Queenstown Airport drops in most scenic landing rankings

Queenstown Airport has dropped from number one in a list of most scenic approaches in the world, but it's beauty has still landed it in the top 10.

A new survey by global private jet booking service Private Fly has ranked the airport, set against the snow-capped mountains and near to Lake Wakatipu, as the fifth-most scenic landing.

But it's a sharp drop from the top spot in the same survey it gained in 2015. In 2014, it just scraped in at number 10.

This year, Saba Airport in the Caribbean took the number one spot followed by Donegal Airport in Ireland, Nice Côte D'azur Airport in France and Gibraltar Airport.

The results were tallied after a poll of the site's users and shortlisted by a judging panel. In all, 122 airports around the world received a mention.

Private Fly says this year's list contains some familiar landings, but also a few new ones.

One of the comments about the Queenstown approach praised the views over Lake Wakatipu as something not seen anywhere else in the world.

"Azure blue to great depths preceded by mountains covered in snow on either side as you approach in Winter. Absolutely stunning!"

Queenstown is New Zealand's fourth busiest airport and the country's busiest helicopter base with flights taking off for Milford Sound and Mt Cook.

Last year, there were just under 7000 domestic and international flights which touched down in Queenstown, an increase of 9 percent on the previous year.

Those flights meant around 1.7 million people passed through the airport last year, an increase of 18 percent on 2015.

Last year, the airport started night flights, with the latest departure at 7:30pm and the latest arrival at 9:35pm.

Top 10 landings:

  • Saba Airport, Caribbean
  • Donegal Airport, Ireland
  • Nice Côte D'azur Airport, France
  • Gibraltar Airport, Gibraltar
  • Queenstown Airport, New Zealand
  • London City Airport, UK
  • St Maarten Airport, Caribbean
  • Orlando Melbourne International Airport, USA
  • Barra Airport, UK
  • Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Canada

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