The airports where a pilot needs a special licence just to land

World Destinations US law names them, Bhutan lets in a handful of its own pilots, and Lukla has a 527 m runway on a 12% slope. Why these six close when the cloud comes… By Anjali Shrestha · Sep 23, 2026 Read the full story

There is a short list of airports where an airline is not allowed to send just any captain. In the United States the rule is written into federal law: a pilot may not command a flight into an airport the FAA has designated as "special" unless they have landed… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

The rule that makes an airport "special"

The US regulation is plain about why the list exists. The FAA "may determine that certain airports (due to items such as surrounding terrain, obstructions, or complex approach or departure procedures) are special airports requiring special airport… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

The American ones

Two of the best-known are in ski country and one is in Alaska. Telluride , Colorado, sits at 9,078 feet on a mesa with a thousand-foot drop to the San Miguel River at the end of the runway, and terrain above 14,000 feet around it; it is the highest US… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Paro, where the runway appears at the last moment

Bhutan's Paro sits in a valley at 7,364 feet with mountains up to 18,000 feet on both sides. There is no radar and no instrument landing system, so every arrival is flown by hand in daylight and good visibility, following a series of landmarks down the… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Lukla, the airport that starts the Everest trek

Tenzing-Hillary Airport at Lukla is the one on this list most of our own travellers fly into. It sits at 9,334 feet, higher than Paro, with a runway of 527 metres that climbs at 12 per cent toward a hillside. Aircraft land uphill and take off downhill, and a… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Courchevel and Saba, the two Europeans and Americans argue about

Courchevel Altiport in the French Alps has a 537-metre runway with an 18.6 per cent gradient, steeper than Lukla, and no go-around procedure because of the terrain. Saba, in the Dutch Caribbean, has the shortest commercial runway in the world at 400 metres… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

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