Long reads & round-ups
Latest · Explainer28 SEP 20265 min read
Five kilometres of concrete
The longest runways were not built for airliners. They were built for thin air, for test flights, and for a spacecraft that landed without engines and could not go around.
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Read 28 SEP 2026Explainer
Thin air
Above 4,000 m an airliner needs a longer runway, a lighter load and, in some cabins, oxygen for the passengers. A few airports live with that every day.
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5 MIN27 SEP 2026Explainer
Uphill landings
Most runways are built as flat as the ground allows. A few slope on purpose — aircraft land up the hill and take off down it, and there is only one way to do either.
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4 MINJournal pieces are written from register entries and link back to them. For ranked lists of airports, see Collections.