The world’s most remote airport with just one airline and three flights a day

The world’s most remote airport is so secluded there's just one airline that runs from it - with a mere three flights a day during peak season.

The closest airport to it is Santiago (SCL), Chile, which is almost 2,400 miles away. It is only between these two airports that the one known airline, LATAM Airlines, runs its couple of daily flights. Although the airport of Mangareva in the Gambier Islands is technically closer, it has no direct connection with it. 

There are also direct flights to Faa’a International Airport of Papeete in Tahiti (French Polynesia), located 2,643, which is the only international destination with which it connects. 

LATAM Airlines has at least one daily flight connecting Santiago with Easter Island - known as Rapa Nui by its indigenous inhabitants - with the frequency increasing to two on some days and three during the high season.

The flight takes over five and a half hours from Santiago. However, due to lower demand, there is currently only one weekly flight to Tahiti.

The island’s closest inhabited neighbour is Pitcairn Island, some 1,200 miles away. In 2011, LATAM opened a new route with a direct flight from Lima (Peru) to Easter Island. However, after a few months of operation, it stopped and is yet to have been reactivated. 

Sitting at an elevation of 69 metres, Mataveri airport is the main entry point for the more than 100,00 passengers who travel to Easter Island each year to admire its archaeological sites. 

At the small terminal, there are a series of sculptures carved into volcanic rock, inspired by Rapa Nui mythology. The airport is very small, with just a few stalls offering souvenirs, handicrafts, clothing and books. There was an ATM, but after an attempted robbery this was removed. 

After leaving the airport, tourists are often given necklaces of typical flowers to welcome them to Rapa Nui. Upon departure, a farewell gift of a seashell necklace is offered. 

Scheduled services from the Chilean mainland started in 1967 with small propliner flights which took nine hours. In 1970, the services were upgraded with a weekly Boeing 707 nonstop service to Santiago and Tahiti. 

The airport’s single runway is 3,318 metres long. The airport was once designated an abort site for the US Space Shuttle when polar orbital flights from the southern California air base were planned, which was subsequently cancelled. Completed in 1987, NASA undertook a project to lengthen the runway to boost tourism to the island. 

Due to the lack of diversion airports between Tahiti and South America except for Mataveri, Chilean aviation authorities prohibit more than one aircraft from being in the vicinity of Mataveri.

Once an aircraft flying from South America passes the halfway point between South America and Easter Island, no other aircraft can be closer than its own halfway point until the first aircraft successfully lands on the island.