I’ve mentioned my strangely popular ferry pages before. They receive lots of search engine referrals in a bit of a chicken-and-the-egg manner: did the site’s success create higher rankings on search engine algorithms or did search engines create the site’s popularity, or a bit of both in a ratcheting cycle? I dunno (frankly not going to put much thought into it either). I do know that a random search recorded in my files sparked this article and that’s all that really matters.
It read simply, “airport ferry.”
I know of several airport ferries right off the top of my head. If my memory serves me, Hong Kong and Saint Martin have ferries either co-located or nearby. Even Boston’s Logan Airport has a ferry. However, I wonder how many people actually use it? I take the T or a taxi depending on traffic.
Let’s make this a bit more challenging. Are there airports where a ferry ride is the only option? Sure, I suppose a helicopter might always be an option but let’s set that aside. Most of us don’t have those kinds of resources available to us. Where would a traveler get stuck at the airport, unable to reach the primary town serviced by the airport without a ferry?
There are a few places like that.
Prince Rupert, BC, Canada
Prince Rupert is located on Kaien Island. Conveniently, the Yellowhead Highway connects it to mainland British Columbia. On the other hand, air service is a completely different story. Prince Rupert Airport is located on nearby Digby Island which has no outside road connections (map). Instead, the City of Prince Rupert operates a Digby Island Ferry. The trip last about twenty minutes as it crosses the harbour and its included in the price in the airfare.
Ketchikan, AK, USA
One doesn’t need to travel very far to find another instance, just 100 miles (160 km.) towards the northwest to Ketchikan, Alaska. Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island and the Ketchikan International Airport is located across a straight on Gravina Island (map). Ketchikan is landlocked unlike Prince Rupert. Otherwise it’s essentially the same situation. The Ketchikan Gateway Borough operates a ferry that runs on a half-hour cycle.
You may have heard of this ferry location before. It was the proposed site of the Gravina Island Bridge, the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere” that would have cost $398 million and instead became an enduring symbol of pork barrel politics.
The media portrayed it as a bridge for the 50 residents of Gravina Island. However, that’s a bit simplified. They really intended it to replace the ferry and connect Ketchikan to its airport. That would have benefited 8,000 residents rather than 50. Still, it works out to about $50,000 per resident. I’ll let others decide whether the benefits of a bridge would have outweighed the costs. We know what 12MC’s possible secret admirer thought about the situation.
Toronto, ON, Canada
Well, Toronto is a completely different story. Toronto Pearson International Airport — the city’s primary airport — is totally accessible through the road network. Rather it’s the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport that requires a ferry (map).
Unlike Ketchikan, there has actually been fierce opposition to a possible bridge connecting the city airport to the mainland. It might make the airport more convenient and thereby increase its popularity, resulting in greater noise and air pollution. Thus travelers desiring the convenience of a downtown landing must use The Toronto Island Ferry after they disembark to cross a whopping 122 meters (400 ft.) of open water.
UPDATE: The airport added a pedestrian tunnel in 2015, so maybe it doesn’t qualify for this list anymore?
Malé, Maldives
I knew about the previous three examples already. I found the situation in the Maldives after a quick web search. Visitors wishing to get from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport on Hulhulé Island to the nearby capital on the island of Malé likewise need a ferry (map). I don’t know much more about it other than it looks really cool and the population density on Malé is unbelievable. Check out a closeup view in Satellite mode.
I’m sure there are plenty of other examples out there for the 12MC audience to find. Once again, I’m interested in airports where riding a ferry is the only reasonable alternative to access the cities they serve.
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