There is a small airport in China that has drawn much attention from aviation enthusiasts due to its location on a mountaintop, its extremely narrow runway, and its surrounding cliffs. Some netizens have even dubbed it the “most dangerous airport in China”.
Where is this airport located? Is it truly the “most dangerous” airport? One expert reveals the remarkable endeavor behind its construction: 65 mountaintops had to be cut.
The “most dangerous airport in China” as stated by netizens is the “Hechi Jinchengjiang Airport” (Hechi Airport for short) located in Hechi City, northern Guangxi. While Hechi is not a well-known city to many, it does host Bama County, famed as a “longevity village”.
At the dawn of the 21st century, authorities decided to build a branch airport in Hechi. However, given the mountainous terrain of the area, finding a suitable site was challenging. After 22 proposed locations were rejected, experts from the Civil Aviation Administration suggested building the airport on a mountaintop if a flatland was hard to find.
Following this idea, a site was selected about 40 kilometers from the city center, at the junction of Hechi Town in Jinchengjiang District and Chehe Town in Nandan County, for the construction of Hechi Airport.
The selected area originally consisted of 65 mountains of varying sizes and 23 trenches of different lengths and depths. In order to create a “flatland”, the authorities had to cut off the tops of these mountains, with the highest one being cut by as much as 70 meters, approximately the height of a 22-story building. About two-thirds of the trenches were filled in, with the average fill depth being 35 meters and the deepest reaching 126 meters, equivalent to about a 40-story building.
Due to the construction challenges, Hechi Airport was not completed until the end of 2013, even though construction started in December 2008. The completed runway sits on top of the mountains, looking like an “aircraft carrier” parked on the mountain, surrounded by cliffs up to 300 meters high on all sides.
What’s more, this “aircraft carrier” has a runway length of only 2,200 meters and a width of just 45 meters, making it one of the narrowest runways in the world according to foreign media. The landing experience promises to be extremely thrilling, surprising, and impressive for first-time visitors. Hechi Airport is classified as a 4C airport.
After photos of Hechi Airport began to circulate online, aviation enthusiasts from all over started discussions. Some Chinese aviation enthusiasts named it as the “most dangerous airport in China”, and some foreign websites even included it in their list of the “top ten most dangerous airports in the world”.
Of course, the “most dangerous” label is only a term used by netizens and aviation enthusiasts, and it is not officially “certified”. Authorities categorize airports with complex flight environments and inadequate safeguards, which require special measures for takeoff and landing, as “special airports”. Hechi Airport is not on this list.
When Hechi Airport first opened to air traffic, a captain of a passenger plane commented in an interview: “The airport is built on a mountain and is affected by the terrain, which can cause air disturbances during landing. Also, seeing the surrounding mountains during a clear weather landing can have a psychological impact on the pilots. However, these unfavorable factors do not affect flight safety.”
He mentioned that airlines have trained all pilots accordingly, and safety reminders are provided to pilots during every flight, teaching them how to safely take off and land.
Currently, Hechi Airport is a 4C level airport with about 20,000 passengers in 2019. The operational routes include Guangzhou in Guangdong, Haikou in Hainan, and Chongqing.
Besides the intimidating Hechi Airport, if it’s not the “most dangerous” airport, then which ones in China are considered “dangerous”?
Netizens have also suggested airports like the Lhasa Gonggar Airport in Tibet, Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport in Sichuan, and Panzhihua Bao’anying Airport, which are all on the official “special airport” list. Interestingly, like Hechi Airport, Panzhihua Bao’anying Airport is also built on a mountain top.