Gibraltar airport is a little unusual (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
You might be used to stopping for cars or trains when you’re behind the wheel – but when was the last time you stopped to let a plane cross?
Well, until fairly recently drivers heading past Gibraltar International Airport had that very issue – with the island’s main road towards Spain crossing right through the airport runway – and leading to some pretty big traffic issues as a result.
Gibraltar International Airport – previously known as North Front Airport – serves the British overseas territory, with the runway and aerodrome owned by the Ministry of Defence and operated by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. There’s also a civilian-operated terminal, with the likes of British Airways and Easyjet running flights there.
But while most airports are tucked neatly away from roads, traffic and other obstacles which might complicate the business of landing planes, it’s a different story here.
Until recently traffic was stopped for planes at least 15 times a day (Picture: Getty Images)
In this case the airport intersects with Winston Churchill Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares on the island, which runs to the land border connecting Gibraltar with Spain. Consequently, it’s one of the busiest roads in Gibraltar.
All of which has meant aircraft crossing the road after they land in order to access main part of the airport. Which in turn has led to travel congestion on a regular basis, as the road has to be closed every time a plane takes off or lands.
Imagine that happening at Heathrow.
The road is also used by pedestrians – with the airport’s official website also referring to it as one ‘of the many unusual tourist attractions of Gibraltar’.
It stats: ‘Visitors are often surprised that they are walking across the runway they had just landed on only minutes before.’
However a new bypass tunnel has put paid to this (Picture: Getty Images)
Those who are crossing the runway are given strict instructions on how to do so safely – and if you want to take a photo of yourself doing it you’d better be careful.
‘Naturally the spot near Air Traffic Control is an epic selfie / photo opportunity, but we must remember the area is an active runway,’ the airport website points out.
While it’s led to plenty of traffic chaos over the years, the days of tailbacks may finally be at an end. The road has crossed the airport runway ever since it was built in the 1940s – with delays to traffic occurring up to 15 times a day.
However a bypass tunnel was proposed allowing traffic to head underneath the runway instead of trying to drive through it – and this got approval in the 2000s, with construction on the project getting underway in 2008.
The airport is popular with tourists looking to take selfies on the runway (Picture: Getty Images)
It hasn’t been an easy ride though, with legal wrangles and issues with the construction all conspiring to delay it by years.
The new tunnel finally opened at one minute past midnight on March 31 2023, with vehicular access across the runway being closed.
Although the road remains in place, it is no longer available for use by private vehicles, with traffic only able to access it for specific reasons such as emergencies.
As for pedestrians – well they’ve also got their own tunnel which can also be used by cyclists or those on e-scooters. But unlike the vehicle tunnel, they don’t have to use it and can still cross the road in the middle of the runway on foot.
So you can still get those selfies – as long as you keep an eye out for approaching planes…
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