What's The Most "exotic" Airport You've Flown To?

PatrickZ80 · Sat Jun 10, 2017 11:05 am

Lelystad for me. No passenger terminal, GA airport only. Was a round flight in a C-172.

DesertAir · Sat Jun 10, 2017 12:38 pm

The two exotic airports I have flown into:
Loreto, Baja California Sur. The airport building had a thatched roof.
Santa Elena, El Petén in Guatemala for a visit to Tikal.

gtargui · Sat Jun 10, 2017 12:45 pm

I don't fly much, but the most exotic ones for me are PEK and CUN

Midwestindy · Sat Jun 10, 2017 3:20 pm

HKT or ELH

MaxTrimm · Sun Jun 11, 2017 2:13 am

Shenzhen, China or Launceston, Tasmania.

blandy62 · Sun Jun 11, 2017 2:29 am

for me the most exotic must be Kiritimati in Kiribati

beside that Majuro and Kwajalein in the Marchal Islands, Kosrae and Yap in Micronesia. Tioman, 20 years ago was rather exotic too

Caticlan before before the airport upgrade was not bad either. Can also think of Labuan Bajo in the old time

Wednesdayite · Sun Jun 11, 2017 2:41 am

None are overly obscure, but I never expected to visit Paramaribo, Cayenne, or Medellin.

BawliBooch · Sun Jun 11, 2017 2:58 am

777Jet wrote:
Inspired by the ""What's The Most "exotic" Airline You've Flown On?"" thread, this thread asks: What's The Most "exotic" Airport You've Flown To?

It's LUA / Tenzing-Hillary Airport, also known as Lukla Airport, in Nepal for me.

The runway is 1,729 feet long and is at an altitude of 9,334 feet.

Lukla was awesome! But Syangboche further up in Nepal was even better! PC6 is the largest aircraft that operates there. Need to plan another avgeek roadtrip to Nepal. Best place for STOL experience.

Most exotic airfield however for me would have to be the airstrip in the buffer zone of Kanha National Park which I flew to in a C172. Spotted a tiger while we were having a smoke before turning around.

I was later told that the former Indian Airlines operated scheduled flights to here from Nagpur in the 60's with DC3. Very interesting!

Gemuser · Sun Jun 11, 2017 5:04 am

RSE [Rose Bay, Sydney] and LDH [Lord Howe Island} NO runways at either!
See: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=971229&hilit=rse

Gemuser

conaly · Sun Jun 11, 2017 7:49 am

Some small airports in the middle of the desert:
BSK - Biskra, Algeria
RAE - Arar, Saudi-Arabia

These airports have like one or two flights a day. The terminal looks more like a school gym. No gates, just some small doors in the wall facing the tarmac. They don't even use buses, you just walk to your aircraft.

Next exotic airport on my list: FNJ, Pyonyang, North Korea.

flymia · Sun Jun 11, 2017 10:13 pm

flymia wrote:
Just like Chalks with the airline got to go with Bimni Seaplane Base, Paradise Island Seaplane base second, and Watson Island a third.

Excluding the sea plane bases I guess I would go with Pullman Washington, not exactly "exotic"[Edited 2015-11-14 20:15:06]

Saw this old thread pop up. Guess I would change mine to Bora Bora Airport now. Even thought I wouldn't be surprised if Watson Island, Bimni Seaplane Base or Paradise Island Seaplane Base have had less passengers over the years. Flying to Bora Bora was something special.

fi622 · Sun Jun 11, 2017 10:48 pm

Have spent quite a bit of time in the pacific so more small islands than anything else.

BBO - Berbera, Somaliland
INU - Nauru
TRW - Tarawa, Kiribati
AEA - Abemama, Kiribati
DLY - Dillon's Bay, Vanuatu
LNB - Lamen Bay, Vanuatu

CairnterriAIR · Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:47 am

Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. Tiny one room "terminal" with a dirt runway of which several goats had to be shooed off of!

ojjunior · Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:09 pm

Queenstown-ZQN, a lovely city with a challenging approach.

CXA330300 · Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:17 pm

Alldays in Limpopo Province in South Africa. I flew there on a chartered propeller aircraft with some other folks for a wedding from HLA. It was very strange!

Keith2004 · Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:59 pm

Maybe more remote than exotic -
IPC - Easter Island

incitatus · Mon Jun 12, 2017 3:07 pm

BOB - Bora Bora. What is unusual about Bora Bora is that there is no land-side. There is air-side, and there is water-side. You get your bags and need to get on a boat to leave.

