Which countries have 0 airports?

  • Jul 17, 2024
Which countries have 0 airports?

Countries With No Airports: An Exploration

Flying as a means of transportation has significantly transformed people's lives making it possible and efficient to transport individuals and goods over long distances within a short span. Nevertheless, there are some countries today that do not possess even a single airport that would contribute to the development of the economy and connection between the countries. This article will examine which countries in the world do not have any airports as well as some of the difficulties and consequences associated with being without an airport in the modern world.

How Many Countries in the World Have No Airports?

According to data, there are 8 countries in the world as of 2022 that do not have any airports: According to data, there are 8 countries in the world as of 2022 that do not have any airports:

1. Vatican City
2. Monaco
3. San Marino
4. Liechtenstein
5. Andorra
6. Nauru
7. Tuvalu
8. Kiribati

Most of these countries are either island nations or have extremely small populations, sometimes just in the tens of thousands. However, not having an airport causes certain problems concerning the connections and the ways of reaching the city for such a scale of object, even if it is significantly small.

Among those 8 nations without airport facilities, the smallest one by population is the Vatican, the residence of the Pope and the Catholic Church, with a population of less than a thousand people. Although the most populated, Kiribati has approximately 120,000 citizens residing in 33 islands of coral atolls in the central part of the Pacific Ocean.

Disadvantages, Problems, and Obstacles that Arose out of No Airport Existence

The absence of any airports comes with economic, political, and logistical challenges including The absence of any airports comes with economic, political, and logistical challenges including:

  • Fewer tourists - Due to the lack of airports, countries are left with few options and limited sea and road transport means to ferry tourists. This leads to fewer visitors coming into the region because they are discouraged by the poor economic returns.
  • Restricted access to foreign markets - Exporting products means going through numerous procedures that take more time, money, and effort in the absence of air cargo. This is likely to have adverse effects on local industries.
  • Political isolation - Since these gatherings entail global meetings or summits, it takes a boat ride or car trip longer to get there thus discouraging diplomatic attendance and reducing effectiveness.
  • Emergency evacuation concerns - Since there are no airports here, quickly evacuating people for any reason, natural disasters, epidemics, or conflicts, becomes almost impossible.
  • Problems of accessibility - Citizens who need to seek medical treatment in another country or those who need to study in other countries cannot do so quickly and conveniently because of the limited aviation services.

Some microstates use nearby airports of nearby countries but this involves crossing customs which raises issues concerning accessibility to the next instance. This also entails the loss of Tax revenues and airport fees that would have otherwise been generated from the local populace and local airlines.

Coping Without Airports

Despite having no airports, some small countries have adapted auxiliary methods of air access: Despite having no airports, some small countries have adopted auxiliary methods of air access:

  • San Marino also employs helicopters for Senior Government Officials who require flexible modes of transport. However, options remain limited.
  • The Principality of Monaco is located between France and the Mediterranean Sea; its main airport of reference is the Nice Côte d'Azur International Airport which is approximately 19 kilometers away at the French Riviera.
  • Nauru, Remote states like Tuvalu and Kiribati address internal flights by using small planes that land at poorly developed strips on outer islands but are unable to access larger planes because of nonexistent paved airstrips.
  • Others include the Andorra la Vella heliport which provides helicopter links to Spain and France and is targeted at high-end travelers and dignitaries.
  • For access, Liechtenstein benefits from the nearby airports in Switzerland and Austria, which can be reached by car or train in 30 to 60 minutes at most.

But yet again as much as one has devised workarounds that create a half-baked solution out of patchwork, not having an airport in the first place counts as a disadvantage when compared to most countries in a world that is gradually integrating in a globalized world.

Considering Building an Airport

It can be said that several countries that do not have airports experience significant difficulties in establishing themselves economically and diplomatically if they are unable to gain access to an airport.

Thus, rather schematic discourses concerning the construction of airports appeared at some moments starting from Nauru and Tuvalu in the Pacific state to European microstates such as Andorra San Marino, or even Liechtenstein.

However, constructing the new style airports entails huge land to accommodate the runway, terminals, and parking lot - which Kailash faced when nearly all the island countries were small. Furthermore, the enormous costs of constructing, financing, and running the airports and related facilities might be unsustainable or even unprofitable for these nations since they barely generate any revenues, or have very small populations.

However, in such cases, plans continue to emerge and this is not good. For instance, in 2021 Lithuania proposed to construct an airport for Nauru in case the island recognizes Lithuania and Taiwan as completely sovereign states which are not dependent on China - showing that even such distant countries have some degree of relations regarding the borders of air services.

Lastly and most importantly, airports are critical in being fully engaged in global events. Therefore, nations that remain airportless for the long term whether by decisionmaking or due to other factors are likely to become even more secluded if no other solutions can help alleviate the African aviation disadvantage.

This brings us to the Outlook for these Nations

A few countries still do not have airports, and difficult barriers will remain an issue to hinder their abilities to transport goods, host tourists, dispatch envoys, repatriate nationals, and acquire overseas services.

With regards to creative coping strategies however, it remains for national strategists to decide whether building scale airports within their populace, geography, and resource base is the way to go, or whether other solutions such as improving seaport or landcrossing capacities should be the priorities instead.

Anyhow, with aero flight constituting the modern mundane, nations that lack even a single airport will have their horizons set on economic growth and world integration unless they can fly the literal and figurative coop. Hence for these nations, their airport status will continue to be all about their status in policy perspectives for the future if growth continues to remain aspirations for its population.

The lack of airports poses a very significant hurdle in the handling of logistics, trade, and even politics and this has been deemed as less tolerable as aviation becomes intertwined with life all over the globe each year. Thus, finding ways to ˜take a wing is still a must sooner than later for the few nations that do not have an airport, as they plot out their next.