The approach to which airport have you found the most visually scenic or exciting?

Personally I have found Donegal Airport to have one of the most scenic approaches, provided there’s sufficient visibility. The numerous islands, bays, mountains and beaches make for a fantastic descent. It had been voted the workd’s Most scenic airport 2018. And I’m not from Donegal or have any connection with it. Another great approach is literally any in Greenland. The major international flights mostly arrive in Kangerlussuaq, with the descent being made over the inland ice with its oval patches of clear bright blue ice, before the aircraft lowers into the fjord valley where the airport and town are located.

flazio

Not been myself but Lukla looks good.

Pat Dunne

The approach to Longyearbyen is very spectacular with the approach over the mountains and the fjords especially when they're are ice bergs in the Adventfjord.

CardinalJ

Innsbruck in Austria, when you are flying down through the valleys on approach is lovely.

I'd like to do Lukla, but it is definitely a risky one!

I've been to Longyearbyen, arrived at 11pm and of course the sun was out in August, circling around but never going down. Taking off on the permafrost was an experience with the runway shaking beneath you.

Newquay Cornwall was another exciting one. The visibility was excellent, so the Air South-West pilot flew the Dh8 very low, close to the clifftops and by the beaches until turning sharply left onto the runway which almost meets the cliffs. Great for us folk on the left side.

VG31

CardinalJ wrote: »

Innsbruck in Austria, when you are flying down through the valleys on approach is lovely.

I flew into Innsbruck last month. The approach down the valley between the mountains is stunning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTXGhE6bwBM

https://youtu.be/Fv_c6vA8DXE

Isafordur in Iceland... I will have to book a flight some day, like a work colleague did.

What Username Guidelines

Not nature-related, but Singapore and São Paulo are both incredible. The sheer number of ships in the Singapore strait and the vastness of São Paulo are both absolutely breathtaking.

Would love to do Innsbruck. Queenstown New Zealand looks spectacular too, though I’ve only seen that from the ground

View Profile

Dublin (Rwy34 especially), Palermo (Rwy25), Ibiza, Naples (offset ILS Rwy06), Salszburg, Marseille and Nice, Genoa, Lisbon (Rwy 03), most Greek Islands, Vigo (Rwy 19), Edinburgh (Rwy 24).

funkey_monkey

Baracoa Airport in Cuba. Approach from the sea - feels as if you are going to land in water until the last second.

donegal_man

Queenstown NZ, coming in over Queenstown Bay in the early evening with the mountains all around and the lights of the town reflected in the water is the most stunning things I've ever witnessed from a plane.

funkey_monkey

Another one which I thought was spectacular was coming into Santiago de Chile. Flying over the Andes was amazing. Pilots do have a really class job at times.

mwrf

The Expressway Visual 31 approach at LGA is the most spectacular I've been on. Amazing views of Manhatten on the left, particularly at night, followed by a hard left just before landing.

I love the chart
https://uk.flightaware.com/resources/airport/LGA/IAP/EXPRESSWAY+VISUAL+RWY+31/pdf

tricky D

Potomac River Visual Approach into Reagan National, DC. Make sure you have a right window seat. The bit before the ultra-short final turn where you can see the runway is a major eye-brow raiser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfM7TQf6dtA

Kev11491

LAX, once you're on the approach south over Malibu, over the Hollywood hills and turning over downtown LA.

plodder

Sligo.

trellheim

the old hong kong over the city, I did this a couple of times. Heres an average Kai Tak landing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtnL4KYVtDE watch the crab at end ...

Mate of mine said I must do Barra on the beach a couple of weeks ago , commercial flight landing on the beach

California Dreamer

I have 2 ones both of which I have flown.

Buzzing the runway at 100ft at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and a touch n go at Grand Canyon National. Near the North Rim.

dzilla

Santorini (Thira) National Airport

fullstop

Sydney airport the few times the plane I've been on has come in from the North West and veered east out over the bay, over the harbour bridge and opera house.

Chris_5339762

London City eastbound. Still haven't been lucky enough.
Dublin 34 northbound. Still haven't been lucky enough.

