The runway on the tiny island of Saba in the Caribbean Sea holds the record for being the shortest used for commercial passenger flights in the world. But what is it like to fly into the tiny island airport? There's short, and there's really short! If you ask people who think they know a thing or two about aviation to name an airport with regular passenger flights operating from a very short runway, you are likely to hear the same few airports being name-checked. Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA), located in Lukla, Nepal, is likely to be most people's first choice at 1,729 ft (527 m) in length.
Gustaf III Airport (SBH) on the island of St Barthelemy (also known as St Barts) would be a close runner-up (2,119 ft / 646 m). However, these runways are relatively 'lengthy' compared to the tiny airstrip on the island of Saba in the Dutch Antilles, located in the Windward Islands archipelago. Measuring just 1,312ft (400m) in length, Juancho E Yrausquin Airport (SAB) officially has the shortest runway in the world available for commercial use.
The runway has three cliff edges over the sea, with the fourth side enclosed by high hills. In fact, the usable runway length, given the displaced thresholds at either end, is just 1,263 ft (385 m). A brief history of Saba Airport The concept of an airport on Saba is credited to Dutch national Remy de Haenen, who had previously made several landings in a seaplane off Fort Bay harbor on the island in 1946.
After surveying the island from the air, de .