Picture the scene: you’re relaxing on a lovely Caribbean Island – say, Maho Beach on the island of St. Martin. It’s all bright sunshine, blue seas and gorgeous white sand – it’s paradise… That is until a massive jet comes tearing in over your head bound for the nearby Princess Juliana International Airport!

Enough said. But St. Martin is far from alone in the dangerous runway stakes. There is, in fact, a whole host of airports across the world that are guaranteed to get passengers (and pilots) clinging on for dear life!

Over at Oddee they’ve made a bit of an extreme list, and here’s a few of our favorites that we reckon will make you think twice about booking that next plane ticket!

1. Barra Airport, Scotland.

There’s no proper runway at Barra International in the Outer Hebrides - planes just land on the beach.  Needless to say, the schedules are influenced by the tides, but if you arrive as dusk is falling you’re in for another surprise - the only source of light is from the headlamps of cars in the parking lot!

2. Madeira Airport, Madeira.

It’s probably not a huge comfort to know that this structure was awarded a prize for engineering when you’re hurtling through the air in a jet towards it. We think we might be concentrating on the mountains. And the sea…

3. Courchevel, France.

Courchevel has become rather notorious in the aviation world for having a runway that is so short it needs a gradient to help planes speed up and slow down. It was even dangerous enough to feature in the James Bond movie, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’! Lucky then that such terrifying landings at this popular ski resort in the French Alps are reserved for the pros in private planes (and 007).

So there you have it - the most hair-raising landings you could ever have the misfortune to experience. HostelBloggers’ two cents: Best stick to ferries and trains, eh?