Mountain flying
The
altiports
An altiport is an aerodrome for aeroplanes and helicopters, usually high in the mountains, whose runways have the particular feature of being sloped. Take-offs are made downhill and landings uphill. An aeroplane pilot must hold the “mountain rating” to use such airfields.
France has 8 altiports, 6 of them in the Alps (Alpe d'Huez, Corlier, Courchevel, Megève, Méribel and La Motte-Chalancon), one in the Pyrenees (Peyresourde) and one in French Polynesia (on the island of Ua Pou).
One example is the “Henri Giraud” altiport at Alpe d'Huez (LFHU), near Grenoble.


