December 27, 2007
Gustaf III Airport is a public airport located in the village of St. Jean on the Caribbean Island of St. Barthélemy (colloquially referred to as “St. Bart’s”). The airport is sometimes referred to as Saint Barthélemy Airport or St. Jean Airport. Its official name, Gustaf III, comes from King Gustaf III of Sweden and it was under his rule that Sweden obtained the island from France in 1784. The runway is treacherous to navigate; The History Channel ranked it the third most dangerous in the world. The arrival descent is extremely steep and the 2,133 foot (650 m) runway ends on the beach. Departing planes fly right over the heads of sunbathers. Due to the runway length and precarious entry and exit, commercial flights are generally limited to planes carrying around twenty passengers or less.
