Airports You Can Walk Across on Foot
Picture this: no shuttles, no trams, no 20-minute taxi to the gate.
Just you, your suitcase, and a stroll across the runway.
Sounds impossible in the age of mega-airports and endless security lines, right?
Think again.
Believe it or not, there are still a few airports in the world where you can literally walk across the runway like crossing the street.
Let’s take a stroll through some of the most delightfully small, and seriously unusual, walkable airports on Earth.
Barra Airport, Scotland: The Runway Made of Sand
Location: Outer Hebrides, Scotland
It’s the only airport in the world where scheduled flights land on a beach.
At Barra Airport (BRR), you don’t just walk across the airport you might walk across the runway at low tide. When the tide comes in? The runway vanishes.
There’s no terminal in the traditional sense. Just a small building, a wind sock, and a blackboard with the day’s arrival times.
West Tisbury Airport, Massachusetts, USA
Location: Martha’s Vineyard
It’s so small, passengers walk to and from the plane.
No jet bridges. No shuttle buses. Just a short walk along the tarmac, charming and low-key.
Courchevel Airport, France
Location: French Alps
Elevation: 6,500+ feet
Shortest, steepest, scariest runway in Europe
While not designed for pedestrian crossing, you can walk across it if no flights are operating and some brave travelers have done just that (usually with permission). Just don't try it during ski season rush hour.
Gibraltar International Airport
Location: Gibraltar
Yes, Really: The runway intersects a public road.
Gibraltar's airport is the only one in Europe where cars and pedestrians cross the runway via a level crossing, complete with traffic lights and barriers.
Before a plane lands or takes off, the barriers lower just like at a train crossing. And when it’s clear? You walk right over it like any normal crosswalk.
🇵🇬 Wewak Airport, Papua New Guinea
Location: Remote and rugged Papua New Guinea
Why It’s Unique: Locals often walk across or alongside the runway.
Wewak is one of several small airstrips in Papua New Guinea that function more like air-bus stops. Locals use the runway area to travel between villages so the plane is just another part of the daily landscape.