Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Outer Hebrides tops world's most treacherous landing strips

Barra Airport, Isle of Barra, Scotland

Barra airport, which first opened in 1936, has just been judged one of the world’s most treacherous landing strips by National Geographic magazine.

With its infamous beach runway - now the only one on the planet regularly used by scheduled flights - Barra airport presents an extreme challenge to even the most able pilots. 

What’s more, planes taking off and landing must contend with unpredictable sea tides and the unforgiving Scottish weather, said National Geographic, making other flight destinations 'seem cushy by comparison.'

In an airport review the renowned global magazine said: 'Pilots bound for the Scottish isle of Barra must review all the standard reports of weather and air traffic but also keep an eye on a rather unusual factor - the tide chart.

'This Outer Hebrides airstrip may be the only one in the world where regularly scheduled commercial flights touch down and take off on a beach.

'One of the three Barra runways, the cockleshell strip known as Traigh Mhor, is underwater, and off-limits, at high tide.'

The ‘World’s Seven Most Extreme Airports’ reads like a pilot’s worst nightmare.

One airstrip on Antarctica's Ross Island is carved entirely out of the sea ice, while another, Courchevel airport in the French Alps, is set precariously on the side of a cliff, and famously featured in a 007 venture - Tomorrow Never Dies. 

But aviation aficionado and travel writer Benet J Wilson, who helped to compile the list, was adamant that demanding flight training made even the most difficult landings relatively safe.

'I think there is no pilot worth his salt that would ever admit that they're afraid to fly into these extreme airports,' he said.

'You have very high-tech, 3-D simulators that can recreate the conditions of flying into these airports so well that you really do feel like you're flying into these areas.

'That kind of training makes you much more confident.'

According to Wilson, hair-raising airports like Barra have become unique travel destinations in themselves, with aviation fans seeking them out.

The tiny Scottish airport recently topped a list of the ‘Top 10 Touchdowns’, a poll taken by Private Fly to find the world’s most inspiring landings.

Michael Galbraith, station manager for Barra airport, said of the result: 'When competing against large scale airports, it goes to show that when it comes to a stunning landing, small can definitely be more beautiful.'

The potential benefits to tourism generated by these unusual destinations have not gone unnoticed by Scottish Natural Heritage, who agreed to save the beach strip at Traigh Mhor last month from incorporation into the surrounding marine conservation area.

Scotland can also lay claim to another landmark of the aviation world.

The hop from Westray to Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands holds the record for the shortest commercial flight anywhere on earth, lasting on average just over 90 seconds.

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