, the jet blast will knock you off your feet.

Health & Safety professionals may want to look away NOW...

 

[Juan Albion]

I assume they lost yours

Likewise, this is baggage reclaim at Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Free for all from the cart and open to the public.

 

[ditchy]

Male Airport, the Maldives is interesting in that the airport is an island in itself - there is nothin else there and there is sea at either end of 'the' runway and the only way out is seaplane to whichever island in the archipelago you are headed or dhoni (converted fishing boat) to the island upon which the capital Mali is located !

Will post a pic if I can locate !

It has a bridge being built from Male to the island which i think is near completion now .

 

[Hampster Gull]

I flew into Quito, Ecuador last week. Apparently they moved the airport six years ago as the previous one was too dangerous. It's still surrounded by volcanoes and glaciers as you fly in, and is 2,850m above sea level so the planes performance is apparently less reliable... and you do tend to feel quite light headed when you get off the plane. It's a cracking journey into the city though - stunning views.

Yes, I’ve done that one a couple of times, both extremely bumpy but you get free coca leaves at the airport for altitude sickness.

 

[tronnogull]

Billy Bishop airport is located on an Island in Lake Ontario just offshore from downtown Toronto.
Until 2015 you had to take ' the shortest ferry ride in the world ' to get to the airport. It was 121 metres and took 90 seconds.
They built a pedestrian tunnel in 2015 but I believe you can still take the ferry if you want to.