GERMANY
BERLIN-SCHONEFELD (EDDB/SXF)
The Holiday Day Inn is 5 minutes from the terminal and has a garden area on top of the hotel. From here you can see part of the ramp area and if the aircraft are side on you should be able to read them. Website http://www.berlin-spotter.de/spotternewsauswahl.htm
Updated 12 March 2008
BERLIN-TEGEL (EDDT/TXL)
The viewing terrace is only open from 10am-6pm, entry is 2 Euros and there are no toilets. Security checks and bags are searched every time you enter. If it’s shut you can log from the Cockpit café, which has an outside eating area and gives good views of the runway. Also the glazed stairwells to the left and right of the area leading to the main section of gates. There are windows that can be seen from the main concourse and signs for restaurant and club lounges. The Mecure hotel has rooms overlooking the runway and terminal. For more information please visit http://www.planeboys.de/. Website http://www.berlin-airport.de/PubEnglish.
For more info http://www.berlin-spotter.de/spotternewsauswahl.htm
Updated 12 March 2008
BERLIN-TEMPLEHOF (EDDI/THF)
Views from the terminal are negligible. You could be lucky and see one through the departures doors. There are three gliders hung in the roof, two of which are registered. You can see some visitors from Tempelhofer Damme. Take the U-bahn U6 to Paradestrasse and walk away from the terminal. With a lot of ducking and diving you will read off some of the visitors parked to the south of the terminal but none of the airliners. You could walk further down to Templehof station and then up the exit ramp of the A100 where more can be seen, but this is quite dangerous as the cars fly off the motorway at speed. Don't know what the police would do if they caught you. There are more views from the other side of the field in Neukolln. To get there by train go to Leinestrasse on the U8 then walk down Leine Strasse or Oker Strasse until you reach the airport boundary on Oder Strasse. Good optics are needed from here to read anything off. If you have a car some have had a "breakdown" on the A100 going westbound (towards Tegel) where a lot can be read off, but again you are on a fast moving autobahn with all the dangers. All the information you need is right here http://www.planeboys.de/ and here http://www.berlin-spotter.de/spotternewsauswahl.htm
Updated 15 December 2007
COLOGNE-BONN (EDDK/CGN)
Terminal 1 - Two viewing areas, Area B and Area C, one at each end of the terminal. Area B is accessed from within the terminal and is sign posted. It has seating and very limited cover if raining. There are also food and drink vending machines. Any aircraft arriving or leaving T2 will pass this point and views are also possible of part of the cargo areas and the threshold of runway 14L. Area C, at the other end of the terminal, can be accessed from either inside or outside the terminal via the stairs near exit C and departure gates C1-6, or via the first viewing area, and offers the best views by far. Again there is seating and limited cover if raining but no vending machines. Views are possible of the military area, WDL hanger, commuter ramps, aircraft leaving or arriving at GA but you cannot see the ramp-part of cargo. All 3 runways can be seen but views of the far runway 07/25 are very limited. There is also a light aircraft parking area in front behind some bushes. Both viewing areas are open from 7:30am-10pm daily but closed during bad weather, surrounded by glass panels and smoking is permitted. No toilets however these are available in the terminal, just a 2 minute walk away. Don't know about toilet facilities, but entrance is free so they shouldn't be too far away. If you want to watch the cargo flights arriving after the viewing areas have closed then you can just sit on the steps near the gate to the southerly viewing spot, which also overlooks the commuter ramps. There are very few cargo aircraft parked during the day. From around 1700 you’ll see a few arrivals but from 2200 it’s almost non-stop until 0100. At weekends there can be up to 50 freighters, but from the terraces you’ll only be able to log half. A car will probably be needed to get the rest. A café also gives views of arrivals. There is also a Burger King in T1 on the top floor, which is very popular. The commuter ramp Area A is also visible from the windows within Terminal 1, just keep heading right as you enter T1. Aircraft on T1 and T2 can be read in the dark with patience due to the lighting and the MD11s on cargo are also fairly easy to read at night. Terminal 2 has very limited views unless you're airside. The far left side of departures will give views of some of the remote stands - these can also be easily seen by leaving the terminal at the top level and turning right, following the road before it goes down a ramp.
There are 3 Blue Wings A330s stored here - they are parked adjacent to the cross runway that disappears into the forest on the left as viewed from the terminal, but the aircraft themselves are out of sight from the terminal. Weekdays are generally better - a morning and evening rush accompanied by a very slow few hours in between, with Saturday being extremely quiet. For more info visit http://www.aviation-friends-cologne.de/ - available in English, has a news section, and under the heading "THEMEN" you can find details of the stored aircraft. And http://www.airport-cgn.de - this has online flight info, full lay out maps of the airport and terminal areas, links to rail timetables and prices to Dusseldorf airport.
