Airports are already charged with emotions, but add a few ghost stories, and you’ve got a recipe for serious chills. Around the world, these places have been linked to horror and tragedy. If you’re drawn to such tales, we’ve compiled a few eerie airfields with reports from staff, travelers, and even authorities.
Denver International’s Blame Game and Bizarre Murals
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Conspiracy theories around Denver International Airport in Colorado include underground bunkers, secret societies, and portals. More creepily, construction workers claimed to hear whispering voices and footsteps in empty tunnels during the 1990s. The airport’s massive, apocalyptic murals and giant red-eyed horse statue don't exactly ease suspicions either.
Singapore’s Changi: A WWII Echo Chamber
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Singapore Changi Airport is consistently rated the world’s best—but behind the glam, it holds secrets. It’s built near former Japanese POW camps, and employees report ghost sightings of soldiers and weeping prisoners in Terminal 3’s bathrooms. Cleaning crews have walked off shifts after they heard chains dragging and doors slamming when no one was around.
Flight Delays at LAX—and Not All Are Human
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Los Angeles International Airport sees hundreds of flights daily, but some flyers don’t have tickets or pulses. Staff say ghostly passengers wander Terminal 6, which is believed to be tied to several mid-air tragedies involving flights from LAX. One pilot even claimed to see a ghostly figure sitting in the cockpit during preflight checks in 2002.
The Weeping Woman at Mexico City International
Credit: flickr
Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City stands on Aztec ground. Legend says a spirit known as "La Llorona" weeps through Terminal 1 late at night. Security guards reportedly avoid solo patrols, citing cold gusts and unexplained equipment malfunctions in their known haunts.
Heathrow’s Ghost in the Fog
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
After a 1948 crash on the runway, multiple witnesses—workers and pilots—saw a burned man pacing through the fog near Runway 1 at London’s Heathrow Airport. Reports spiked again in the 1970s when flight crews described the same man standing in empty jetways.
Phantom Plane at O’Hare International
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 crashed at O’Hare International in Chicago right after takeoff, killing all 271 on board. Since then, air traffic controllers have reported seeing a similar jet flicker on the radar and disappear. Some even say ghostly figures have been spotted at Gate K5, where the flight departed.
The Restless Spirits of Kai Tak
Credit: flickr
Despite being shut down in 1998, the old Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong lives on in ghost stories. Pilots frequently complained of a white-clothed woman standing at the edge of the runway, only to vanish as planes approached. She’s said to be the ghost of a passenger who died during a botched emergency landing in the 1960s.
Jumpers Haunting Bangkok’s Don Mueang
Credit: flickr
Don Mueang International Airport in Thailand has had several suicides over the years—passengers leaping from upper floors. Security guards speak in hushed tones about a female spirit roaming the check-in area late at night.
India’s Haunted Terminal in Chennai
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Workers died when scaffolding gave way, and since then, there have been screams and footsteps echoing in the cargo area. We’re talking about the Chennai International Airport, said to be haunted by victims of a 1980s construction collapse.
Crying Baby on the Runway at Jackson
Credit: flickr
Jackson International Airport in Mississippi might be one of the quietest on this list, but reports of a crying baby on the tarmac have persisted for years. The sound is loud, clear, and impossible to trace, possibly linked to a 1995 small plane crash involving a mother and her infant during a storm.
Poltergeist Problems at Sydney Kingsford Smith
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Australia’s busiest airport is also home to strange electrical issues that engineers can’t explain, from lights flickering and radios picking up whispers. Even security footage randomly erases itself. Staff believe it’s tied to the 1945 crash of a military plane nearby, and several refuse to work night shifts near Terminal 2’s old storage wing.
Pilot Apparitions at Miami International
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
After Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed into the Florida Everglades in 1972, salvaged parts were reportedly reused in other aircraft. Pilots and crew soon began seeing Captain Bob Loft and Engineer Don Repo in cockpits and cabins. The sightings were so frequent that Eastern eventually removed all salvaged parts from its fleet.
Burial Ground Beneath Savannah/Hilton Head
Credit: Wikipedia
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Georgia literally paved over graves. Two marked and untouched graves remain in the middle of Runway 10. They belong to Richard and Catherine Dotson, whose descendants refused relocation.
Cursed Terminal at King Khalid Airport
Credit: Facebook
Located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, King Khalid International Airport has rumors tied to ancient burial sites unearthed during construction in the 1980s. There were workers who died from freak accidents shortly after. Some gates give off an “oppressive” feeling, and even cameras malfunction when aimed at a specific hallway near Gate 23.
The Ghostly Flight Attendant at Moscow’s Vnukovo
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
At Vnukovo International Airport, one spirit is hard to miss. She’s been described as a 1970s-era flight attendant walking through the terminal, staring blankly ahead. Staff have followed her, only to watch her disappear into the old maintenance door. Historians say she may have worked for Aeroflot and died in a 1972 runway collision.