Landing at some of the best places in the world.
Airplane pilots share their stories about landing in unique locations. If you are an airplane pilot, please consider sharing your story with us.
You can mail us your story or use the contact form to tell us about your landing experience.
We will be happy to publish it on our website and include it in our next book about airplane landings called “Best Places for Private Planes to Land”.
Pilots often get asked where the best places to land are. I have interviewed more than 100 pilots on this question, and here are some desirable criteria (in order of importance):
1. Aesthetics: Landing in front of a mountain or near a beach is just plain cool.
2. Privacy: You don’t want other people landing there too, for fear that they may damage your plane.
3. Hospitality: The locals will provide you with food, lodging and other amenities.
4. Safety: The runway is smooth and well-marked, allowing for safe takeoffs and landings.
Here are some great examples of places I would love to land my private plane at:
1. Maui, Hawaii: Maui is one of the most beautiful islands in the world, with its palm trees swaying gently in the breeze, its crystal clear waters beckoning you to jump right in and swim with the dolphins, and its sunsets that paint the skies with an array of brilliant colors. A perfect place to take your family on vacation!
2. Anchorage Alaska: The glacial ice caps look like they’re straight out of a fairy tale, where elves and gnomes run around
The best airports for private planes would be in places where there are many other private planes flying to and from. When I flew a small plane, I landed at the smallest airport possible. One of the most important things for landing in a small plane is that you can’t see the runway from far away. You have to just fly over to the runway, find it, land on it, and then take off again.
The first time I landed in a small plane was at an airport that was just a dirt field with a single runway and no lights. It was in the middle of the night and there were only two other planes in the area. The pilot just told me to fly over to him and then he would help me get back up into the air.
I had never been so scared in my life!
But as time went by, I learned how to do this better. I became more comfortable with flying through small airports. When I moved to California, I started flying my own plane more often and soon I was able to fly from one end of California to another without stopping once!
The Best Places To Land A Private Plane
1. Your back yard
2. Your company’s lot
3. A grassy field or pasture
4. An airport runway
5. A road or highway
6. The water (like a lake or river)
7. A baseball field, golf course, or other large open pastures
8. The Mall of America parking lot
9. A cornfield (in the Midwest)
10. Closer to the airport than you think!
What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever landed?
The South Island of New Zealand. It’s just a stunningly beautiful place and there are so many great places to land in the South Island. Queenstown Airport is one of the most beautiful airports I’ve ever seen and landing at Milford Sound is really cool, but one of my favorite places is Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown. It’s like a lake in the alps and it’s really cool to take a small private plane into there.
I think the landing strip at Mt Hutt airport is pretty hard to beat as well.
What do you mean by Mt Hutt airport? Is that where you ski from?
No, no, no. Skiing from an airport would be awesome! This airport is actually on top of Mt Hutt ski area. The runway sits about 8400 feet up on top of the mountain and when you land there in an airplane it feels like you can touch the peak of Mt Hutt from your window. You know how when you ski there, there are those big snow-covered mountains all around you? Well, when you land in an airplane it feels like you are sitting on top of them all
I love flying into small airports. Even if they are just minutes away from a large city, they often have a completely different feel to them. I have been lucky enough to fly into some remarkable places, but there are still many that I would love to visit.
Here is my list of the 10 airports I think everyone should land at once in their life:
Naples, Capodichino Airport (NAP), Italy
Corsica, Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport (AJA), France
Saint Barths, Gustaf III Airport (SBH), Caribbean Islands
Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI), Balearic Islands
Nice, Cote d’Azur Intl Airport (NCE), France
Skiathos Island National Airport (JSI) and Skiathos Island, Greece
Crete Heraklion International Airport (HER) and Crete Island, Greece
Bora Bora International Airport (BOB) and Bora Bora Islands, French Polynesia
Fernando de Noronha International Airport (FEN) and Fernando de Noronha Island, Brazil
Jersey Jersey Airport (JER) and Jersey Island, Channel
Flying in private jets isn’t just for celebrities and millionaires. You can charter a flight for your group for less than you think.
When it comes to flying, are you first class or economy? If you’re on a budget, the choice is easy: You choose economy every time. But what if you could get first class service at a fraction of the cost?
With charter companies, you can fly in comfort without overspending. Charter companies provide private planes to clients who want to fly anywhere at any time – and they often have empty planes that they’ll offer to customers at reduced rates. The key is flexibility. If you’re willing to be spontaneous, chartering a plane can save you up to 75 percent off the regular ticket price!
Another benefit of chartering a plane is that you don’t have to deal with connecting flights or layovers. Charter flights take off from smaller airports so that your travel time is reduced; in fact, many charter companies will land their planes at airports within five miles of your final destination, allowing you to avoid the hassle of shuttles and taxis altogether. Charter companies can also fly into remote areas where commercial airlines might not go, so if you’re visiting a small town or planning a trip to an exotic island resort,