WATCH: 5 Of The World's Craziest Airports Runways

Image courtesy of Thinkstock

The whole idea of air travel is to arrive safely.

At some airports, however, the layout and logistics can throw the fear of God into you.

Here are five airports where the landings are, how shall we say, adventurous at best, difficult at worst.

(In no particular order)

5) ICE RUNWAY, ANTARCTICA
This is mostly used for dropping supplies at the McMurdo Station research center. But as the name implies, well, you’re landing on ice. Well-manicured and shoveled ice and snow, but ice and snow nonetheless.

4) TONCONTIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, HONDURAS
One way in, and one way out. That might be more difficult for commercial airplanes than the fact that you’re coming into a valley surrounded by mountains.

3) GIBRALTAR AIRPORT
No joke — the runway crosses through a main highway. Not over it, through it. Traffic is literally stopped in both directions, like a train crossing, when jets arrive. How there has never been an accident here is beyond us.

2) JUANCHO E. YRAUSQUIN AIRPORT, SABA ISLAND
You come in over a ragged cliff. And if you’re not careful, you’ll go out over a jagged cliff. One of the shortest runways in the world and, obviously, built only for smaller planes. But still ….

1) SINT MAARTEN AIRPORT
As cool and as gorgeous as this is, it might be unnerving to some to not only come in so close to the beach, where it looks like beachgoers could reach up and touch the plane, but over a highway as well.

Follow @RichTravelPulse