SKZ - Skukuza, South Africa. It is the coolest bagagge claim in the world.
https://skukuzaairport.com/passenger-baggage-handling/

Been to IPC too

Yflyer · Mon Jun 12, 2017 4:09 pm

Since this thread is active again, I'll take the opportunity to update mine to ARK -- Arusha, Tanzania, although technically I only flew from there, not to there. The terminal is basically a shelter with a metal roof but otherwise open to the elements. It does, however, have the typical small airport amenities -- a gift shop and a small café. The airside and landside sections are separated by basically a fence. Once you clear security you find yourself almost standing on the apron, and you have to take a sidewalk between the apron and the terminal to another outdoor seating area under the shelter. When it's time to board your flight a representative from the airline comes over, checks everyone's boarding passes, and escorts you across the apron to your plane. While Precision Air flies there with ATRs, the other airlines at the airport are small outfits flying Cessna Caravans and similar planes.

eielef · Mon Jun 12, 2017 9:27 pm

New one: Kotlas (KSZ/ULKK), Archangelsk Oblast, Northern Russia. Two weekly flights to Arkhangelsk, continuing to SCW, in Let410. Ice runway (13/31) of about 1500m (4600ft) long. It is paved, but when i landed it was just ice.

lollyj · Mon Jun 12, 2017 9:59 pm

Mine is probably RTB - Roatan International Airport in Honduras.

Airstud · Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:26 am

I guess ZIH Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Although Edmonton also comes to mind just because I arrived there on an F28 and departed on a BAe-146!!

LGAviation · Tue Jun 13, 2017 1:36 pm

My list would be in each of the continents:

Oceania: HIR, Honiara, Solomon Islands
Asia: ULN, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Africa: KGL, Kigali, Rwanda or WVB, Walvis Bay, Namibia
Europe: CRA, Craiova, Romania
North America/Caribbean: PBM, Paramaribo, Suriname
South America: CJC Calama, Chile or FTE, El Calafate, Argentina

aeromoe · Tue Jun 13, 2017 2:16 pm

Would have to be a fuel stop at Pago Pago, American Samoa aboard a C-5B.

N14AZ · Wed Jun 14, 2017 7:07 am

aeromoe wrote:
Would have to be a fuel stop at Pago Pago, American Samoa aboard a C-5B.

Cool!

LGAviation wrote:
Asia: ULN, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Exotic? The capital of Mongolia?

LGAviation wrote:
Europe: CRA, Craiova, Romania

Speaking about Romania, "exiotic" is maybe not the right term but in a way I always considered Bucharest Baneasa as kind of exotic, so close to the City and from the inside the terminal looks like a bus station...

Otherwise, my most exotic airports are not that exotic at all:

1) Anqing in China, very small airport, you have to walk from the aircraft to the arrival hall

2.) Dien Bien Phu in North Vietnam

Looking forward to my flight to Shangri La later this year...

csturdiv · Thu Jun 15, 2017 11:45 am

My most "exotic" airport was HBA. Hobart, Tasmania. When I was in Australia on business before I moved down here, I took a week off of work before flying back to the US and went to Hobart. Tasmania always seemed like a far away place to me growing up in southern Indiana and I didn't want to pass up a chance to go there when I had a chance. I think the "exotic" part came from as a young kid and watching the Bugs Bunny cartoons with the Tasmanian Devil and I always thought that was some far off place I'd never see. Been to the island twice now, and am going back again next month.

LXM83 · Fri Jun 16, 2017 9:10 am

Have visited a few "exotic" airports, some notable ones are listed here:

JON/PJON - Johnston Island, US Minor Outlying Islands
SWT/UNSS - Strezhevoy, Tomsk Oblast, Russia
BRR/EGPR - Barra - Scotland, United Kingdom
GER/MUNG - Nueva Gerona, Cuba
KSA/PTSA - Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia
BWE/EDVE - Braunschweig, Germany
BWK/LDSB - Bol, Brac Island, Croatia
OIM/RJTO - Oshima Island, Japan
CAJ/SVCN - Canaima, Venezuela
.nil./UNKM - Krasnoyarsk-Cheremshanka, Russia

Cheers, LXM83

BENAir01 · Fri Jun 16, 2017 2:21 pm

FTE (El Calafate, Argentina). Beautiful views of the Patagonian glaciers on approach.

B-787 · Fri Jun 16, 2017 2:39 pm

Bocas del Toro (BOC) on a an Aeroperlas/Taca Regional ATR42, and SXM.

Devilfish · Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:36 pm

DesertAir wrote:
The airport building had a thatched roof.

Gone now are the dirt runway and apron at El Nido in Palawan, but the thatched roof terminal will likely be around for a while until commercialization forces it onto the endangered species list.....

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/265404/ay ... o-palawan/

http://coconuts.co/manila/news/sneak-pe ... o-palawan/

http://www.palawandays.com/wp-content/u ... irport.jpg

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/phot ... 663299.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VdXQJ3_MHvc/T ... cycle1.JPG

The Let410s are gone now as well, mainly superseded by the more comfortable and more modern ATR42-600s..... :bigthumbsup:

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQ-bfSkOK50/ ... G_3112.jpg

blandy62 wrote:
Caticlan before before the airport upgrade was not bad either.