Innsbruck looks cool.
Venice is actually quite nice too, approaching over the Alps then turn onto finals and, if you're on the right hand side you get your first views of the old city in the disance.

VG31

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

London City eastbound. Still haven't been lucky enough.

I've been on this approach before but unfortunately the weather was bad. The only landmark I saw was St Paul's.

The city approach over Vienna is great also.

Heading into Vancouver is lovely.

cailinoBAC

Gibraltar

Bsal

Geneva is a nice one.

Donegal Storm

Somewhat biased but CFN on a sunny winters day is probably my favourite, coming in over the snow capped hills then slowly travelling up along the coast before turning and coming in to land with a view of the islands, bays and beaches and with Atlantic crashing against the cliffs just below you. Been to airports all over the world and yet to see a better approach!



Heathrow when you come in from the NW, circle over the city centre and head back out towards Richmond is always enjoyable as well picking out landmarks

smurfjed

Kalibo Airport Philippines.
Male - Maldives
Le Bourget - From over the city
Geneva
New York - any of them
Washington Reagan, Dulles is boring
Mumbai - just because of the slums

Donegal Airport, where life’s a beach or two...

Equium

I love the approach from the north to Barcelona/El Prat. After crossing the Pyrenees, you swing out over the Mediterranean from where the beaches and Marina become visible. The beautiful grid system of L'Eixample then comes into view, nestled between the sea and the hills to the north.

Landing in Haneda, Tokyo is also spectacular at night. It gives you your first indication of the shear size of the urban area.

I also love flying over Paris and London.

Irish Steve

Southerly approach to Istanbul at night is impressive if there's no problems with visibility, the sheer number of aircraft on the approach is very though provoking, they track aircraft outbound either side of the final approach track, then turn them in to get the minimum separation.

The old 7 degree approach into London City from the jump seat of a Dash 7 was thought provoking, as is the Bovingdon Hold and onward into Heathrow on a busy day if there's no cloud about.

irishrover99

I visually love the approach to any airport where i'm going on holiday.
The one i hate the most is when i'm coming home.

Darwin

Potomac river approach to DC as mentioned previously (fun on a small regional American Eagle jet), Vienna approach from the countryside is always bumpy for some reason. My favourite is Nice Cours Saleya approach which makes for an interesting ride on a windy day.

JCX BXC

The old Hong Kong airport (Kai Tak) approach over the city looks like it was very interesting indeed!

john boye

Dubrovnik is stunning I must say. Wonderful city too. Have to mention Vegas too.

LXFlyer

VG31 wrote: »

I've been on this approach before but unfortunately the weather was bad. The only landmark I saw was St Paul's.

The city approach over Vienna is great also.

I was fortunate enough to have a lovely sunny approach to LCY back in 2015.

Here's a few shots I took along the way...

Agreed about Vienna - did that this month and yes it's beautiful!

kerry4sam

VG31 wrote: »

I flew into Innsbruck last month. The approach down the valley between the mountains is stunning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTXGhE6bwBM

Thanks.

I think any method of transport into Innsbruck is awe-inspiring. Your youtube is bringing back memories of my train journey <--> This is nice to see the views and skyline from above though.

Cool idea for a thread btw.
Thanks,
kerry4sam

trellheim

Courchevel . The yt is taken with the aircraft below the camera, not above it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pK9uqF4y7c

Wanderer2010

Flew into Hong Kong last week and it seems we were actually a few feet from the river when we hit the runway! I was actually getting a bit worried as it seemed we were getting extremely close to the water before I heard the thud of the wheels on the runway. That's the downside to not being able to see straight ahead.

Captain_Crash

I had the pleasure of landing in Kai Tak in the 90's on the upper deck of a 747... it was quite the ride in.

Ive also been fortunate enough to fly the expressway visual into LGA (linked in another post) and the Canarsie approach into 13L at JFK. Its stunning having a tight turn so close to the ground in a heavy jet.

