9 abandoned airports around the world and the history behind them

Talia LakritzJun 29, 2020, 19:26 IST

Jaisalmer Airport in Rajasthan, India.Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters

Some airports around the world have become abandoned due to financial woes, such as Ciudad Real Central Airport in Spain.
Others, like Sukhumi Babushara Airport in Abkhazia, have been damaged in conflict.
The vacant, dilapidated spaces are occasionally used as movie sets or for scrap metal.

From deserted Olympic venues to silent amusement parks to hotels that haven't had guests in centuries, abandoned places continue to capture the imagination of urban explorers and curious people around the world.

As places we normally think of as crowded, busy hubs of travel, airports are particularly eerie when they've been sitting unused for years.

Here are nine eerie abandoned airports around the world — and how they got to be this way.

Photographer Roman Robroek visited the Sukhumi Babushara Airport in Abkhazia that hasn't been used since the early 1990s.

Abkhazia, a disputed region in Georgia. Roman Robroek

"Concrete staircases leading to an empty upper level were some of the only structures I saw standing," Robroek wrote for Business Insider.

An abandoned staircase in Sukhumi Babushara Airport. Roman Robroek

No passengers or planes have ever passed through Jaisalmer Airport in Rajasthan, India.

Rajasthan, India. Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters

The smaller airport couldn't compete with larger travel hubs in the area.

An abandoned check-in counter. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee

Hellenikon International Airport in Greece was the city's main hub for commercial air travel for 60 years.

Athens, Greece. Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters

It's been defunct since 2001.

A run-down gate at Hellenikon International Airport. REUTERS/ Yorgos Karahalis

Nicosia International Airport in Cyprus was built as a military airfield in the 1930s.

Nicosia, Cyprus. NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

It became part of a demilitarized zone in 1974.

Barbed wire at Nicosia International Airport. NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Manston Airport in England closed in 2014.

Manston, England. Carl Court/Getty Images

According to a report by Kent County Council and reported by Kent Online, the airport simply wasn't profitable.

Aerial view of the runway at Manston Airport. Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images

Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany, was built by the Nazis between 1936 and 1941, and used to build combat aircraft and weapons.

Berlin, Germany. Business Insider/Sam Shead

The abandoned airport is occasionally used as a movie set.

Tempelhof Airport. Business Insider/Sam Shead

Hong Kong's Kai Tak International Airport was built in 1925, nestled right in the middle of mountains and high-rise buildings.

Hong Kong, China. Larry Chan/Reuters

After one too many botched landings as well as overcrowding issues, the airport shut down in 1998.

An overview of the unused space where Hong Kong's old Kai Tak airport used to operate. RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images

Ciudad Real Central Airport in Spain cost $1.2 billion (€1 billion) to build.

Ciudad Real, Spain. Oli Scarff/Getty Images

It was sold in a bankruptcy auction in 2015.

The abandoned Ciudad Real Central Airport. Oli Scarff/Getty Images

President Bill Clinton flew to Gaza for the opening of the Gaza International Airport in 1998.

Rafah, Gaza Strip. Ahmad Khateib/Getty Images

Today, local Palestinians use the ruined concrete and scrap metal for construction materials.

The destroyed and deserted terminal of the Gaza Airport. SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

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