The bucolic feel will be diminished further with the completion of the new international terminal.....

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Qns0FoFRh0/V ... _small.jpg

http://www.google.com/search?q=new+bora ... NIp13vdGXM:

http://insidemanila.ph/article/1882/New ... ed-by-2018

blandy62 · Sat Jun 17, 2017 1:18 am

Devilfish wrote:
blandy62 wrote:
Caticlan before before the airport upgrade was not bad either.

The bucolic feel will be diminished further with the completion of the new international terminal.....

I was there a few months ago. Even if the old terminal is still in use, with the plane now parking at the new apron, the feeling is not the same anymore. Not to mention that since the hill is gone, the landing and take off is not the same anymore sadly

ryan78 · Sat Jun 17, 2017 12:30 pm

Mine would have to be Las Brujas, Cuba (BWW), St. Barths (SBH), or Grand Case (SFG). I have a soft spot for Marathon, Florida Keys (MTH) too, did a training flight there in a 172 last year, neat little airport.

LXM83 wrote:
Have visited a few "exotic" airports, some notable ones are listed here:
GER/MUNG - Nueva Gerona, Cuba

What was the reason for your visit to GER if you don't mind me asking? GER has been on my radar for a rugged Cuban adventure, way off the beaten path of the usual Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

A333MSPtoAMS · Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:53 pm

Mine would be:

IPC - Mataveri Airport, Easter Island
HEH - Heho Airport, Heho, Myanmar (Burma)
PRN - Prishtina Airport, Prishtina, Kosovo
FRS - Santa Elena Airport, Santa Elena, Flores, Guatemala
MQM - Mardin Airport, Mardin, Turkey
MRD - Alberto Carnevalli Airport, Merida, Venezuela

Full List: http://globe-trekking.com/vg/stats/luch ... /index.php

gollumSD · Sat Jun 17, 2017 7:30 pm

Ushuaia, Argentina, which many consider the most dangerous airport in the world, and Thandwe, Myanmar.

jetwet1 · Sat Jun 17, 2017 8:08 pm

For me, TNO, Tamarindo Costa Rica, a dirt runway served by C208's.

Then there is the Seaborne planes into and out of Charlotte Amalie St Thomas.

Also, SLU St Lucia, a great way to get to the island.

lollyj wrote:
Mine is probably RTB - Roatan International Airport in Honduras.

Great place to view planes landing, but what a complete s**t hole of a country, some great people, but it's the only place I have been in the world where I had two heavily armed bodyguards and a bulletproof vest from the time I got off the plane until I got back on it.....Yes, fully armed (automatic rifles included) walked straight through security.

debonair · Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:01 am

Most exotic? For sure Tioman Airport!

But I worked in the past for an exotic airline, with exotic airports (most of them now closed to commercial traffic) - debonAIR: Mönchengladbach Airport/Germany-MGL, Paris Cergy Pontoise Airport/France -POX

LXM83 · Wed Jun 21, 2017 6:49 am

ryan78 wrote:
What was the reason for your visit to GER if you don't mind me asking? GER has been on my radar for a rugged Cuban adventure, way off the beaten path of the usual Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

Hi ryan78

The main reason was that it was the shortest/least expensive route the An-24 was operating at that time, the other reason was that it actually is off the beaten track. Stayed in Colony Hotel on the West coast.

Regards, LXM83

Mortyman · Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:59 am

For me:

* IPC - Mataveri Airport, Easter Island
* RAR - Rarotonga International
* AIT - Aitutaki Airport
* PPT - Papeete Faa'a International Airport
* APW - Faleolo International Airport

intotheair · Wed Jun 21, 2017 12:26 pm

I can't beat most of the people on here. Most exotic for me is I guess REP — Siem Reap, Cambodia. It's probably not that exotic now, but it did when I visited more than a decade ago before traffic picked up. I presume the airport has been updated since then too. We also had a stop in PNH (Phnom Penh) and had to transit through the terminal for about ten minutes before returning to SIN.

Only other one I can add to this list is RVN — Rovaniemi, Finland. It's maybe not exotic, but it definitely felt isolated.

