These are the most beautiful airport approaches (or departures) I have experienced.

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Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord), Greenland

If you ever decide to fly to Greenland, get a window seat. You’ll know you’re about to land somewhere special.  On the approach to Kangerlussuaq, there are no trees, vehicles or buildings for perspective, only barren tundra and lakes that on a clear day reflect a striking, pure blue. On the horizon is the Greenland icecap. The effect is trippy. Kangerlussuaq is a small settlement of about 500 people situated just above the arctic circle but it’s Greenland’s main airport because the weather is more reliable than near the larger towns.

Greenland is the least densely populated country in the world. Air travel is important as there are no roads connecting its towns and villages.

Kangerlussuaq airport was originally built as a refueling stop for aircraft making the transatlantic crossing to Europe from North America during WWII.   Its runway is notorious for having a shallow incline that is difficult to perceive. It is sometimes referred to by its Danish name, Sondre Stromfjord, which is where it gets it’s IATA code, SJF.

At time of writing, Kangerlussuaq had Greenland’s only scheduled intercontinental flight, a daily Air Greenland service to Copenhagen with an Airbus A330-200. I should add that the correct pronunciation is actually Kangerslussuaq, with an ‘s’ making an appearance in sound.  This will be impressed upon you when you’re there anyway but you can look like a veteran. The approach is truly spectacular.

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Ísafjörður, Iceland

This is probably also one of the more daring approaches because of the surronding terrain.

Isafjordur is the gateway to Iceland’s remote Westfjords, in the extreme northwest of the country.  This fjordland has largely escaped Iceland’s tourist boom. Lonely Planet reports that only 3% of tourists to Iceland make it here, yet it may very well be the most beautiful part of the country.

The flight to Isafjordur leaves from Reykjavik’s domestic airport and takes about 45 minutes. The first part of the approach occurs over a large sub-arctic fjord which translates rather ominously to “Icefjord deep”.

Even from about 5,000 feet I could see white caps and spindrift, indicating gale force winds. Our Air Iceland Dash 8-100 experienced heavy turbulence, white knuckle for me but to the expressed delight of some the Icelandics on board.

Thankfully, sort of, we turned into the smaller Skutulsfjord, where Isafjordur is located.  I say sort of because aircraft can’t land straight in at Isafjordur. The runway is surrounded on 3 sides by high mountains and a straight-in landing sequence would leave no “go around” option in the case of a missed approach. So instead, inbound aircraft must fly to the end of the fjord and make a dramatic 180 degree turn, almost scraping mountains on all three sides, and touch down literally as they are leveling off. It’s spectacular if not a little hairy.

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Innsbruck, Austria

Innsbruck also has to be one of prettier airport settings.  Located in Tyrolean Alps, in Western Austria, it is one of the gateways to ski country.  The descent into the Inn Valley is magnificent and apparently quite complicated. The airport is surrounded by spectacular rocky mountains and cliffs, a dramatic and fitting introduction to the area.

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Queenstown, New Zealand

 

Being from eastern North America, it takes a lot of effort to get to Queenstown. We took a semi-circuitous route through Sydney, which is 20 hours in the air, then backtracked the 3 hours east to Queenstown. I was exhausted as we neared the coast of the South Island, where the Southern Alps rise literally right out of the Pacific Ocean. Much of the approach takes place over fjords and between high mountains.  The airport is backed by the Remarkables themselves.  When deplaning, the decision to travel so far was instantly rewarded.

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Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPYNgRjYzc
Ushuaia’s Malvinas International Airport claims to be the southernmost international airport in the world. That might be, although there is an airport on King George Island in Antarctica that receives civilian passenger service with the Chilean airline DAP. As you can see in the video (not mine), the approach takes you over the virtually uninhabited mountains of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) and then out over the Beagle Channel, the latter named for the ship that brought Charles Darwin to the area.

Ushuaia’s slogan is “End of the World – Beginning of everything”. It’s the southernmost city in the world and the southernmost state level capital.

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Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica

Puerto Jimenez is on Costa Rica’s remote Osa Peninsula, a largely protected area the juts out from the mainland into the Pacific Ocean. The airport is a small strip cut out of the jungle and only handles light aircraft. Road access to the peninsula is impractical so it is more or less cut off . This is a legitimate rainforest town and if you pay attention after getting off the plane, sooner or later you’ll probably see scarlet maccaws flying overhead (and even more likely, you’ll hear them first).

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Santiago, Chile

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. As you can probably tell, we’ve started our decent in Santiago… If you happen to be sitting on the left side of the airplane and look out your window, you can see the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere.” Even among the Andes, Mount Aconcagua is massive.  In fact, it’s the highest mountain outside of Asia, and quite a sight from the airplane window.  As the pilot indicated, a window seat on the left hand side of the aircraft is required for this view. Unfortunately, I did not have one, but I did manage to find an emergency exit door with a small window. The approach has a backdrop incredible because of the scale of some of the nearby mountains.

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Beirut, Lebanon

Beirut’s picturesque waterfront should make it one of the Mediterranean’s top attractions. For obvious reasons this hasn’t happened but it’s a revealing sight as you approach Rafiq Hariri International Airport.

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Alta, Norway

The photo is taken during departure, but the approach would be just as spectacular.  Alta is at 70 degrees North, well inside the arctic circle.