Fun Airports You May Not Know 📍

[Camille]

Hey, IFC!

I hope you’re doing well…

For quite a while now, I’ve heard people complaining about how it’s always the same few airports… we all know them. KJFK, EGLL, and maybe VNLK and TNCM if you’re trying to have a bit of fun…

So, in case you were looking to add some variety to the airports you fly to, here is a list of fun, scenic, or interesting airports that I’ve found over the years and particularly like!

S16 -- USA 🏖️

S16, Copalis State Airport, is basically just a beach! If you ever feel like landing on the Pacific coast, this airport is for you

NTTP -- French Polynesia 🏝️

NTTP, Maupiti Airport, is a small airport on the remote island of… you guessed it, Maupiti! Surrounded by reefs and right by a volcano, it’s a pretty fun airport!

FXME -- Lesotho 🌵

FXME, Matekane Airstrip, is just a runway, but it dives straight into a canyon, so it makes for a very fun approach, like Lukla but harder

LFHU -- France ❄️

LFHU, Alpe d’Huez Altiport, is a small airport in the French Alps, mainly hosting GA traffic and rescue helicopters. It also leads straight into a massive gorge, which is fun!
(And the runway is pretty short)

WX53 -- Indonesia 🌳

WX53, Bugalaga Airstrip, is a tiny airstrip in the Indonesian forest! It’s perched on the edge of a cliff and is super fun to try to land on in the A380

NZMC -- New Zealand 🗻

NZMC, Mount Cook Aerodrome, is probably the most beautiful airport in the world in my humble opinion. At the foot of Mount Cook, a beautiful snow-covered mountain, and next to beautiful turquoise lakes, it’s a must-see before your pro runs out lmao

21W -- USA 🏔️

21W, Ranger Creek Airport, is a small ( but paved ) strip in Ranger Creek, Washington. It’s right at the bottom of a valley, next to a river, and with basically nothing all around it which is pretty funny.
It’s also right next to Mount Rainier, so if you manage to get out of the valley, you’ll have some nice views

NFFO -- Fiji 🐚

NFFO, Malolo Lailai Airport, is on a beautiful island in the Western Fijian Division. There isn’t much around it, but it’s still really beautiful

SPGL -- Peru 🦙

I don’t know much about Peru apart from politics so I just put a llama. I don’t think you’ll see any in IF though, sadly…

SPGL, Chagual Airport, is a beautiful 3D airport in a Peruvian valley. The approach is like Paro, the only difference is that you won’t fit as big of a plane in SPGL.

SVRS -- Venezuela 🩴

SVRS, Los Roques Airport, is an Island airport north of mainland Venezuela. It’s similar to the other island airports in this list, but it’s pretty close to mainland South America and allows you to access many other beautiful airports nearby!

Here is the map of the airports in the list:

Should I Add More?

• Yes
• No

Thanks a lot for having a look!
Happy flying
Camille

[Delta174J]

This is incredible Camille! I will def be flying out of these planes

[Anthony_Gulluscio]

This is a really nice topic. I’ll be sure to check some out!

[BennyBoy_Alpha]

Really nice topic Camille! Will definitely explore some of these

[Action_jackson]

Really nice topic Camille! I challenge someone to butter a landing in a B747 at one of these airports!

[Mort]

Awesome topic! I’ll for sure be checking out some of these airports. Similar to SPGL (but maybe slightly less extreme and you can get an A320 there) is Cusco (SPZO). It requires a little winding through valleys on both departure and arrival - Lima - Cusco and the reverse is only about an hour, but absolutely beautiful.

[Humanguy]

Now this is a topic that really adds to the community! Great work!

[Camille]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone

[SJSharkie]

Try the airstrip S77
It’s kinda glitched

[PeterBell4517]

Great topic, Camille! I’ll definitely dive into some of these.

[Fellipe_Eduardo]

@Camille

very interesting layout here

[AvioesEJogos]

@Delta174J

I will def be flying out of these planes

You’ll be flying out of planes? Don’t forget your parachute!

[Delta174J]

Ooops… nice catch!

[ouzi]

@Camille

Should I Add More?

Yes. You forgot this, didn’t you?

Barra Airport

[CanadianNorth]

Castlegar British Columbia, Canada (CYCG) is Fun Due to the mountainous terrain impinging on both runway approaches, there is no possibility of a straight-in approach. The airport is therefore certified for day operations only, and the [glideslope] on approach is set to a steep 5.0° rather than the standard 3.0°. The [instrument approaches] to Castlegar are considered among the most challenging of any in use at a commercial airport in North America

[Ka77a51umAviation]

Great Topic!

someone had to ruin the fun in the vote…

[Camille]

Thanks for the recommendations, peeps

[Golani]

Sounds super fun! Thanks!!

[Zack_Bue]

This is great, thanks!

[Keiran_Reid]

Great post. The smaller GA airfields are mostly overlooked in my opinion. Personally I love using them on IF. The C172 is a great bit of kit for hopping from airfield to airfield and, let’s face it, gets your landings and XP up in no time. At present I find myself hopping around the UK’s GA airfields in a 172 more than flying jets on live. Great approaches and scenery to be taken in.