What is the furthest point on earth you've ever been away from an airport (while on the ground, we're not counting in-flight)? What did you do there? What was the purpose of your trip? Was it your destination or did you only pass by there? You don't necessarily have to have used that airport, just the fact that there is an airport is enough.
For me it was somewhere along the Spanish coast in between REU and CDT. I went on holiday to Castellón, stayed in a hotel in Grao de Castellón near the beach and Castellón aerodrome (the small general aviation airfield in Castellón). But because there were no flights available to CDT I flew into REU and drove from there, a distance of about 180 kilometers. Slightly further even because CDT lies north of the city. Anyway, the furthest away from any airport for me was in the middle between REU and CDT. About 90 kilometers from each, which would put me somewhere around La Ràpita I think. But I didn't stay there, only drove past it.
The furthest I've been away from an airport that was actually my destination was on my recent trip which I've only just returned from. It was the island of Linosa in the Mediterranean sea. I went on holiday to Lampedusa for a week and took a day trip to Linosa. While Lampedusa does have an airport (LMP), Linosa does not. I took the ferry there, it's about 55 kilometers from Lampedusa. Looking at how small Linosa is it's no surprise they don't have an airport. It was fun for a day, beautiful nature, but any longer and you'd get bored.
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- DocLightning
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
I guess Antarctica? I was there in college on an adventure cruise.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
PatrickZ80 wrote:I went on holiday to Lampedusa for a week (...).
Wasn't it difficult to find accommodation?
Over 1,300 migrants land in Italy’s Lampedusa in 24 hours
https://efe.com/en/latest-news/2023-05- ... -24-hours/
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Probably Alvord Desert in far southeast Oregon, even though planes routinely land on the salt flats. There are only a couple small ranch strips within 100 miles any direction. The small town of Fields nearby has aircraft fuel and small planes will land on the highway and taxi in.
Runner up is way up in the Yukon/NWT, we drove up to the Arctic on the Dempster and went hundreds of km between towns, but there were locations where the highway was marked as an emergency airstrip.
Runner up is way up in the Yukon/NWT, we drove up to the Arctic on the Dempster and went hundreds of km between towns, but there were locations where the highway was marked as an emergency airstrip.
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- PatrickZ80
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
MartijnNL wrote:PatrickZ80 wrote:I went on holiday to Lampedusa for a week (...).
Wasn't it difficult to find accommodation?
Over 1,300 migrants land in Italy’s Lampedusa in 24 hours
https://efe.com/en/latest-news/2023-05- ... -24-hours/
You don't notice that at all, I didn't see a single immigrant all the while I was there. That doesn't mean they're not there, but it's all shielded off.
Lampedusa is more touristic than you would think, it's a popular holiday destination for Italians. It features Rabbit Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Italy. I was probably one of the few foreign tourists if not the only one but I had a good time there. There are plenty of hotels and other lodging possibilities at the island, I had a good apartment.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
The middle of the Atlantic on the QM2.
Just taking the slow route from the UK to the US.
Just taking the slow route from the UK to the US.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
jetwet1 wrote:The middle of the Atlantic on the QM2.
Just taking the slow route from the UK to the US.
Perfect answer.
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- davidjohnson6
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
The Azores, Bermuda, Newfoundland, Iceland and Ireland make the route of the QM2 transatlantic rather nearer to an airport than one might think
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
davidjohnson6 wrote:The Azores, Bermuda, Newfoundland, Iceland and Ireland make the route of the QM2 transatlantic rather nearer to an airport than one might think
True, but it was in December, so a more southerly route was taken and, living in the US, you throw a rock, you hit an airport.
I've done HNL-LAX by boat as well, now you have me wondering which would be further from an airport.
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- PatrickZ80
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
This discussion is not going where I intended it to go. I should have been more specific.
Maybe instead of "in flight" I should have said "in transit". When you're on a ship you're not on the ground, you're on the water. So from now on no ships anymore, only locations on land. Both mainland and islands qualify.
And yes, I took a ferry as well in the trip described in the opening post. But the furthest point was not on the ferry, it was on an island. That qualifies.
Maybe instead of "in flight" I should have said "in transit". When you're on a ship you're not on the ground, you're on the water. So from now on no ships anymore, only locations on land. Both mainland and islands qualify.
And yes, I took a ferry as well in the trip described in the opening post. But the furthest point was not on the ferry, it was on an island. That qualifies.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
For me it's probably somewhere in the middle of Australia. While on a tour I rode a bus the entire length of the Stuart Highway from Adelaide all the way to Darwin. I have no idea at what point I was farthest from an airport, I would bet at some points along that trip I was more than a day's drive from anyplace with scheduled commercial flights. Since it was a tour I would say it counts, since the point was sightseeing, not merely to get from Adelaide to Darwin, and we stopped at landmarks along the way, and spend the night at campgrounds and hostels.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
With commerical service, I am assuming. By distance or travel time?
