There’s something especially eerie about an airport that was once busy and bustling and is now empty and abandoned. As air travel has grown in demand and advanced in technology, some structures that were once glamorous hubs in the golden age of travel were suddenly too small and unable to cope with passenger numbers. Others were replaced by bigger airports or fell victim to outside circumstances, while some simply failed to take off at all. From the airports that made aviation history to white elephants that had to be abandoned, here are some of the most intriguing former airports around the world.
Croydon Airport opened in 1920 as the UK’s first international airport, with Handley Page and Imperial Airways (later British Airways) transporting a jet-set crowd across Europe and to Asia and Australia on luxury craft with afternoon tea and cocktails. A roster of firsts includes the UK’s first customs, the first air traffic control and Amy Johnson’s groundbreaking solo flight from the UK to Australia in 1930. Passenger numbers rose from 2,000 in the first year to nearly 132,000 in 1936 and the airport handled the majority of the UK’s air mail and cargo.
A new terminal added in 1928 was the biggest in the world at the time but, after significant bomb damage during the Second World War, attempts to expand it proved problematic and Croydon Airport simply wasn’t big enough to keep up with growing air traffic. Heathrow opened in 1946 and became London’s primary airport, with Croydon eventually closing in 1959.
Its Neoclassical-style buildings have since housed commercial operations and business centres, while the airport’s main terminal remains a popular attraction thanks to its significance in aviation history. The iconic control tower, which was the world’s first, is the standout star, while a tiny, volunteer-run museum pays homage to the airport’s extraordinary past.
White elephants don’t come much bigger – or more expensive – than this stomping beast. Montréal Mirabel Airport opened in 1975 as part of the city’s preparations for hosting the Olympic Games the following year. It was set to replace Dorval Airport as the main route into the region and, as one of the world’s biggest airports, opened with loud fanfare and (initially) streams of passengers as people descended on Montréal for the games.
But its location, far from downtown, quickly caused issues. The planned high-speed rail line failed to materialise, meaning journeys into the city took well over an hour. Domestic flights continued to land at Dorval, which caused more logistical nightmares for those with connecting flights. These infrastructural issues meant few were prepared to pay to fly from the out-of-town location, passenger numbers plummeted and Dorval (now Montréal-Trudeau International Airport) reopened to international routes in 1997.
The last passenger flight, an Air Transat route to London, departed in 2004 and the airport became a testing ground, cargo route and filming location – Tom Hanks’ 2004 movie The Terminal was shot here. Plans to turn it into a theme park were eventually abandoned just like the airport, and the passenger terminal was demolished in 2014.
What became Berlin’s main international airport was built on land once destined for allotments. Until Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered a blockade in Berlin in June 1948, forcing Allied forces to act quickly. French authorities in the Tegel district ordered the speedy construction of an 8,202 feet (2,500m) runway that could be used to bring in emergency supplies, with the first plane touching base that November. It was part of the Berlin Airlift, bringing food and coal to the city and lifting children to safety zones until the blockade ended in May 1949.
Tegel became the Berlin base of the French Air Force before becoming the city’s main commercial passenger airport in the late 1950s, with the runways at nearby Tempelhof airport proving too short. At its peak Tegel saw around 24 million annual passengers. But Tegel, with its hexagonal terminal building that opened in 1974, was never designed to handle such high traffic, and complaints of cramped conditions and poor facilities have plagued the airport for decades.
It finally closed on 8 November 2020, replaced by Brandenburg Airport. The new airport was first planned when the Berlin Wall tumbled in 1989, though construction didn’t start until 2006 and a grand opening of 2012 was plagued by delays. It’s far slicker and shinier than Tegel, with high-tech features and a train station that connects it to the city centre. There’s talk of Tegel becoming a high-tech business hub, while its A and B terminals are being turned into a technology park by the University of Applied Sciences Berlin.
While Tegel was constructed to help increase the capacity of Allied forces to transport supplies during the Soviet blockade in 1948, this existing airport is the most synonymous with the Berlin Airlift. Tempelhof Airport opened in 1927 and was significantly expanded under Nazi rule. It was briefly under Soviet rule before becoming the heart of the heroic humanitarian relief efforts to bring food, fuel and even Christmas gifts to people and especially children trapped in Berlin between 1948 and 1949.
It became one of the city’s main commercial airports and was a hub for glamorous airline Pan Am in the 1950s. But it struggled to keep up with demand and, when Tegel’s new terminal opened in the 1970s, operations at Tempelhof were suspended. It reopened after the fall of the Berlin Wall but eventually closed in November 2008.
