Mataveri International Airport, the most remote airport on Earth, located on Easter Island has only about a dozen scheduled flights per week. You only get about one shot per day at catching a big bird take off. I checked the schedule and drove up a mountain this afternoon to catch this LAN 767-300 take off bound for Santiago. On such a quiet island, you can’t help but hear the power of these jets as they kick up.
The location of the airport is beautiful with coastal roads circling the runway from both directions enabling several great vantage points to watch takeoffs and arrivals. The airport was once designated as an abort site for the U.S. Space Shuttle.
The bottom line
No matter how little time I may have in a particular destination, there is always time to catch a big bird takeoff. What a sight!
About alex
Alex loves to travel and does so a lot. Logging 100,000 flight miles each year over the past 4 years, Alex uses points and miles to power his passion. Alex is continuously striving to experience the far reaches of the globe. In his day job, Alex is a Management Consultant frequently on the road advising Technology organizations. I love thinking about, reading about, and talking about all things travel. Feel free to reach me at pmmalex@gmail.com
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Amen!
Nice! I’m actually going to Easter Island in a couple of days so this is kind of a nice preview of things to come.
BTW, any recommendations on hotels? I’ve been reading a variety of different opinions with the consensus being that it’s better (and cheaper) to book accomodations upon arrival at the airport.
I wouldn’t recommend waiting until arriving on island to book your hotel. We were there a month ago and didn’t spot anyone offering discount hotel pricing. We actually got pretty good rates by writing to every hotel on the island (there aren’t that many)and requesting last minute pricing. Many offered 20-25% discounts from their internet pricing. We negotiated down from those prices, and wound up with a 33% price cut. Outside of the Explora resort ($900/nite/couple) and Hotel Hangaroa, all accomodations on EI are basic. We stayed at the #2 Tripadvisor place (Kaimana) but would not recommend it.
@MKM – I just completed an excellent stay at Hotel Taura’a. The hotel is comfortable and has an excellent location on main street in Hanga Roa. The tour guides they set us up with were phenomenal. The only downside (which did not bother my stay but is worth noting) was a lack of hot water for showering, which is common for average accommodations on EI. If you want to splurge, the Explora is the best hotel on the island by a long shot.
Great shots! We were just there last month, and we also did some plane spotting by watching one of the planes fly directly overhead on the road right behind the airport. We never ended up getting a tour guide, but it was such a great place to explore and really did feel remote.
You can find here a video of my flight taking off from the airport and over passing the all island at slow speed:
http://youtu.be/k5hswWKa_8s