Shortest Airport Runways in the World
While most modern commercial aircraft need a covered runway of at least 6,000 feet in length, many early aircraft were designed to operate from improvised stripes in small areas.
Los Angeles’s Grand Central Airport marked a milestone in aviation history and had a 1,200-foot (370 m) runway during its first six years of operation from 1923 to 1929. Such short runways are used by heavy as well as light aircraft.
During the Doolittle Raid in WW II, twin-engine B-25 bombers with a loaded weight of seventeen tons took off the carrier USS Hornet’s 827-foot (252 m) flight deck.
As late as 1977, a Lockheed Constellation showed its capability to use the 2,700-foot (820 m) runway of the Greenwood Lake Airport in New Jersey.
In 1946, a lightened Constellation took off from a grass strip in 2,000 feet (600 m) on only three engines. Most public flying aircraft have this short-field performance.
The Cessna 172, the most produced airplane in history, will take off in as little as 720 feet (220 m) when fully loaded.
Many small airfields capable of adapting these types remain in use, mostly in remote areas in the American West and the French Alps, where space is limited. Here is the list of the shortest airport runways in the world.
Shortest Airport Runways in the World
ICAO Code | Name | Location | Length |
1ID9 | Simko Field Airport | Inkom, Idaho | 400 |
Ted Luark Airstrip | Huson, Montana | 500 | |
Mile Hi Airstrip | Yellow Pine, Idaho | 560 | |
Dewey Moore Airstrip | Big Creek, Idaho | 700 | |
James Ranch Airstrip | Warren, Idaho | 800 | |
MT94 | Ousel Falls Airport | Big Sky, Montana | 900 |
Simonds Airstrip | Yellow Pine, Idaho | 900 | |
EGEW | Westray Airport | Westray, Scotland | 955 |
ME46 | Back Acres Airport | Kennebunkport, Maine | 1000 |
27MT | Rahn Airport | Kalispell, Montana | 1000 |
5NA0 | Semchenko Airport | Max, North Dakota | 1100 |
Vines Airstrip | Big Creek, Idaho | 1100 | |
4NY8 | Harris Hill Gliderport | Elmira, New York | 1115 |
LFJD | Corlier Aerodrome | Corlier, France | 1148 |
WA39 | Crow Valley Airport | Eastsound, Washington | 1171 |
3NA2 | Lorentzen Airport | Washburn, North Dakota | 1200 |
Red Creek Airstrip | Payson, Arizona | 1200 | |
MT42 | Hasskamp Airport | Three Forks, Montana | 1225 |
89OR | Mucky Flat Airport | Eagle Point, Oregon | 1250 |
EGNF | Netherthorpe Airfield | Worksop, England | 1253 |
26OG | Oakridge Airport | Eagle Point, Oregon | 1275 |
08ND | Brecht Strip | Golden Valley, North Dakota | 1300 |
MYCC | Cat Cays Airport | North Cat Cay, The Bahamas | 1300 |
30MT | Nistler Strip | Helena, Montana | 1304 |
TNCS | Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport | Saba | 1312 |
LSZO | Luzern-Beromünster | Neudorf, Lucerne, Switzerland | 1312 |
FXME | Matekane Air Strip | Matekane, Lesotho | 1312 |
2NA0 | Soderquist Airport | Wilton, North Dakota | 1320 |
LFKX | Méribel Altiport | Les Allues, France | 1332 |
NV31 | Barker Creek Ranch Airstrip | Round Mountain, Nevada | 1350 |
EICN | Coonagh Aerodrome | Limerick, Ireland | 1365 |
ID13 | Sky Island Ranch Airport | St. Maries, Idaho | 1400 |
40MT | Silver Creek Airport | Helena, Montana | 1400 |
N61 | Hinshaw (Greenacres) Airport | Liberty, North Carolina | 1400 |
OG13 | Fly by Night Airport | Ruch, Oregon | 1402 |
LFHM | Megève Altiport | Megève, France | 1424 |
Flugplatz Locher Sarntal | Locher, Italy | 1434 | |
MT06 | Duncan Airport | Helena, Montana | 1467 |
WA93 | Eliza Island Airport | Eliza Island, Washington | 1500 |
LFHU | Alpe d'Huez Airport | Alpe d'Huez, France | 1500 |
84OR | B Bar Ranch Airport | Selma, Oregon | 1500 |
0MT9 | Lone Hawk Airport | Whitefish, Montana | 1500 |
MT83 | Ten Mile Airport | Helena, Montana | 1500 |
PAMD | Middleton Island Airport | Middleton Island, Alaska | 1500 |
C48 | Wilson Bar Airstrip | Warren, Idaho | 1500 |
2WA3 | Stuart Island West | Stuart Island, Washington | 1560 |
EDXH | Heligoland Airport | Heligoland, Germany | 1575 |