Easter Island's Mataveri Airport: The World's Most Remote Air Travel Hub
Mataveri International Airport (IPC), also known as Isla de Pascua Airport, holds the title of the world's most remote airport. Its nearest neighbor is Totegegie Airport in French Polynesia, which is approximately 1,617 miles away.
The airport is situated on Easter Island, a Chilean territory over 2,000 miles from mainland South America. This isolation has limited flight operations throughout its history.
LATAM Chile, formerly known as LAN Chile, was the first airline to establish regular services to Easter Island in 1967. Initially, Douglas DC-6 aircraft took nine hours to reach the island from mainland Chile. With the introduction of jet aircraft, Boeing 707s were introduced on services from IPC to Santiago and Faa'a International Airport (PPT) in Papeete, Tahiti.
NASA extended the runway to its current length of 10,886 feet in 1987 as part of plans for Space Shuttle missions. Although these missions were canceled, the longer runway benefited commercial operations by allowing airlines to operate larger aircraft on flights to and from Easter Island.