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Date Published: 28/10/2025

Nerves of steel required: Which Spanish airport made the list of Europe's most white-knuckle landings?

A new AirAdvisor study reveals the ten airports that keep pilots and travellers on their toes

If you thought Gibraltar’s famous airport, with its perilously short runway and water at both ends (though technically it’s not even in Spain), was the trickiest landing on the map, think again. According to a new AirAdvisor study, Tenerife North, or “Los Rodeos” as it’s known locally, has claimed a spot among Europe’s ten most anxiety-inducing airports for travellers and flight crews alike.

The study isn’t pointing fingers at safety record - far from it. Instead, it highlights airports where factors like terrain, unpredictable weather, and nerve-jangling approaches make take-offs and landings something of a thrill ride. In Tenerife North’s case, the airport is perched more than 600 metres up, ringed by mountains, and frequently cloaked in dense fog. The trade winds only add to the drama, contributing to rough descents that have left many a passenger gripping the armrests a little tighter.

Despite all this, experts are keen to point out that “flight experts have it all figured out.” Today, Tenerife North is kitted out with the latest landing systems and rigorous safety procedures, making it one of the safest airports in Europe.

Tenerife’s airfield is in good company. The study’s “top ten” includes Madeira’s Funchal, where landings can feel like crossing a hurricane-swept pier; Gibraltar, with its road-crossing runway; Innsbruck in the Alps; London City, notorious for its short, steep touchdown; and several Greek islands with runways squeezed between sea and village life.

Of course, anyone familiar with aviation history will know that Los Rodeos was the site of the tragic 1977 disaster, when two Boeing 747s collided in the fog, claiming 583 lives and is still the worst plane accident on record. That tragedy and others led to sweeping changes in aviation communication and safety worldwide, just one more reason why today’s landings, however thrilling, are managed with world-class safeguards and technology.

So the next time you feel your stomach flutter as you drop down through a cloud over Tenerife North, remember: you’re in expert hands, and you’re landing at one of Europe’s most legendary airports.

Image: wikicommons

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