Devilfish · Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:33 am

blandy62 wrote:
I was there a few months ago. Even if the old terminal is still in use, with the plane now parking at the new apron, the feeling is not the same anymore. Not to mention that since the hill is gone, the landing and take off is not the same anymore sadly

I hear you..... :sigh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3LxEnNH9yI

grjplanes · Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:54 am

For me the most exotic so far has probably been Rodrigues Island (RRG), 600km east of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

Few others that's kind of "exotic" for me, but maybe not for others:
Hamilton (HLZ), New Zealand
Nelson (NSN), New Zealand
Sunshine Coast (MCY), Australia
Kuala Terranganu (TGG), Malaysia
Glasgow Prestwick (PIK), Scotland
Linz (LNZ), Austria
Livingstone (LVI), Zambia
Luanda (LAD), Angola

PieterBoth · Thu Jun 22, 2017 8:39 pm

grjplanes wrote:
For me the most exotic so far has probably been Rodrigues Island (RRG), 600km east of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

RRG is indeed exotic - it has that end of the world feel! One of the most beautiful islands in the world...

For me, the most exotic would be Hihifo Airport on Wallis (WLS). Very small terminal in traditional architectural style of Wallis. Just felt like a world away from anywhere, on a stunning island.

Another would be HOR in the Azores.

Delta777Jet · Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:23 am

JNX - Naxos, Greece with Olympic Airways ATR-42

dc9northwest · Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:41 am

Let's see... hard to choose one.

BRR Barra, Scotland
Quite a few in Greenland, like Paamiut or Maniitsoq or Aasiaat.
YDA Dawson, YT, Canada
LYR Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
WSX West Sound, Orcas Island, WA, USA

JulietteBravo · Fri Jun 23, 2017 10:49 am

SSG - Malabo. Back in 1999 Malabo International Airport was really exotic for me. Flew there with a Swissair MD-11.

Mortyman · Fri Jun 23, 2017 5:11 pm

Mortyman wrote:
For me:

* IPC - Mataveri Airport, Easter Island
* RAR - Rarotonga International
* AIT - Aitutaki Airport
* PPT - Papeete Faa'a International Airport
* APW - Faleolo International Airport

I can add the

* UIO - Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, Ecuador for it's challenging approach.
* BON - Flamingo International Airport, Kralendijk, Bonaire With it's pink airport buildings

777Jet · Sat Jun 24, 2017 2:13 am

Gemuser wrote:
RSE [Rose Bay, Sydney] and LDH [Lord Howe Island} NO runways at either!
See: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=971229&hilit=rse

Gemuser

Nice one!

I watch the sea planes take off from Rose Bay and fly around Sydney Harbour almost every day.

For those interested:

https://www.seaplanes.com.au/

https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney/en ... lanes-2016

aerorobnz · Sat Jun 24, 2017 3:46 pm

A few options to choose, depending on where in the world is furthest away from you.
WVB Namibia, (in the middle of the desert)
PEM Peru (in the Amazon)
CAJ Venezuela (In the middle of the jungle)
LYR Svalbard/Spitzbergen (World's most northerly yearround airport - just 1035km from North Pole)
MAJ/KWA/KSA/PNI/TKK Islandhopper across Marshall Islands and Micronesia
IAO Siargao Island Philippines (a remote island in Mindinao I got stuck on for 3 days due weather at airport)
USU Busuanga Island Philippines
EBB Entebbe
MUB Maun
WAG Wanganui, New Zealand (on a CV580 no less)

DTWorld · Sun Jun 25, 2017 6:11 am

OGN / ROYN Yonaguni in Okinawa, Japan.

Looking back at it, I'm not entirely sure what compelled me to visit that part of Okinawa, but despite the lousy weather during my time there (constant gale force winds and rain) I had a blast hiking around the entire place and befriending the locals. It was kinda funny as one kid insisted on taking my picture / getting my autograph and all the staff everywhere I went questioned whether or not I spoke Japanese. It wasn't fluent per se (they did have some sort of dialect too) but communication was possible. I hear it's really good for seeing hammerhead sharks in the region, but the currents are strong.

Also CMX / Hancock, MI is one I remember. The gate area couldn't have been much larger than my apartment, but it did have the bare necessities.

Devilfish · Sun Jun 25, 2017 6:49 pm

And this is the replacement for the thatched-roof terminal at ENI.....

.....

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-uOmGrVYAAcHLs.jpg

https://wwwarchipelago.com.ph/uploads/2 ... ess,format

http://www.lio.ph/wp-content/uploads/20 ... plan-4.jpg

aerorobnz wrote:
IAO Siargao Island Philippines (a remote island in Mindinao I got stuck on for 3 days due weather at airport)
USU Busuanga Island Philippines

Another one worth visiting - BSO ..... :bigthumbsup:

.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ARB8fjnkY

bfitzflyer · Sun Jun 25, 2017 7:25 pm

Not sure if this counts, but a grass landing strip in the Okavanago delta, Botswana had to circle once as elephants were on the landing strip.
Kilimanjaro, KIA
Zanzibar - ZNZ
Thandwe - SNW for Ngapali beach, Myanmar
Caticlan - MPH for Boracay island, The Philippines

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