By travel time, somewhere in Brazil probably, because we go a lot and it takes forever to get anywhere compared to US standards. Campos do Jordao, perhaps, there's no airport up there on top of the mountains that I'm aware of.
By distance probably somewhere remote in Oregon or California where I lived growing up. Along the coast perhaps?
By travel time, somewhere in Brazil probably, because we go a lot and it takes forever to get anywhere compared to US standards. Campos do Jordao, perhaps, there's no airport up there on top of the mountains that I'm aware of.
By distance probably somewhere remote in Oregon or California where I lived growing up. Along the coast perhaps?
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- Kent350787
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
AYR (Yulara/Ayers Rock) to ASP (Alice Springs) in central Australia is 439km by road, so somewhere between those two. If we're only counting airports with RPT service rather than airstrips. Double checking, CAZ (Cobar, NSW) to BHQ (Broken Hill NSW) is 505km, so halfway there is a further.
When I was 18 months old I swallowed kerosene while staying on a farm in outback NSW. I was driven to the next property then flown to the nearest town with a hospital, a couple hundred km away.
When I was 18 months old I swallowed kerosene while staying on a farm in outback NSW. I was driven to the next property then flown to the nearest town with a hospital, a couple hundred km away.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Halfway between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
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- YYZSpeedbird939
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Probably somewhere in Tuscany. Not sure if Sienna has an airport, but I sure as heck haven’t ever seen planes there!
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- PatrickZ80
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
YYZSpeedbird939 wrote:Probably somewhere in Tuscany. Not sure if Sienna has an airport, but I sure as heck haven’t ever seen planes there!
Sienna is only about 50 kilometers from Florence, which does have an airport. Not a very big one, but an airport nonetheless. The largest airport in Tuscany is Pisa, but that's all the way near the coast. About a hundred kilometers from Sienna.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Halfway between HNL and LAX
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- PatrickZ80
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Max Q wrote:Halfway between HNL and LAX
We agreed, not on a ship! Only on land.
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- Redbellyguppy
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Uh. 179 minutes.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
PatrickZ80 wrote:Max Q wrote:Halfway between HNL and LAX
We agreed, not on a ship! Only on land.
"We" didn't agree, you just decided to change things because you weren't specific enough in your post and didn't like the answers. Stop being a killjoy or make a new post.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Elliot on the Stuart Highway thru the red center of Australia. Its a little north of Three Ways and quite a drive from the the nearest airports (Alice Springs, Darwin or Hooker Creek). Around 750 KM by road driving a car... or a weeks hike, according to Google maps!
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- PlymSpotter
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Difficult to be sure of, there's a good chance I've driven somewhere more remote and not realised it.
That I know of for sure: Pyramiden, Svalbard - 50km from LYR. I was there on a tour - also a Russian Mil-8 landed whilst we were there, but there was no actual airport.
That I know of for sure: Pyramiden, Svalbard - 50km from LYR. I was there on a tour - also a Russian Mil-8 landed whilst we were there, but there was no actual airport.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
This is a fun thread, makes one think. For me probably somewhere in the Sierra Nevada range in California, south of Yosemite. I was also thinking of the middle of Wyoming on I-80 between the state line on the west and Cheyenne on the east. Truly the middle of nowhere
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Redbellyguppy wrote:Uh. 179 minutes.
That was my initial thought as well.
But that then becomes an issue of an airport vs. a suitable airport. Occasionally I have edged the 180 minutes, but on reflection, there may have been a few airports around, just none on which we could land. Heading north out of Canada on the way to Hong Kong (when Russian airspace was used) comes to mind.
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- PatrickZ80
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Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
CrewBunk wrote:Redbellyguppy wrote:Uh. 179 minutes.
That was my initial thought as well.
But that then becomes an issue of an airport vs. a suitable airport. Occasionally I have edged the 180 minutes, but on reflection, there may have been a few airports around, just none on which we could land. Heading north out of Canada on the way to Hong Kong (when Russian airspace was used) comes to mind.
Yet that's not an answer to the question as it's about the furthest you've been from an airport while on the ground. This was specified in the opening post. So we don't count in flight and we don't count ships either. Islands on the other hand do count as long as they don't have an airport.
Re: Furthest you've ever been away from an airport?
Wouldn't the furthest point from an airport be at Point Nemo if you were in a boat or airplane? Except maybe the north and south poles?