Tempelhof now stands as an unusual and rather chequered historical monument. The Nazi-era terminal, with curved roof, remains intact with the pockmarks of bullet holes, while basements used as bomb shelters are adorned with whimsical paintings designed to distract children from what was happening outside. Its grounds have been reopened as a public park, Tempelhof Field, with tours of its buildings and events from fashion shows to raves. The enormous site is also a popular filming location for Second World War movies.
Robert Mueller Municipal Airport opened in 1928 as Austin’s first airport for civilian air travel. City authorities asked the army based at Kelly Field in San Antonio to fly overhead and locate a suitable spot. The site, disused farmland a few miles from downtown, was chosen by pilot Claire Chennault, who later became famous with the “Flying Tigers” of the Second World War. It was named after a city council member who died while in service, and its design – especially the steel-trussed control tower – won awards.
American and United Airlines both operated from Robert Mueller. As Austin’s popularity soared and the city became a tech hub, the airport was unable to meet demand. Rapid urban growth also meant that it ended up surrounded by new neighbourhoods and residential areas. It eventually closed in 1999, replaced by shiny new Austin Bergstrom International Airport – which, at more than 4,000 acres compared to the old airport’s 700, has a far bigger capacity.
The old airport remains part of the city’s fabric, though. In 2007, construction began on Mueller, a huge mixed-use “urban village” and sustainable, self-contained community on the site of Robert Mueller Municipal Airport with green spaces, homes, office space, shops and restaurants. The old control tower remains as an iconic landmark in the new neighbourhood, while the old hangar is at the heart of Lake Park.
The then-US president Bill Clinton attended the opening ceremony of Yasser Arafat International Airport, also known as Gaza International Airport, when it officially opened in late 1998. It was to be a major international airport serving the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip and the surrounding areas, and was completed with international funding. For the first few years it saw around 700,000 annual passengers.
But its operation was short-lived. The £63.8 million ($86m) airport, which was named in honour of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was targeted by an Israeli bombing campaign during the al-Aqsa Intifada or Second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israel in 2000. The air traffic control tower, runway and the terminal building were severely damaged. A few weeks later the remains of the airport were pretty much flattened by bulldozers.
By late 2000 it was closed completely. Now, what was once hailed as a symbol of Palestinian sovereignty as well as a beacon of hope for a peaceful resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, lies abandoned and in ruins. In theory it’s still a base for Palestinian Airlines but the company currently has no aircraft and proposals to rebuild the hub – whose gold-topped VIP lounge and crumbling porticoes remain – have been vetoed by Israeli authorities.
Nicosia International was built in the 1930s and was used as a military airfield before becoming the island’s primary commercial airport in 1968, bringing in around 800,000 passengers a year. The state-of-the-art facility, home to shops, restaurants, bars and luxury lounges, was a hub for domestic airline Cyprus Airways.
But it was doomed to be trapped in a 1970s time warp, as Nicosia found itself literally in the middle of the island’s divisions and tensions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Turkish forces invaded the island in July 1974 and the airport was damaged during the fighting. It was eventually enveloped into the demilitarised zone and designated a United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) and a UN-controlled buffer zone once hostilities had ceased.
Stuck in this no-man’s land, the airport has been closed to public use and is used as a headquarters for the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus. The neglected terminals and lounges have fallen into decay yet also remain eerily unchanged, with leather-upholstered seats, original signage, and even rusting jets on the runway. A Cyprus Peace Concert was held here in September 2010 to make the International Day of Peace, though the airport’s long-term future remains uncertain.
Ellinikon – also known as Hellinikon – was originally built in 1938 as an airfield and was taken over as a Nazi base until the end of the Second World War, when it became an operational base for the US Air Force. It was also used by diplomats, stars and sportsmen – including racing driver Porfirio Rubirosa, pictured with Olympic Airways staff in 1965. It officially became a commercial hub in the 1990s and was able to take up to 11 million passengers annually.
It closed in 2001 to be replaced by the bigger, more high-tech Athens International Airport (or Eleftherios Venizelos). It still had a part to play in the city’s history, though, with parts of it used to host sporting events during the 2004 Olympic Games. The northwestern section of the site was used for field hockey and baseball, while one of the hangars was repurposed for fencing and basketball.
