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Request Permission to Land at Private Island Airports

Many appealing strips are not open to the public, but often you can get in if you ask.

Plane landing in the sunset
Private airports on islands tend to be quiet, picturesque places. [Credit: iStock]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Private island airports offer pilots unique access to picturesque, often secluded destinations.
  • Gaining access to these special airfields usually requires prior permission, primarily for visitor tracking rather than exclusion.
  • The article highlights diverse examples of such permission-only airports, ranging from historically significant fields to those with unique runway surfaces like coral, or requiring specific piloting skills.
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The words “private island” conjure all sorts of pleasant images. For pilots, the topic of private island airports is similarly appealing. Receiving permission to land at a private airfield can give pilots a special feeling, like they are privy to a well-kept secret.

Private strips often are located in picturesque, out-of-the-way places that you would never visit if you could not fly there. Gaining access to these special locations might require picking up a phone to call for permission to land. But usually this procedure is just a way for the airport owner to keep track of visitors, not a means of keeping them out.

Jonathan Welsh

Jonathan Welsh is Lead Editor of Aviation Consumer and a private pilot who worked as a reporter, editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal for 21 years, mostly covering the auto industry. His passion for aviation began in childhood with balsa-wood gliders his aunt would buy for him at the corner store. Follow Jonathan on Twitter @JonathanWelsh4

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