Watch a Plane Take Off from This Runway in the French Alps


Courchevel Altiport (IATA: CVF, ICAO: LFLJ) is an altiport serving Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps. The airfield has a very short runway of only 537 metres (1,762 ft) with a gradient of 18.6%.

According to Wikipedia:

There is no go-around procedure for landings at Courchevel, due to the surrounding mountainous terrain. De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters and DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprops served the airport in the past; however, the airfield primarily sees smaller fixed-wing aircraft such as Cessnas as well as helicopters at present. The runway has no instrument approach procedure or lighting aids, thus making landing in fog and low clouds unsafe and almost impossible.

The airport is considered dangerous, as it features a difficult approach, an upslope runway and ski runs in the adjacent area. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports ranks it as the seventh most dangerous airport in the world.