How Is Aircraft Stored In The World’s Smallest Airport?

When most people think of airports or even smaller airfields, it is hard to imagine one without a hangar building, because most aircraft need a sheltered space to undergo maintenance and repairs.

Thankfully, kit built steel hangars are available, designed specifically for short-term events such as air shows and makeshift aviation villages to ensure that storage capacity is available within weeks of an order.

However, this naturally invites the question of how aircraft are stored in the many tiny airports scattered around the world, and the answers are extraordinarily varied.

Simko Field Airport

The smallest airport in the world is technically Simko Field in Inkom Idaho, which features a tiny runway that is just 122 metres long (400ft).

For context to explain just how tiny that is, the most produced aeroplane ever made, the Cessna 172, requires a runway twice that length to take off in standard conditions (at Standard Temperature at its maximum rated capacity).

Simko Field Airport is absolutely tiny, with the corrugated metal hangar building the only main structure to be found.

The reason for this is also the reason why it is only technically the smallest airport in the world; it is a private airport owned by an individual aviation enthusiast, so nobody can take off nor land there without permission.

On private land with limited space amidst a rocky mountainous landscape, short runways and tiny makeshift hangars are far closer to the norm than the exception.

Foula Airfield

Based on Britain’s most remote permanently inhabited Island, Foula Airfield could have an exceptionally strong claim to be the smallest airport in the world, which is appropriate given that the population of the island is 56.

Run by the Foula Airstrip trust, Foula Airfield is a much faster alternative form of transport to the thrice-weekly ferry, but given the notoriously foggy weather and strong winds, it is somewhat remarkable that the airfield does not feature any form of shelter for aircraft.

There is a small shelter for passengers, which also features the Island’s only public telephone and toilet, as well as a small fire station, but many aircraft that land on the island tend to take off soon after to return to an airport with more suitable facilities.

Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport

Often considered to be the smallest commercial airport in the world and the shortest to run international flights (from Dutch Caribbean Saba to British Caribbean Antigua), Juancho  E. Yrausquin Airport has become somewhat famous for having one of the most challenging runways to take off and land from.

The Island of Saba largely consists of a dormant volcano, Mount Scenery, which historically made constructing a flat airstrip extremely difficult.

Ultimately the only space available, Flat Point, was just 400 metres long, which has led to the rather infamous sheer drops on both sides of the runway.

It is, naturally, closed to jet traffic and only Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) craft can land safely on the island, but the terminal building does not feature any hangar facilities; much like Foula Island, aircraft cannot even refuel on Saba.

Both would stand to benefit from having at least some rudimentary facilities, especially since in both cases the flight service is extremely weather dependent.