Calicut International Airport — Calicut, India

Calicut International Airport sits atop a laterite plateau at Karipur, about 25 kilometers from the city of Kozhikode in India's Kerala state, and its tabletop runway configuration has made it both a vital regional gateway and a subject of aviation safety scrutiny. Opened in 1988, CCJ quickly became a lifeline for the Malabar region's enormous expatriate workforce, offering direct connections to Gulf destinations such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, and Kuwait that remittance-dependent families rely on heavily. The plateau setting means steep drop-offs exist at both runway ends, a geographic quirk shared by only a handful of airports worldwide and one that contributed to a tragic overrun accident during heavy monsoon rain in August 2020, when an Air India Express flight skidded off the wet surface. Despite that setback, the airport rebuilt its safety systems and resumed full operations, continuing to serve as an international customs entry point, a hub for Hajj and Umrah pilgrim charters, and a critical artery connecting inland Kerala towns to the wider world beyond its lush, monsoon-fed hills.