263 Countries and Territories in 263 Days

ATC
#190

16 October 2021

Switzerland

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (LFSB/BSL)

🇨🇭

Personally, I think that Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries this planet has to offer. Having driven through the alps on the way to the Geneva Motorshow, this nation is well known for luxury and taking it to the extreme. It is also one of the most liveable country in the world, despite the high cost that the country is also well known for. Not to mention, I’m a big fan of Swiss timepieces, a symbol of Swiss luxury in its own right.

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163 Country and Territories Controlled, 100 Uncontrolled, 100 days to go

2 Likes
#191

17 October 2021

Barbados

Grantley Adams International Airport (TBPB/BGI)

🇧🇧

After controlling in the nation of Barbados, I’ve now entered the final 100 countries and territories which has yet to be controlled. Unlike many nearby islands, Barbados is not formed through volcanic activity, but instead, through other geological phenomena. It is also much flatter than nearby islands, with flora and fauna diversity also being lower. However, Barbados is still has a relatively high per capita income as a result of having large economic sectors in the agricultural, manufacturing and service industries.

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164 Country and Territories Controlled, 99 Uncontrolled, 99 days to go

3 Likes
#192

18 October 2021

Vanuatu

Bauerfield International Airport (NVVV/VLI)

🇻🇺

Vanuatu is the smallest of the five countries in the Melanesian region, with the others being Fiji, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. While some parts of Indonesia and French Caledonia is a part of Melanesia, it is not exclusively in the Melanesian region. Vanuatu is a country of approximately 300,000 inhabitants, with a majority of the people on the island working in the agricultural, fishing or tourism industries. And with the island welcoming approximately 300,000 tourists annually before the pandemic, that is more or less as many people as are from Vanuatu.

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165 Country and Territories Controlled, 98 Uncontrolled, 98 days to go

3 Likes
#193

19 October 2021

New Caledonia

La Tontouta International Airport (NWWW/NOU)

🇳🇨

New Caledonia is a territory of France. However, it was first named by Captain Cook who named it as such due to its resemblance to the Scotland. Not to mention, for country in the Pacific, it is a relatively large country, at approximately 18,500 square kilometres, or about half the size of Taiwan.

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166 Country and Territories Controlled, 97 Uncontrolled, 97 days to go

2 Likes
#194

20 October 2021

Fiji

Nausori International Airport (NFNA/SUV)

🇫🇯

Fiji is a country in the Pacific, especially well known in the aviation community with its flag carrier, Fiji Airlines, having an incredibly complex and unique livery which is popular among many. Like its fleet of young planes, the country’s population is young, with half of the population under the age of 29.

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167 Country and Territories Controlled, 96 Uncontrolled, 96 days to go

2 Likes
#195

21 October 2021

Niue

Niue International Airport (NIUE/IUE)

🇳🇺

Rather interestingly, Niue’s airport is the only airport that has the same ICAO code as the country it’s located in.

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168 Country and Territories Controlled, 95 Uncontrolled, 95 days to go

1 Like
#196

DUde this is so cool! Can you save my birthplace, Tel Aviv, for the 24th of Jan!!? THat’s my birthday. :)

#197

I’ve saved the 24th of January for a special place already. For those who know, you know the airport already ;)

5 Likes
#198

22 October 2021

Pakistan

Islamabad International Airport (OPIS/ISB)

🇵🇰

The birth country of the youngest Nobel Laureate, Malala Yousufzai. Having been shot by the Taliban after reporting on the situation at her school. However, since then she has continued her activism, publishing a book just under 8 years ago, as well as earning a degree at the University of Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

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169 Country and Territories Controlled, 94 Uncontrolled, 94 days to go

3 Likes
#199

2 Likes
#200

954 days, the same amount of time I wait to get a reply from you during my radar training.

5 Likes
#201

954 days, also the amount of tries/time it took you to pass YSCB.

3 Likes
#202

Speak not of Y*CB, napkin planner.

4 Likes
#203

23 October 2021

Tonga

Fuaʻamotu International Airport (NFTF/TBU)

🇹🇴

Tonga is a country made up of 170 islands, lies in the South Pacific Ocean. However, only 36 of the 170 islands are inhabited. It also has a largely tropical climate, something evidently seen when the locals tend to grow fruits such as bananas, taro, coconut and papayas. Not to mention, the island’s volcanic nature means that the soil is often very fertile too.

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170 Country and Territories Controlled, 93 Uncontrolled, 93 days to go

2 Likes
#204

24 October 2021

British Indian Ocean Territory

Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia (FJDG/NKW)

🇮🇴

There isn’t much that is notable about this island, however, the nature of this island being operated primarily by military personnel means that it isn’t often visited by tourists or non-military personnel. While the British Indian Ocean Territory is made up of over 1,000 islands, the largest island of Diego Garcia is where everything happens.

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171 Country and Territories Controlled, 92 Uncontrolled, 92 days to go

3 Likes
#206

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ah yes beer can appreciation day

3 Likes
#207

25 October 2021

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Argyle International Airport (TVSA/SVD)

🇻🇨

The 25th of October and the 172nd country I’ve controlled at, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This island is well known around the world for being a tax haven until fairly recently. Many Caribbean islands are popular as tax havens, offering low tax rates as well as lenient tax laws. However, a change in the last couple years has led to an increase in tax rates for foreign earned income, and since then, quite a number of people have moved away to other islands instead.

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172 Country and Territories Controlled, 91 Uncontrolled, 91 days to go

3 Likes
#208

26 October 2021

Christmas Island

Christmas Island Airport (YPXM/XCH)

🇨🇽

Christmas Island is a relatively small island, just south of Indonesia, which was formed as a result of underwater volcanic discharge. At about 85 square kilometres, the island is inhabited by just under 2,000 people, and is an external territory of Australia. Two-thirds of the island is made up of the Christmas Island National Park, where flora and fauna unique to Christmas Island could be found, however, due to natural causes, there are instances of species native to the island going extinct, with reasons such as the introduction of foreign disease being some of the main reasons.

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173 Country and Territories Controlled, 90 Uncontrolled, 90 days to go

3 Likes
#209

27 October 2021

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Airport (YPCC/CCK)

🇨🇨

You would be forgiven for thinking that this small island between Sumatra and Australia is seen as insignificant. Though in this day and age it serves less function than before, this airport was an airport that planes stopped at when flying between Australia and South Africa. In addition to this, during the second World War, this airport served as a key base from which the Dutch and British Air Force engaged in the re-invasion of Malaya and Singapore…

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174 Country and Territories Controlled, 89 Uncontrolled, 89 days to go

2 Likes
#210

28 October 2021

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Rumdoodle Skiway (AT21)

🇭🇲

To one of two uninhabited islands in the South Indian Ocean. Heard Island and McDonald Islands are under the Australian administration, and while there is no permanent population nor airport, it is a key site at which ecologists study, where it is the only intact sub-antarctic ecosystem where no known species were introduced by humans.

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175 Country and Territories Controlled, 88 Uncontrolled, 88 days to go

2 Likes