From dramatic mountain ranges to sparkling coastlines and iconic cityscapes, some airport approaches and departures turn a routine flight into a breathtaking experience. Whether you’re a window-seat loyalist, a pilot, or an Avgeek with a camera always at the ready, we want to hear from you: which airport approach or departure do you think is the most scenic? Share your favorites, whether it’s a sunset descent into Queenstown, a sweeping turn over Hong Kong, or that unforgettable final approach into St. Maarten
44 Responses
JFk and/or LGA. On a clear day, the view of Manhattan is awesome!
The best ever was the approach and landing at the old Kai Tak. The now long gone one was the let down into Berlin RAF Gatow, over the Brandenburg Gate and straight along the Ku’Damm. Heathrow is very good when approaching runway 27 left or right, right over the City of London, and for me personally, over my block of flats in Brentford
I will vote for the old Hong KONG Kai Tak . It was challenging and had to be flown by real pilots, not computers.
I’m not much of a world traveler, so what I’ve seen pales in comparison to many of you who travel the world a lot. That said, Mt. Ranier seen from east of it approaching SEA from the south – the blog intro image – is what I think is the best in the USA I’ve seen (I’ve not flown to Alaska and only once into Hawaii but it was cloudy).
I would also rank the volcanos north of San Jose, Costa Rica as quite dramatic too, albeit they are more often than not enshrouded in clouds.
That’s a really W view
SeaTac Ranier
Mountain 2 departure!
Perhaps not the most scenic but certainly one of the most interesting was landing at Kai Tak. The HK International Airport up to 1998
Barra Airport (BRR) on a sunny day is in my opinion the most beautiful approach including stepping off the plane onto the white sandy beach.
Any flight overflies your own home! Always a thrill – you know you’re off on an adventure.
You’re right! I lived under southern departures from OOL for 50 years and now under the same from BNE, so know exactly where to look as I fly over. When flying into NPE and AKL I’m flying over previous homes too and the thrill has never dissipated.
I love the west departure from LAS and the southern arrival into LAS. Both are fun. Nighttime especially.
The most scenic flight I ever experienced was unique. Our night airline flight out of Orlando was simultaneous with the launch of the space shuttle from Cape Canaveral. The pilot held at the end of the runway until the launch and flew south (our destination was north) so the passengers on the left side could see and then did a 180 turn so the people on the right side got to watch.
HND TOKYO HANEDA when you r’e landing from the ocean
Also if you use Runway C to take off North, you could see the Tokyo skytree
Tokyo Haneda is also great when approaching from the west. On flights from Europe and China, if you sit on the left, you can see Mount Fuji. Departing Tokyo towards southwest Japan (Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, etc) you can catch an even better view of Mount Fuji from the right side of the plane.
Defintely KaiTak Kowloon landing (though the LaiYiMun approach was pretty good also). This was my home airport through most of childhood – my current home also rates very highly. Lhasa, Chusul approach where you make a sharp U-turn between the hills (mountains) and come in over the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra).
Zurich by faaaaar!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LCY RWY09, especially on clear day sitting on the left, provides the best view of Tower Bridge and the City apart from renting a chopper
Flight into Kathmandu is pretty spectacular. Most flights into New Zealand’s South Island as well – Christchurch or Queenstown for example.
Paro, Bhutan. The nearest most of us will get to flying low down a narrow twisting valley in a military jet.
ATL
Gulfair flight from Abu Dhabi after flying over the endless dunes of the Empty Quarter, landing in Sanaa (SAH) in 2004 or 2005, one of the periods the country wasn’t at war. From my side of the plane there was a burnt out Dash 8, a larger plane likely a 727 and several other wrecks burnt beyond recognition. What am I doing here I thought.
Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont airport SDU / SBRJ.
KO SAMUI THAILAND
Genial
Natürlich
Nuuk airport (GOH) or Ilulissat (JAV), both in Greenland, offer fantastic views. Nuuk, especially after the upgrade, which allows an approach over the fjord coming from the ice cap. Landing in Ilulissat, you can’t miss the fantastic view of the ice fjord. The gletcher delivers 70 million metric tons of ice every day, which mainly passes through the fjord.
Innsbruck (LOWI)
Yes ! Innsbruck LOWI
SFO
RWY 28L / 28R
Isle of Barra in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. BRR.
You land on a beach — the only beach in the world that is a runway. Flights are scheduled according to the tides.
The old Kai Tak the sweeping turn around the mountains, stunning I did it twice and on the first occasion was in the cockpit of a RAF Transport Command flight, the second time was with British Cal.
Queenstown, NZ (ZQN) – amazing descent over glacial lakes and multiple layers of mountains
You said it Howard, Queenstown has them all beat.
Sea-Tac from the East or South on a clear day when you can see Mt. Rainier (not Ranier) and the rest of the Cascade mountains. Got to see them all once starting with Mt. Hood on approach to SEA.
SeaTac – Mt Rainier
departures to south and arrivals on the south side
Queen town is so good
For me it is Geneva airport Switzerland.
Agree with Kai Tak comments above. But last year, on a ski holiday in France, I saw tiny planes taking off from a tiny airport in Courchevel where the runway is very short and if you miss the end of it you fall down the slope! Looked very scary as a viewer but must be exciting for the plane enthusiast.
The approach into Aspen, Colorado is awesome.
I flew into Aspen in the 70’s when it was one runway. Snowstorms were interesting.
I love the arrivals and departures at the FCO San Francisco airport. The landscape with the bay bridges and the Golden Gate Bridge is really beautiful. Sometimes, there is a situation where planes arrive on both parallel runways simultaneously, and if you are on one of the two arriving planes, the view is unbelievable.
Skardu (Pakistan)! passing Nanga Parbat on yr left and then descending into a narrow valley, amazing!
Approaching Boston 04L/04R over Castle Island and the Port of Boston never gets old. Landing in St. Thomas, then turning right and getting spectacular views of the mountains, is breathtaking. What I also love about STT is how if you book a hotel like Emerald Beach near the airport, planes depart pretty damn close to the beach from about 5am to 10pm, ranging from Cape Air C402s (like what I see up in Mass, as well as Tecnam P2012s) to Delta 757s. Approaching any of the four Cape airports (PVC, HYA, MVY, ACK) gives you incredible views of the water.
Budapest. Slight banking to go south over the city reveals a great view of the blue Danube, the spectacular parliament building and the Buda castle.
Problably few could have lived a strong emotion land at SDU with moutains and sea around.
That’s really a breath taking approach.