Asia’s strangest airports

Popular Mechanics magazine has recently featured eighteen of the world’s strangest airports – including five located in Asia. As the magazine noted, there are many challenges to building an airport as there are often few places to build that are ideal. Moreover, they must ensure what they build is as safe as possible in a variety of situations. Hence, Popular Mechanics survey of airports includes those that range from being dangerous to just plain unique.

For Asia though, the magazine cited the following airports: 

Kansai International Airport (Osaka, Japan). With land being scarce in Japan, Kansai was constructed on an artificial island that is 2.5 miles long and 1.6 miles wide. Hence, engineers had to contend with Earthquakes, cyclones, an unstable seabed and even sabotage attempts from protestors. 

Don Mueang International Airport (Bangkok, Thailand). A mid-sized airport, Don Mueang has an unusual feature smack-dab in the middle of its two runways: An 18-hole golf course. Hence, the only two taxiways are located at the end of the runways.

Hong Kong International Airport (Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong). Besides the fact that the airport was built on two islands that were combined together, Hong Kong International Airport has a luxury golf course and a massive expo center within walking distance of its runway. The airport is also one of the busiest cargo hubs in the world.

Macau International Airport (Macau). With no space for large aircraft, the Macau International Airport was opened in 1995 on a strip of reclaimed land that is just large enough for 747s to land safely on. A set of highways then links the runway with the small island of Taipa where there is an air traffic control tower and a terminal.

Qamdo Bangda Airport (Qamdo, Tibet). At more than 14,000 feet above sea level, Qamdo Bangda is the world’s highest airport. Moreover, the airport boasts a nearly 3.5-mile-long runway.

So the next time you are passing through any of these airports, just remember that they rank among the world’s strangest.