Most surreal airport in the world has cars stopping to allow planes to take off from a runway they drive over

There’s an airport in Europe that’s so surreal it forces drivers to look for oncoming plane traffic on the runway and vice versa.

It’s like a train crossing, but with planes instead.

Amazingly, despite sounding like a completely crazy idea, it works.

This is one of the most complicated airports in the world

Nearly every sovereign country in the world has at least one airport.

There are exceptions, of course, but most exceptions aren’t a problem.

Monaco and the Vatican don’t have airports, but Nice is right next door to Monaco and, well, the Vatican is in Rome.

The only true exceptions are minute islands where there’s simply no room for a runway.

The airport mentioned here belongs to a semi-independent territory where pilots probably sweat a bit more when they’re landing or taking off.

The weirdest airport in the world?

Gibraltar Airport in Europe is famous for two things.

First, its wild crosswinds.

Second, the runway is interrupted by a road – or vice versa, depending on how you want to look at it.

The road, which at this point has become a tourist attraction, features the equivalent of a train crossing.

Up until 2023, all cars stopped before the barrier and waited for the plane to take off.

Around three years ago, Gibraltar opened a brand-new dual-carriageway tunnel under the runway.

Most cars, buses, and trucks are now banned from driving across the runway and must use the tunnel instead.

The level crossing is still open, but it’s now mostly used by pedestrians and cyclists.

Still, it is truly surreal.

But, clearly, it works.

Gibraltar has an immaculate safety record, which at the end of the day is the only thing that truly matters.