Few jetsetting joys compare to bagging a window seat on a particularly scenic flight—let alone to the most beautiful airport landings in the world. As the crew announces that we are about to descend through the clouds to reach the destination we have dreamed of for years, we look forward with our fingers crossed, hoping for the best possible conditions.
Madeira Airport FNC is also called Funchal Airport or Santa Catarina Airport. It is known for its short runway, which is surrounded by mountains and the sea.Getty Images
Travel insurance experts at AllClearWe now know what flights are worth fighting for a window seat. The team performed a global eye tracking study to find the most beautiful landings at airports around the world. AllClear analysed which runways captured participants’ attention most quickly and for how long, before cross-referencing these two metrics to reveal the arrivals that should be at the top of our bucket lists.
The top destinations include far-flung locations, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site Lord Howe Island in Australia and Rio de Janeiro’s Santos Dumont Airport are two of the most famous airports, but there are others that are closer to home. London City Airport came in second, just behind the Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport. Condé Nast Traveller UKThe Readers’ Choice Awards for the best airports in world is ranked joint fifth with Rio de Janeiro AllClear has ranked AllClear in its rankings. The views of the city from the window on arrival are not surprising.
Queenstown Airport, New Zealand. Panorama with Mountains, plane, sunshine, clouds.Getty Images
The most beautiful airport arrivals in the World
The “eye-catching” score is calculated by calculating the average duration of looking and the average time it takes to fixate in seconds.
1. Lord Howe Island Airport (Australia) (score: 85).
2. Queenstown Airport (score: 79)
3. Madeira Airport, Portugal (score: 77)
Pitkin County Airport in the United States of America = 77
5. Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport, Brazil (score: 76)
= London City Airport United Kingdom (score 76).
7. Innsbruck Airport in Austria (score 74).
8. Paro Airport, Bhutan (score: 72)
9. Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport in Caribbean Netherlands (score 69)
10. Daniel K. Inouye Airport, United States of America
Lukla Airport (Nepal) = 68
12. Seychelles International Airport – Seychelles (score : 65)
Telluride Regional Airport in the United States of America, score: 65
= Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, France (score: 65)
15. Wellington International Airport in New Zealand (score 60)
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Canada (score : 60).
