Courtesy PrivateFly
THE WORLD'S MOST SCENIC RUNWAYS 2017: 10. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (Canada): Jet booking service PrivateFly asked a global panel of experts and aviation fans to vote for the most scenic airport landings. Canada's Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport took 10th place in the 2017 poll.
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9. Barra Airport (UK): Barra Airport in the Scottish Outer Hebrides is the only airport in the world where scheduled and private charter flights land and take off from the beach. At high tide, the runways are under water, says PrivateFly.
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8. Orlando Melbourne International Airport (US): A new entry on this year's list, Orlando Melbourne international Airport made headlines in February when US President Trump chose it as a location for a rally.
Courtesy of PrivateFly
7. St. Maarten Airport (Saint Martin): At this Caribbean island airport, the approach is "so low you can almost read the sunbathers' newspapers," says PrivateFly CEO Adam Twidell.
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6. London City Airport (UK): Flying into London City Airport on a clear day, those in window seats get views of the Thames and London landmarks. For pilots, it's challenging. PrivateFly says the glide path is set at stomach-churning 5.8 degrees as opposed to the usual 3-degree glide path.
PrivateFly
5. Queenstown Airport (New Zealand): Located in the heart of the NZ South Island's magical landscapes of mountains, lakes and rivers, there's little surprise Queenstown Airport again ranks among the world's most scenic airport approaches.
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4. Gibraltar Airport: Located just 500 meters from the city center, Gibraltar's airport landing strip shares space with one of the peninsula's main roads. Pedestrians and cars on this British territory need to stop on either side of the runway every time an aircraft takes off or lands, says PrivateFly.
Courtesy PrivateFly
3. Nice Cote d'Azur Airport (France): Nice Cote d'Azur Airport is located six kilometers southwest of Nice, in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. It's the main point of arrival for passengers to the French Riviera.
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2. Donegal Airport (Ireland): "You arrive in the Emerald Isle adjacent to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Carrickfinn, with a backdrop of the majestic Mount Errigal on one side and an array of craggy islands on the other." That's one PrivateFly user's enthusiastic verdict on this airport on Ireland's Atlantic coast.
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1. Juancho E Irausquin Airport (Saba): Juancho E Irausquin Airport is the only airport on the Caribbean island of Saba, a special municipality of the Netherlands. It's got the shortest commercial runway in the world (396 meters) and is flanked on one side by high hills, with cliffs that drop into the sea at both ends. Due to the runway length, only small aircraft and helicopters use it.
CNN  — 

It’s official: Small is beautiful.

The world’s shortest commercial runway, a 400-meter-long strip at Juancho E Irausquin Airport on the Carribbean island of Saba, has been named the world’s most scenic airport approach in a global survey conducted by PrivateFly, a booking platform for private jet charters.

“Flying into Saba is extraordinary,” says Adam Twidell, PrivateFly CEO and an experienced pilot. “You approach the mountainous island towering out of the sea, to see an impossibly tiny runway appear perched on a cliff.”

Pilots must have special training to land at Saba and only certain turboprop aircraft such as the BN-2 Islander or Grand Caravan are agile enough to execute the necessary short stop.

“Saba has an exceptional safety record making it one of the most memorable civilian aviation experiences available anywhere in the world,” Twidell adds.

A panel of travel experts and aviation fans took part in the annual poll, which this year received more than 8,000 individual votes for a total of 122 global airports.

Topping the list are 10 beauties offering views of everything from mountainous landscapes to glittering skyscrapers.

Ireland’s Donegal Airport, on the country’s rugged Atlantic northwest coast, is “rapidly becoming an AvGeek fan favorite,” according to Twidell. It made its debut at No. 7 on the 2016 list and moved up to second position this year.

How does Donegal come out in 2018?

New entries in this year’s top 10 include Gibraltar Airport, which makes the most of the territory’s 2.3 square miles of space by sharing space with one of the peninsula’s main roads.

Pedestrians and cars need to stop on either side of the runway every time an aircraft takes off or lands.

Here’s where you should be grabbing a window seat in 2017:

10 most scenic airport landings, according to PrivateFly

1. Saba (Juancho E Yrausquin Airport), Dutch Caribbean

2. Donegal Airport, Ireland

3. Nice Cote d’Azur, France

4. Gibraltar Airport, UK overseas

5. Queenstown Airport, New Zealand

6. London City Airport, UK

7. St Maarten Airport (Princess Juliana International), Caribbean

8. Orlando Melbourne Airport, USA

9. Barra Airport, Scotland, UK

10. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Canada