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The largest airport in China’s Hainan Province, an island that lies 14 miles (22.5km) off the mainland in the South China Sea, was the first Skytrax five-star Regional Airport in China and was rated number 38 on Skytrax’s list of the world’s top 100 airports in 2020. It typically operates domestic routes to cities across China, as well as routes around Southeast Asia such as Bangkok and Singapore when the borders are open.
One of the reasons why the airport achieved its five-star rating was its excellent facilities. As well as high-end shopping, one of the highlights is the food on offer here. Passengers in transit can enjoy some Hainanese specialties, including Wenchang chicken, a dish using hens whose skin has turned yellow from eating banyan seeds. A brand-new terminal was completed at the airport in summer 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic, which is expected to increase passenger traffic to 45 million in a normal year.
This international transit hub in Nova Scotia might be small but it welcomed 4.1 million passengers in 2019. It’s Canada’s eighth busiest airport and the main hub for Air Canada Express, but this year is seeing far fewer arrivals as the country has closed its borders to non-nationals and residents.
Nova Scotia is renowned for its lobster, and passengers arriving or departing at Halifax Stanfield needn't go far to get some of this meaty, delicious shellfish. The airport has its own seafood shop – Clearwater Seafoods – that sells local catch including live and cooked lobsters. They package it for travel, and if you’re in a rush you can even have your order packed up and brought to you after you go through security. Now that's service.
Formally known as Bob Hope Airport and renamed Hollywood Burbank Airport in 2017, the terminal on North Hollywood Way is just 17 miles (27km) away from downtown LA. Served by six commercial airlines (Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest and United), it is far less busy than Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), typically serving 4.7 million passengers annually compared with over 87.5 million at LAX.
The airport, which is also close to the city of Pasadena, is reportedly one of a few smaller airports in line for new budget airline Breeze Airways (which is being launched by JetBlue founder David Neeleman), due to its proximity to LA and lower passenger numbers. Last year, a host of new routes opened up. American Airlines launched non-stop flights from Burbank to Dallas Fort Worth, but the new direct routes between Atlanta and Nashville by Delta and Southwest have since been stopped.
José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport, Ecuador
Named after former president and poet José Joaquín de Olmedo, whose image presides over the entrance, the airport in Ecuador’s largest city Guayaquil was rated the "best regional airport in South America" in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2014 and ranked 74 in Skytrax’s list of the world’s top 100 airports in 2020.
José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport, Ecuador
Most airports tend to be concrete jungles but not Guayaquil’s verdant building, which brings some of Ecuador’s lush flora to passengers in transit. The terminal has a tranquil botanical garden area, complete with trickling water features, pools full of fish, and a variety of native plants and flowers. It's a zen place to get in the zone before a long-haul flight, once it's safe to travel again.
With the looming cone-shaped Concepcion volcano at the end of its runway, this tiny airport on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua also has a pretty spectacular setting. The airport opened on the island in 2014 and provides a gateway to the gorgeous beaches, walking trails and towering volcanoes.
Passengers arrive on a 20-minute flight from Managua to the mile-long airstrip, which is currently only served by Nicaragua's national carrier La Costeña twice a week. Ometepe is made of two volcanoes: the active Concepcion and the extinct Maderas, which dominates the southern side. The latter is swathed in a cloud forest with a lake deep in its crater.
Where else but Sydney could visitors graze on a platter of oysters or enjoy a mango pavlova, cocktail in hand, before boarding a flight? The Rose Bay Water Airport in the city's affluent eastern suburbs is where Sydney Seaplanes depart for their scenic flights over Sydney Harbour and up to Palm Beach in the north. Flights were paused during the coronavirus pandemic, but began slowly returning to usual service in June 2020.
The Empire Lounge, which opened in 2017, is a fantastic waterside cocktail bar and restaurant that doubles as the terminal. It’s also popular with non-passengers who enjoy a drink as they watch the seaplanes come and go. There's also a little museum charting the history of the city's “flying boats”, which first took the skies here in 1938 and played a key role in the Second World War. Australia's borders are currently closed to non-residents.
Surrounded by the icy wilderness of the Svalbard archipelago, this airport is the northernmost commercial airport in the world. Building a runway here was no mean feat – it was constructed on a layer of permafrost and fluctuating temperatures meant frequent repaving was needed. However, insulation has been added to keep the runway stable.
Under usual circumstances, most travelers arrive on this remote airstrip in Longyearbyen on direct flights from Oslo and Tromsø to go polar bear spotting – the animals outnumber humans on these far-flung islands that lie between Norway and the North Pole. Arctic expeditions get off to a promising start here, as visitors are greeted by a gigantic stuffed polar bear prowling around the baggage carousel in the arrivals area.
This avant-garde airport near the medieval UNESCO World Heritage town of Mestia might be small but it’s certainly memorable. It was designed by architect Jürgen Mayer, who was inspired by the ancient watchtowers of Mestia. The monochrome airport, which opened in 2010 and connects the remote region with capital Tbilisi, is named after Queen Tamar of Georgia, who ruled the country from 1184 to 1213.
The short flight from Tbilisi to Mestia, in the Upper Svaneti region in the northwest of Georgia, takes passengers over some of the country's most incredible mountain scenery and medieval villages. Visible from the air are some of the old stone watchtowers that are typical of the region and which inspired the airport’s design. Currently, though, Georgia's borders remain closed to most travelers.
As the southernmost international airport in the world serving the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia International Airport is a pretty special place. The airport sits right by the Beagle Channel, the strait in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the southern tip of South America. From the air, the simple but striking timber-framed terminal building blends in seamlessly with its dramatic surrounds.
Its facilities might not be anything to write home about but it’s all about the setting. Arriving into Ushuaia by plane offers a taster of the breathtaking views that are yet to come on a trip in this spectacular part of Argentina’s Patagonia, or on a cruise over to the Falkland Islands or the Antarctic. Right now, the country isn't allowing entry for any foreign nationals or non-residents.
The borders on the tiny Caribbean island of Saba are currently still closed, but this airport is one to bookmark for a later date. Juancho E. Yrausquin is notorious for its scary runway – at only 1,312 feet (400m) long it's the world’s shortest commercial runway. Not only that, but the airstrip is flanked by precipitous cliff drops at both ends.
However, those that dare board a helicopter or turboprop planes (the only aircraft allowed to land here) from sister isle St. Maarten will be wowed with incredible views of the volcanic island that rises out of the startlingly blue Caribbean Sea. The flight is only 12 minutes but they will be some of the most memorable of your life.
