The highest (and lowest) airports in the world

Skyscanner, the portal that compares low-cost flights, presents the ranking of the world's highest airports.
These airports, built at incredible heights, are commercial airports from which both freight and passenger flights are operated and some of them were formerly used for military purposes, known as Advanced Landing Ground. Nowadays some routes are served by charter flights or private companies, which manage to provide links at these heights.
South America has by far the highest concentration of 'Above 3,000m' runways, and, to be more specific, Peru and Bolivia, are at the top. The airport with the highest altitude from Earth is the Peruvian 'San Rafael' in the Puno region, south-east of the country, whose asphalt strip that allows aircraft to takeoff and land is 4,396 metres high.
However, on the other side of the Earth, the Chinese authorities announced that from 2014, the title of highest airport will go the Tibetan airport Nagqu, which when when completed, will reach the amazing height of 4,436 metres. Meanwhile, Tibet is satisfied with the second place achieved thanks to the airport of Chamdo at 4,334 metres of altitude. The third highest one is located in India at Fukche, and in this case the height is of an impressive 4,176 metres.
There are those lands who almost touch the sky when landing and there are those who land under the sea level. If you want to venture in locations which are totally opposite to those mentioned above, then you might consider to fly to Bar Yehuda Airfield, south of the Judean desert in Israel, where the runway is 378 metres below sea level. However, there is no need to go so far, just get on a flight to Amsterdam, whose airport is 5 metres below sea level. Even Venice retains its eternal relationship with water, in fact, its airport is accessible by ferry directly from the city.
27/10/11 AvioNews

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Categories: airports Oct 2011, Foreign Oct 2011