The airport has also been used as a makeshift camp for migrants, while plans to convert it into a municipal park were shelved due to the Greek debt crisis. There have also been plans to turn it into a luxury seaside resort and mixed-use complex with shops and restaurants, though for now it remains an abandoned relic.
New York’s first municipal airport was a glamorous aviation centre, serving both civilian travellers and witnessing some of the most important moments in the history of human flying achievements. It was opened in May 1931 after Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 New York to Paris flight, which actually landed outside city limits. This airport, on Barren Island, rectified that oversight and hosted commercial flights and private jets, including Howard Hughes’ plane (pictured).
The airport was a regular stop for record-breaking aviator Amelia Earhart and hosted air spectacles and races before it was sold to the US navy during the Second World War. A new municipal airport, LaGuardia, opened in 1939 and Floyd Bennett Field was designated as a naval air station in 1946, which it remained until being deactivated in 1971.
It hasn’t been completely abandoned, however. Floyd Bennett Field is now a recreational area with salt marshes, grassy areas, mudflats and a marina, operated by the National Park Service. The original airfield is incorporated into the park, which hits the shore of Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn’s Marine Park neighbourhood, while the control tower and terminal have been converted into a visitor centre with aviation memorabilia on display.
Ciudad Real Central Airport opened in 2008, intended to be Spain’s first private airport and with the capacity to serve 10 million travellers each year. Also known as Central Airport CR, Don Quijote Airport and South Madrid Airport, it cost close to £1 billion ($1.3bn) to build, with a striking visitor centre, facilities to accommodate all models of commercial aircraft and a single, 2.5-mile (4km) long runway. It was designed to handle overflow from Madrid’s Barajas Airport and serve passengers travelling to Madrid and the Andalucían coast.
But lack of demand meant it barely got off the ground. Its construction coincided with Spain’s economic crisis and the resulting recession, while its out-of-town location didn’t help. It failed to attract enough airlines to make it profitable and Spanish-based Vueling Airlines withdrew its fleet in 2011. The airport ceased to operate the following summer due to bankruptcy.
The ghost airport remains mothballed and its structures stand in the middle of nowhere like a herd of white elephants. They include a huge car park and a partially completed walkway connecting the airport to a train station that was to be part of the Madrid to Seville high-speed rail line, which itself was never completed. It was bought in 2016 by CR International Airport SL with future plans to revive it as a commercial airport, though the coronavirus pandemic has halted that for now. Currently it’s used to store planes.
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Stapleton was Denver’s main airport between 1929 and 1995. The airport was one of the busiest in the world, serving more than 1.5 million passengers annually by 1960, and a hub for airlines including Continental, which also no longer exists – the Texas-founded company merged with United in 2010. Stapleton wasn’t exactly a small regional airport, with six runways, five terminals and around 1,200 employees. Even aviator Amelia Earhart swung by here, in June 1931.
Yet it still wasn’t quite big enough for the travel hub the Mile High City has become. As the demand for air traffic increased, Stapleton wasn’t able to keep up with demand and suffered due to its runways being too close together, meaning air traffic control had to stagger take-offs and landings. It ceased operation in 1995 and planes were routed to Denver International Airport, whose tent-like peaks are surrounded by mountains.
A storm in 1997 damaged many of the old airport’s buildings and left holes in the rooftops, so most were torn down. The old air traffic control tower still remains, though, and had been turned into a restaurant, bar and bowling alley, the Punch Bowl Social, but that's now closed. The tower's future remains unknown.
Coming in for landing at this airport was a little like being on a roller coaster – if roller coasters rattled between skyscrapers and apartment blocks before touching down on a runway surrounded by water, that is. Kai Tak opened in 1925 as Hong Kong’s main airport and it could hardly have been more central, right in the heart of Kowloon. At its height around 30 million people passed through the airport each year.
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Its spectacular location and high footfall eventually led to the airport’s closure. With just one runway adjacent to Victoria Harbour and a lack of infrastructure, it struggled with issues of overcrowding, while pollution was also a problem for residents in the area. Surrounding hills and often-windy conditions led to several accidents, including in 1993 when a China Airlines Boeing 747 overshot the runway during a typhoon and crashed into the harbour. It finally closed in 1998, replaced by the much larger Chek Lap Kok airport (also known simply as Hong Kong International).
Crowds turned out to gawp at and photograph the planes in the days before the airport closed, standing on rooftops and bridges to watch the craft skim close to the buildings one last time. The old airport was transformed into a cruise terminal that opened in 2013, with the aim of transforming the city into the region’s biggest cruise hub.
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