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.

Isles of Scilly Skybus currently regularly serves the airport, with flights to Land's End Airport in Cornwall. Interestingly, Land's End Airport has an even shorter grass runway, 1,591 feet long, but sources seem to indicate that the grass runways were not used after the flooding in 2014. Other flights from St. Mary's Airport go to Exeter and Newquay, depending on the season.

As only one airline serves the airport, only DHC-6 Twin Otters and Britten-Norman Islanders fly to and from the airport.

4. Barbuda Codrington Airport (1,640 feet)

Barbuda Codrington Airport (BBQ) is located in the village of Codrington, Barbuda. Barbuda is the northern island that consists of the twin island countries of Antigua and Barbuda. However, this airport is scheduled for closure next week, October 2nd, as the new Burton-Nibbs International Airport will replace the current airport.

The current Barbuda Codrington airport has a single paved runway that is 1,640 feet long, making operations at the airport extremely limited to light aircraft or STOL aircraft. On the other hand, the new Burton-Nibbs International Airport has a single 6,099-foot-long runway.

Several airlines currently serve the airport, all of which fly only to V.C Bird International Airport in Antigua. It mostly sees Britten-Norman Islanders flying in and out.

The airport also has a very interesting IATA airport code, BBQ. It is unknown whether the new Burton International Airport will take the same IATA code.

3. Doti Airport (1,608 feet)

Doti Airport (SIH) is located in Dipayal Silgadhi, Nepal. The airport opened in 1973, but the runway was only paved until 2020, when it was upgraded. The single runway is now asphalt and measures 1,608 feet in length.

Despite being upgraded in 2020, scheduled flights began in 2022 to Dhangadhi. Nepal Airlines is currently the only airline to fly to this destination. Flights are operated with Twin Otters, as is usual for airports with short runways.

One fun fact is that the airport is situated 1,893 feet above sea level, meaning it is nearly as high (slightly higher) as its own runway.

2. Heligoland Airfield (1,575 feet)

Heligoland Airfield (HGL) is located in Düne Island, Germany. The airport is on the east island, the smaller of two islands that form the Heligoland archipelago in the North Sea. There are three runways at the airport, with the longest being runway 15/33, which measures 1,575 feet, and the shortest being runway 6/24, which is only 846 feet long.

You may wonder why this article is using the longest runway for reference. This is because runway 15/33 (also the main runway) is the only runway that is approved for commercial service. This runway was actually shorter, at around 1,312 feet. Due to EU regulations on commercial traffic, the runway was extended to its current length in 2006.

The airport is served by only one airline, OFD Ostfriesischer-Flug-Dienst (which translates to East Frisian Flight Service). The airline offers scheduled flights to Heide–Büsum and Nordholz Naval Airbase. As is the case with airports with short runways, flights to Heligoland Airfield are mostly operated with OFD's Britten-Norman Islanders.

Being an airport in the middle of the ocean, winds, and weight restrictions (only up to 12,600 lb or 5,700 kilograms) make flying to the airport challenging. Only pilots who were trained to land here can fly to this airport.

1. Juancho E.Yrausquin Airport (1,312 feet)
 

Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB) is located in Saba, an island in the Dutch Caribbean. The airport was opened in 1963, but Hurricane Georges destroyed the terminal in 1998. The Dutch government funded the construction of a new terminal, and the airport resumed services in 2002.

The airport's single paved runway is 1,312 feet (400 meters) long, making it the shortest commercial runway in the world.

The airport is served by several airlines, but the local airline, Winair, provides the only scheduled service. It currently operates daily 15-minute flights to Sint Maarten (known for its famous beach approach runway). Other airlines also serve Sint Maarten and Anguilla as charter flights. While the airport sees a variety of aircraft compared to the ones introduced above, it usually sees Winair's Twin Otters the most.

Conclusion

While these airports surely have some very short runways, there are much shorter runways in the world that are not used commercially. Actually, there is a shorter runway than Juancho Airport's that sees regular traffic. It is Foula Airfield (FOA), which has a single gravel runway that is 1,252 feet long. However, the only flights to Foula (which come from Tingwall airport) are considered public service obligations, making the runway not eligible for 'commercial use'.

As mentioned initially, Lukla Airport (LUA) also has a very short runway. Unfortunately, the airport's single asphalt runway is 1,729 feet long, making it just 7 feet (2.1 meters) longer than St. Mary's Airport. 

Interestingly, Westray Airport (WRY) and Papa Westray Airport (PPW) also have single runways that are the same length as Lukla Airport's runways, 1,729 feet long. These two airports are famous for being the departing and arrival airports for the shortest flight in the world.