Ivato International Airport — Antananarivo, Madagascar

TNR sits in Ivato, a northern suburb of Antananarivo, and functions as the principal doorway to Madagascar, an island nation whose isolation from mainland Africa produced one of the planet's most distinctive ecosystems. Roughly ninety percent of the wildlife found on the island, from lemurs to baobab trees, exists nowhere else, and international visitors bound for national parks and reserves nearly always pass through this airport first. Antananarivo, often shortened to Tana, spreads across a series of hills at an elevation that keeps TNR's runway well above sea level, a factor that affects aircraft performance on hot days. Air Madagascar, the long-established national carrier, anchors much of the domestic network here, while a handful of foreign airlines connect the capital to Paris, Nairobi, and Addis Ababa. Traffic patterns fluctuate with Madagascar's tourism seasons, which peak during the drier months when wildlife viewing conditions are best.