Sometimes, big building projects with the best of intentions wind up tragically underused. And despite the growing popularity (and accessibility) of air travel, airports are no exception. The reasons are many for the failure of the “build it and they will come” mentality for airports. Here’s a list of the top 6 most underutilized airports in the world (and how they wound up that way).
1. Ciudad Real’s Central Airport, Spain
Located in a city with a population of 74,000, Central Airport was built with one of Europe’s longest runways and a terminal that can (and was supposed to) process up to 10 million passengers. However, actual yearly passenger flows have measured in the low thousands, and only one airline has signed up to fly out of the airport.
- Reason for under-use: The airport is simply too far away from Madrid, the capital of Spain, to be of practical use to many travelers. It is also just one of the examples of huge projects the Spanish government used to drive the economic boom — which then led to the economic collapse.
2. Yangyang International, South Korea
This South Korean airport handled its last commercial flight on November 1, 2008, and now all it handles are occasional charters to China, Japan, and Taiwan. In its heyday (2005-06) it was handling over 50,000 passengers. The reason the whole thing hasn’t been shut down is because of hopes that the 2018 Winter Olympics in nearby Pyeongchang will result in a traffic (and a reason for the airport to exist).
- Reason for under-use: South Korea has built too many airports in a country of its size. The airports have to compete with each other, not to mention the emergence of high-speed rail.
3. Hengchun Airport, Taiwan
Currently serving only a single destination on Uni Air to Taipei Songshan, this airport — the southern-most airport in Taiwan — has been somewhat doomed by its location. It regularly experiences strong Katabic wind, which forces the entire thing to close. As a result, the airport’s load factor rarely exceeds 40%, and it has been known to reach only 0.45 percent when there are 23 staff members to serve an average of five passengers. The airlines that do operate there are considering withdrawing their services.
- Reason for under use: The Katabatic winds force the entire airport to shut down in certain seasons.
4. King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia
Over 300 miles long, this is the world’s largest airport by area — to give you some idea, it’s larger than the entire country of Bahrain.
- Reason for under use: KFIA has to compete with nearby Bahrain’s International Airport for passengers — and the competition isn’t easy, considering the other airport has better road infrastructure. It doesn’t help that word of mouth is that that wait times at KFIA are ridiculous.
5. Pittsburgh International Airport, U.S.
The airport has seen vastly-reduced passenger traffic. The Allegheny County Airport Authority is attempting to get some of it back by adding more low-cost and international carriers — and so far they’ve had some success.
- Reason for under-use: PIA refused to lower operating costs for US Airways in 2003, and as a result the airline cut its services out of Pittsburgh to just 3 mainlines a day, resulting in reduced passenger flow.
6. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, U.S.
The biggest and busiest airport in the state, this airport is still struggling for passengers. It has seen slight gains in recent years, and the airport’s latest attempt to save itself was by attracting air cargo flights from China.
- Reasons for under-use: The bankruptcy of TWA and buyout from American Airlines in 2001, not to mention the 2011 tornado which damaged the property and closed off an entire concourse, have all greatly affected passenger traffic.
Photo Source: Flickr
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