Madeira Island Airport Tops Ranking of Most "Scariest"

Madeira Island Airport Tops Ranking of Most "Scariest"

The airport tops AirAdvisor's ranking, which ranks landing and takeoff locations based on exposure to anxiety triggers rather than safety.

Madeira Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport was ranked as the European airport most likely to cause anxiety in passengers, according to an exclusive AirAdvisor ranking released this week.

The Madeiran airport, the only Portuguese airport to appear on this list, received a score of 88 on the Passenger Discomfort and Real-World Exposure (PURE) Index, developed by aviation analysts at AirAdvisor, a global legal technology platform dedicated to enforcing air passenger rights.

This ranking is the first scoring model that combines official operational data with sensory factors known to increase fear of flying, assigning each airport (0 to 100) a score across seven stressors perceived by passengers. AirAdvisor CEO and founder Anton Radchenko explains that this ranking identifies the European airports most likely to trigger passenger anxiety, not because they are unsafe, but because of the frequency with which passengers are exposed to stress-increasing conditions, such as steep descents, crosswinds, short runways, or abrupt approaches.

It's not about safety; commercial flights remain remarkably safe. It's about where passengers are most likely to experience turbulence, gusts, go-arounds, or unusual approaches.

Gibraltar Airport, in the UK Overseas Territory, Innsbruck Airport, in Austria, and London City Airport, in the UK, round out the list of the four European airports most likely to frighten passengers.

According to the CEO of AirAdvisor, island airports dominate the list, from Madeira and Gibraltar to the Greek islands and Tenerife, due to their seaside locations, making them particularly exposed to crosswinds and seasonal gusts. Another factor is the surrounding cliffs and short runways, which increase the intensity of the experience for passengers.

He also notes that, even if these airports are fully certified and safe, unusual runways stand out as stress amplifiers, as is the case on Madeira Island, where the runway is perched on concrete pillars over the ocean, and on Skiathos, Greece, where the runway ends just after a public road and beach. The CEO of AirAdvisor also cites London City Airport's famous steep descent, which creates highly dramatic views that often make passengers grip their armrests.

Another recurring factor that can amplify stress among passengers, according to Anton Radchenko, is the mountainous terrain near airports. In Tenerife, for example, he explains that in Innsbruck, the valleys are located very close to the runway, forcing pilots to perform circling maneuvers and sudden course changes. These are common flight procedures for pilots in this region, but they can be stressful for anxious passengers. He believes that for anxious passengers, these moments can be unsettling, and the AirAdvisor index aims to help them anticipate these experiences, understand that they are normal, and ensure that pilots are fully trained to handle them safely.

"Our goal with this ranking is to put these numbers into context for travelers," explains Anton Radchenko, CEO of AirAdvisor. "When passengers know that turbulence, go-arounds, or delays are expected due to weather conditions at certain airports, they can recognize them as routine parts of aviation, rather than signs that something is wrong," he concludes.

Source: Dn Madeira