The 10 scariest runways in the world

Filed under: Airports

Here's something else that might sweeten the pot in the Honduras ticket deal that Grant posted about a couple of days ago: Jump on Panamanian airline Copa's special offer and you'll have the opportunity to fly into one of the 10 scariest runways in the world, according to Travel + Leisure.

Toncontin Airport, the main airport servicing the Honduras capital, Tegucigalpa, ranked seventh on the T+L list; landing at the airport features a 45-degree 11th hour left bank just prior to touching down on a very short runway. Boeing 757s are the largest planes allowed to fly into the place.

I always thought that the scariest runway (and by extension, airport to take off from and descend into) was San Diego, which features a very steep descent and a short landing space. It didn't even make the list. Of those that did, easily the scariest looking one is the Matekane Air Strip in Lesotho, a runway so short (1,312 feet) that the small bush planes that take off from there actually fall into a 7,550 couloir before climbing back up the opposite mountainside.

No thank you.

Here's the T+L top-10 scariest runways in the world: