For many holidaymakers, the lengthy taxi down the airport runway before take-off can seem to drag on forever.It can feel as though the plane will never lift off as it trundles along the concrete before the engines roar into life and it ascends.
However, many visitors to a tiny Greek island’s airport may be unaware that it boasts the shortest runway for passenger jets in mainland Europe. Skiathos’ runway measures a mere 5,341 feet, significantly shorter than the norm.
To put this into perspective, London Heathrow’s northern runway stretches approximately 12,801 feet, Manchester’s is around 10,948 feet, and Birmingham’s is about 10,013 feet. Despite its relatively short length, the airport can accommodate aircraft as large as a Boeing 767-200 and welcomes flights from across Europe.
These include flights from Britain to most airports nationwide, with numerous seasonal flights operating to the Aegean island. The island’s terrain is so rugged that land had to be reclaimed from the sea to facilitate the construction of the airport, which opened its doors to passengers in 1972.
It now sees hundreds of thousands of passengers arrive and depart each year, with over 552,000 in 2023 – including more than 192,000 travelling to or from the UK. Skiathos Airport, with its proximity to a public road and high volume of flights, is a favourite spot for plane enthusiasts who often share photos of massive aircrafts swooping low to land.
Despite having one of the shortest runways in Europe, it does not hold the record for the shortest runway on the continent. That distinction belongs to Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on Saba, boasting a mere 1,312 feet long runway, which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
However, there’s a twist in that Saba is actually an island located in the Caribbean, across the Atlantic.