Which Countries Have No Commercial Airports and Why?

In the 21st century, one would assume all countries to have airports, but you would be surprised to learn that it is not the case. There are some countries which either rely on the good graces of their neighbour for air access or have their own helipads, but no commercial airports. Countries with no commercial airports or air travel access have unsuitable terrain and geography and are too small to need their own commercial airport.  

Let us look at the list of countries with no commercial airports and why they do not have one. 

Small City States with Little Population 

Nations that comprise only one city and its surrounding lands are considered city states, they are sovereign and independent. The Vatican and Monaco are two such city states that do not have a commercial airport. 

Vatican City 

The Vatican has a small population of 800 people, and it is spread across 120 acres of land or about 0.19 square miles. To put things into perspective here, the JFK Airport in New York City covers 5200 acres and its central terminus area alone takes about 880 acres. The airstrip of the London City Airport is 150 acres in size alone. The Vatican cannot even fit this airstrip in the city space and relies on the Ciampino and Fiumicino airports near Rome. 

Monaco 

Monaco is another city state that is Italy and France’s neighbour, an airport cannot be constructed here and attempting to do so might ruin the city’s waterfront, the 38,000 large population of the city relies on the Cote d'Azur Airport located in France. 

Microstates With Difficult Geography 

The next three countries on this list have much in common: They are European, small, and have mountainous terrain. This makes airport construction and operations extremely difficult. 

Liechtenstein 

Liechtenstein is a country that sits right between Switzerland and Austria in the Alps, and the country shares a close relationship with the former. Due to this closeness, the people of Liechtenstein rely on the St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport and at times the larger Zurich Airport. 

Andorra 

Andorra is a microstate nestled in the Midi-Pyrenees in between France and Spain, it is the largest of the microstates mentioned in the list. The main airports used for travel by the people of Andorra are Barcelona and Girona in Spain and Toulouse in France. 

San Marino 

San Marino is another mountainous city state located in the Italian peninsula, and it can be reached via the Italian coastal city of Rimini through its Federico Fellini International Airport. 

Other Examples 

Remote possessions of several nations also lack commercial airport access, like Pitcairn Island controlled by the United Kingdom, and the island of Tristan De Cunha in Saint Helena, which can only be reached via ship from South Africa. These places have a small population, at times as little as 50 people, thus they do not operate a commercial airport.  

While these places do not have commercial air connectivity, the aviation industry is expanding in other regions and increasing urbanisation in developing nations is opening many opportunities as new airports come about in many cities.