Certain destinations warrant booking a window seat.
Some of my personal favorite approaches include descending into Kauai, where you can peel down the window to see the emerald-hued cliffs of the Napali Coast plunge into the Pacific. Another unforgettable one is a wintertime landing in Jackson, Wyoming at the small airport that’s located inside Grand Tetons National Park, where the snow-covered peaks jut into the sky. In the Caribbean, on St Maarten, flights landing at Princess Juliana International Airport look as though they’re going to skim the water, and beach-goers on Maho Beach hang out to watch the inbound planes.
But what airports around the world have especially gorgeous landings?
AllClear, a travel insurance company, took a crack at quantifying the most beautiful landings in a recent ranking. To do so, analysts started with a short list of 32 airports around the globe that are known for stunning aerial views. Then, 100 participants were shown a series of images of the airport runways and their visual engagement was measured with eye-tracking technology.
The most scenic runway approach in the world, according to the ranking, is the one at Lord Howe Airport in Australia. The runway is tucked between lush mountains and turquoise waters and it’s a fairly exclusive landing considering that Lord Howe caps the number of visitors to 400 a day so that the island never feels too crowded. The island’s population is less than that, numbering 350.
For those unfamiliar with the destination, Lord Howe Island (a part of New South Wales) was formed by volcanic activity and visitors are stunned by the diversity of colorful fish, as well as coral, that can be seen by snorkeling close to the beach. The island is also a popular spot for diving and glass-bottom kayak tours.
The list of breathtaking flight descents spans the globe, offering everything from sun-drenched beaches and dramatic mountain ranges to bustling city skylines.
Some of the standouts include soaring over Madeira’s rugged, earthy cliffs as they tumble into the Atlantic, descending into Aspen with wide views of Colorado’s snow-capped Rocky Mountains, and flying into London where you’ll get aerial postcard-like snapshots of the River Thames, Tower Bridge, and the London Eye.
Here’s the full list of the top-ranked landings, according to AllClear:
No. 1: Lord Howe Island Airport
No. 2: Queenstown Airport in New Zealand
No. 3, tie: Madeira Airport in Funchal, Madeira in Portugal
No. 3, tie: Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, Colorado
No. 5, tie: Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
No. 5, tie: London City Airport in London, United Kingdom
No. 7: Innsbruck Airport in Austria
No. 8: Paro Airport in Bhutan
No. 9: Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport in Saba
No. 10, tie: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii
No. 10, tie: Lukla Airport in Nepal
No. 12 tie: Seychelles International Airport in Mahé
No. 12, tie: Telluride Regional Airport in Telluride, Colorado
No. 12, tie: Nice Côte d’Azur Airport in Nice, France
No. 15, tie: Wellington International Airport in New Zealand
No. 15, tie: Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in Toronto, Canada