Donegal airport voted world's most beautiful runway

Irish airport beat stiff competition from the Caribbean, North America and New Zealand

The most beautiful airport landing in the world. Hopping over the skyscrapers of New York City? Skimming past the beaches of Bali? Not according to avgeeks (self-described aviation fans) who have voted on their favourite final approaches, and have decided that Donegal airport in Ireland is the most breathtaking on the planet.

The runway – which skims the beach and Atlantic Ocean beyond – came top in a survey of 8,500 fans. A total of 112 airports were nominated in the poll conducted by PrivateFly, a private jet booking platform.

It was followed by Barra in Scotland, where the ‘runway’ is actually the beach itself; Nice; and Queenstown in New Zealand.

At Barra airport planes land on the beach (Colin Moss)

The coastline around Donegal has featured in the Star Wars movies. The Independent’s Ben Kelly, who flew in from Dublin last year, said that the view on landing is “truly spectacular”.

“The runway is a slim strip of land, with an inlet of water on one side, and the North Atlantic stretching out on the other,” he said. “From the houses and old cottages sprinkled across the green hills to the beaches of Carrickfinn, it’s the Ireland of postcards – and luckily the tiny planes which take you there fly low enough for you to take it all in during the descent.”

The full top 10 is as follows:

(St Maarten Airport)

Donegal (Ireland)

Barra (Scotland)

Nice (France)

Queenstown (New Zealand)

Saba (Dutch Caribbean)

Orlando Melbourne (USA)

Toronto Billy Bishop (Canada)

London City (UK)

St Maarten (Dutch Caribbean)

Miami (USA)