13L JFK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Og8lUua91E

Special mentions go to 34 at DUB, either of the 27's at LHR and any approach into HKT

funkey_monkey

El Alto airport in La Paz was an interesting place to fly into.

Realt Dearg Sec

funkey_monkey wrote: »

El Alto airport in La Paz was an interesting place to fly into.

Is it true they have to land at higher speeds for to the altitude? Remember reading that in a novel.

Time

Rwy 10 St Barts, theres a steep drop just before landing, you get that rollercoaster stomach drop sensation.

PlaneSpeeking

McCarron (Vegas) is stunning - it's - desert - desert - desert - VEGAS!!!!

stoneill

Alice Springs - Just amazing!
Flying in over Uluru on the final approach then descending to the runway nestled between to long low mountain ranges.
Fantastic.

iamwhoiam

I love coming in over Dublin bay , over Howth and the view of Howth and to Lambay Island or Dun Laoire with its long piers . The mountains behind the city and the sea glistening under you . Glorious

Dubrovnik was beautiful arriving along the coast from the north and the islands and coastline is stunning

Madeira was interesting ! You fly into a runway on stilts above the sea

Vancouver . Approaching it from north and seeing the mountains and glaciers and beautiful green lakes below

funkey_monkey

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Is it true they have to land at higher speeds for to the altitude? Remember reading that in a novel.

Not sure, but I know the engines need to have higher thrust ratings for high altitude airports as the air is less dense - therefore they have to work harder to produce the thrust required to take off.
I guess in theory that landing would be similar in that thinner air would result in less airflow over the wings and therefore less lift. Hence higher speeds required to compensate and prevent stall conditions.

However, I'm not an aerodynamicist.

faoiarvok

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Not sure, but I know the engines need to have higher thrust ratings for high altitude airports as the air is less dense - therefore they have to work harder to produce the thrust required to take off.
I guess in theory that landing would be similar in that thinner air would result in less airflow over the wings and therefore less lift. Hence higher speeds required to compensate and prevent stall conditions.

However, I'm not an aerodynamicist.

I reckon the stall speed remains the same, but with thinner air you need a higher true airspeed and therefore ground speed for the pitots to register that same indicated airspeed (and for the wings to “feel” that airspeed)

Cedrus

trellheim wrote: »

the old hong kong over the city, I did this a couple of times. ...............

JCX BXC wrote: »

The old Hong Kong airport (Kai Tak) approach over the city looks like it was very interesting indeed!

Captain_Crash wrote: »

I had the pleasure of landing in Kai Tak in the 90's on the upper deck of a 747... it was quite the ride in..................

As soon as I saw the thread title I was going to say Kai Tak, I flew in and out of there three times a year for nearly four years it was spectacular, the view of the city and then the hard right-hand bank at the Lion Rock chequerboard. A great way to finish a thirteen hour flight and get you in the humour for the city.

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Flew into Hong Kong last week and it seems we were actually a few feet from the river when we hit the runway! I was actually getting a bit worried as it seemed we were getting extremely close to the water before I heard the thud of the wheels on the runway. That's the downside to not being able to see straight ahead.

That's Chek Lap Kok, the "new" airport, a much smoother experience than Kai Tak. I only flew out of there once, job done tools packed.

The other choice I would make is Cork, my home airport after a long time away working, or even a after a long holiday. To fly in and see the harbour, the satellite towns, then all the little villages, the city suburbs, and finally the farms and houses near the airport, and then land home. It's special. But, many people could substitute their own home airport and feel the same.

Realt Dearg Sec

Cedrus wrote: »

But, many people could substitute their own home airport and feel the same.

Yeah, I'm the same with Dublin airport now since moving to the states. Going to be flying in there in August and there is something very exciting about coming home, getting ready to turn on the phone once I'm on the ground and start calling people I haven't seen in months or maybe even years to arrange for pints. The sight of Howth coming into view out the window, banking round, coming in usually through a thick grey cloud and into the rain (I live somewhere where it never rains), bit of turbulence, looking down at the GAA fields along the old road beside the runway that I used to play on before moving away. Then off into the thick of the city.