How long do you think an airport runway is? It's hard to tell because we've probably never seen or experienced the full length of a runway in depth. Before writing this article, I thought the typical runway for a major international airport would be around 10,000 feet (1.8 miles or 3 kilometers).

Turns out that I was roughly correct, as the four runways at LAX are between 8,926 feet and 11,095 feet in length. According to AN Aviation Services, the average runway length at significant airports is between 8,000 and 13,000 feet. This should be enough for large jets to take off and land safely, but these five airports introduced below have significantly shorter runways than the ones at LAX, one of them almost one-tenth in length. Some competent contestants, such as Tenzing-Hillary Airport (known as Lukla Airport), are also introduced.

The list will contain airports that have commercial service, excluding airports that are exclusively used by the military or is only open for private use.

5. St. Mary's Airport (1,722 feet)

St. Mary's Airport (ISC) is located in the Isles of Scilly, England, southwest of Cornwall. The airport opened in 1939, and has two runways. One of the runways is made of asphalt, 2,277 feet in length. The other 09/27 runway is a mixed asphalt/grass runway that is 1,722 feet long.

The airport serves an important purpose as the only air link between the mainland and the Isles of Scilly. The Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue service has a base here for airport emergencies. There is also a footpath near the end of one of the runways, which is closed by warning lights and bells for a few minutes every time an aircraft takes off or lands.