Which Countries Have No Commercial Airports & Why?

There are several countries in the world that lack airports
entirely (even

more countries lack domestic airports
). These countries are typically too small and dense to have an airport (or their geography doesn’t allow for it), and so they are dependent on neighboring countries for airport access (although they can have heliports). Notably, Ukraine
is the largest country fully located in Europe
, and it has many airports – however, due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, there are no scheduled flights to the country, and

its airspace is closed to commercial air traffic
.

City-state countries

Vatican City

The two countries that can be considered city-states and lack airports are Vatican City (located in the city of Rome in Italy) and Monaco (located on the southern coast of France near Italy). These states are simply too small and dense to have an airport – one would need to demolish many of the buildings in those countries to construct an airport (or ruin Monaco’s waterfront).

Photo: Nakasaku l Shutterstock

Vatican City has a population of only around 800 and spans an area of only 0.19 square miles, or around 120 acres. By comparison, New York’s JFK Airport sprawls over an area of 5,200 acres (including 880 acres in the Central Terminal Area). Even the small London City Airport in the heart of London is 150 acres. The Vatican is also only 0.6 miles long and around 0.5 miles wide—even this wouldn’t be enough to fit London City Airport’s runway in (which is over 0.9 miles long). The closest airports are Rome’s Ciampino and Fiumicino airports
.

Sovereign countries without airports:

• Vatican City
• Monaco
• San Marino
• Liechtenstein
• Andorra

Monaco

Monaco is the world’s second-smallest country after Vatican City and is little more than half a small city – the other half being in France (it is 0.8 square miles and has a population of 38,000). People traveling to Monaco typically use France’s Côte d’Azur Airport.

Mountainous microstates

San Marino

Three more countries in Europe lack airports – Liechtenstein, San Marino, and Andorra. These countries all have in common that they are small and mountainous (or hilly) – although Liechtenstein has some flat land. San Marino is hilly and the gateway to it is the coastal Italian city of Rimini via the Rimini and San Marino “Federico Fellini” International Airport, formerly Rimini Miramare Airport. There is a regular bus service from the train station at Rimini to San Marino.

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein is another curious tiny country nestled between Austria and Switzerland in the European Alps. Liechtenstein has a close relationship with Switzerland with Switzerland being responsible for the Principality’s defense and other things. Interestingly, Liechtenstein is the only full United Nation’s member state that has not signed the 1944 Chicago Convention (which established the international laws surrounding aviation). That is because Switzerland has signed the convention on Liechtenstein’s behalf.

Airports near Liechtenstein include the small Swiss St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport and the small German Friedrichshafen Airport. A relatively nearby major airport is Zürich Airport, which is around 75 miles away.

Andorra

The Principality of Andorra is the largest of the European microstates without an airport. However, the country is so mountainous (it is nestled in the heart of the Pyrenees between France and Spain) that it is impractical to construct an airport there.

However, there is an “Andorra” airport called Andorra–La Seu d’Urgell Airport – although it is located across the border in Spain. The airport is also home to Andorra Airlines – although that airline doesn’t actually operate any aircraft. The main airports people use to fly to and from Andorra are located at Barcelona (Spain), Toulouse (France), and Girona (Spain).

Other countries with no airports

Determining what other countries in the world lack airports depends what one’s definition of what a “country” is. For example, Palestine has four airports (two in the Gaza Strip and two in the West Bank) but none are functional. The reason for these being non functional is mostly politics and war. Likewise, the unrecognized breakaway state of Transnistria has an airport (Tiraspol Airport), but it doesn’t host regular flights.

“…for the first time in history [in 1998], United States President Bill Clinton landed in the Gaza Strip and, together with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, cut the ribbon and officially opened the airport.” – Haaretz

The breakaway (and mostly unrecognized) state of South Ossetia also lacks and airport – the place is also tiny and mountainous. Previously people would fly out of Georgia’s Tbilisi, but since breaking away, people head north into Russia where the closest airport is North Ossetia’s Vladikavkaz International Airport.

Other places lacking airports include the United Kingdom’s Pitcairn Island (a remote island with a population of around 50) and Tokelau (a remote dependent territory of New Zealand deep in the Pacific). Tokelau’s three tropical coral atolls have an area of 4 square miles and have a combined population of around 1,500 people. To get there, people need to take a ship from Samoa.

Additionally, the remote island of Tristan da Cunha, home to around 250 people, lacks an airstrip. It is part of the larger British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and while those other islands may have airports, it is of little use to Tristan da Cunha. The only way to get there is by taking a six-day trip by ship from South Africa (Cape Town is 1,732 miles away).