It’s the world’s northernmost airport. And its runway is melting

The frozen expanses of the Arctic are fast becoming some of the world’s hotspots. President Donald Trump’s bid for Greenland, and growing Russian and Chinese interest in opening the sea lanes along Siberia’s northern coast, have put these remote regions in the spotlight. But the Arctic’s newfound popularity is not all about geopolitics. Destinations along the Arctic Circle, from Alaska to Lapland, are reporting record visitor numbers as adventurous travelers seek the thrill of exploring the planet’s ultimate frontiers. A Swedish startup called OceanSky Cruises is even planning to run luxury airship journeys to the North Pole, although there’s no launch date in sight. But while the apex of our planet may remain beyond the reach of the average traveler for quite some time, some airlines can fly incredibly close to it. One of the most extreme pieces of land on this planet, as far as latitude is concerned, is actually quite easy to get to. Svalbard Airport, on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, is the world’s northernmost airport with scheduled commercial flights. Two airlines, SAS and Norwegian, fly year-round between the airport in Longyearbyen, the main settlement on the islands, and the Norwegian mainland, more than 800 kilometers to the south. The airport regularly welcomes charter flights and private jets too, such is the allure of its unique geographical location. The Arctic is one of the world’s most environmentally fragile regions and the team at Svalbard Airport has already had a first taste of the effects of climate change. When Longyearbyen’s 2,300-meter-long runway was built in the early 1970s, no one expected the permafrost layer it was constructed on to start melting. But that is exactly what’s happening now.<br/>