Correct as of 24 February 2008
DUSSELDORF (EDDL/DUS)
Two excellent viewing areas at this airport. On clearing customs, follow the exit signs and you will automatically come into the main concourse. To the right of the info desk are some stairs and lifts that go up to the third floor for the observation roof. Entry is 2 Euros and there are toilets and a snack bar. This is the only place you can see the biz so go here first. If they are taking off from left to right, stay here for the day though wrap up warm, there's no shelter. If they are right to left, head for the railway station. At the far end of the runways, way past the LTU hangers, is the railway station observation area. This is highly recommended. To get there, retrace your steps back to the main concourse. You will see signs to the railway station, monorail, SkyTrain. Take this free monorail to the Rail Station (Flugbahnhof), it will take about 5 minutes. Follow signs upwards for the viewing terrace (Zuschauerterrassen) and if you have paid your 2 Euros at the other viewing terrace, it's free. Just show your entry ticket at the desk and go upstairs. It has both outside and inside viewing areas, toilets and food nearby, opening hours are 6am-9pm (summer) and 9am-8pm (winter), you can come and go as you please, just show your ticket for re-entry. Please bear in mind that the inside area is not ventilated or air conditioned and a lot of smokers congregate indoors. The windows indoors are also dirty and dusty so take something to clean it to make sure you can see the arrivals. If it's snowing, this terrace could well be closed for safety reasons - a good alternative is the monorail station. Good views from there with no problems from security. WARNING - you must leave at least 1 hour AFTER check in, to clear the 3 stringent security checks, all with very long queues. If you're flying with British Airways you can spot from the end of pier B, past the second security check - don't wait to be called to the gate. From the end, you can see both departures and arrivals, with the only down side being no access to the cafes.
For more info visit http://www.dus-spot.de/index-e.html.
Correct as of 21 February 2008
EGELSBACH (EDFE/QEF)
Friendly, ask for access, which is granted provided you wear a hi-viz vest. Ask at the office, everywhere is accessible with the exception of the very end hangars, which are the Diamond agents, and the helicopter area. They may even open any locked hangars. Ask at each hangar, though some may deny access. If you take the S-Bahn to Egelsbach station, you can see the airfield and it’s within walking distance.
Added 27 February 2008
FRANKFURT-HAHN (EDFH/HHN)
There is a small outside terrace and smoking area next to the bar on the first floor, glass windows but no roof. No problems spotting from there.
Added 31 December 2007
FRANKFURT-MAIN (EDDF/FRA)
The spectator terrace at Terminal 2 is open and entry costs 4 Euros for adults. The entrance is located in the food court area on the upper floor of the terminal. Opening hours are daily 10.00-17.00 and all visitors must undergo a security check as stringent as the one for passengers. There are no refreshments and no toilets on the deck, no shelter from the weather and you are not allowed to take liquid onto it. When it’s scorching hot and you have no drink, it’s not pleasant. You can come and go as often as you like by showing your ticket, but you will be subject to a full search each time you enter. The terrace has a maximum capacity of 3000 visitors at any time, when this number is reached, access will be closed temporarily. Terminal 2 is located at the eastern end of the airfield and the view from the deck is of the terminal stands, the thresholds of 25L and 25R, a handful of aircraft parked on terminal 1 and anything that is parked at what used to be USAF Rhein Main. If 25L / R are being used by landing traffic, then all arriving aircraft will pass by directly in front of you. However a sizeable percentage of the departing traffic will use runway 18 at the opposite end of the airfield (regardless of wind direction). This unfortunately means that a number of aircraft that had been parked on Terminal 1 or in cargo will be missed as you watch them climb away in the distance. A guided tour of the apron runs daily on the hour between 13.00 and 16.00. In holiday periods two additional tours are run daily at 11.00 and 12.00. Price is 5 Euros for an adult. Tickets for this tour are bought by the overpass from Terminal 1 to the Frankfurt Airport Center. These leave from the rear (west end) of terminal 1 on the bridge to the airport conference centre. It takes you on a full ramp tour excluding the Lufthansa maintenance area for 1 hour and means you can get the aircraft parked at pier A that can't be seen from the terrace. Some recommend this as you can also get good views and photos of aircraft taxiing and parked up from the bus. Others say it's not worth it, as the aircraft parked at pier A will taxi past at some point during the day. Make a note of what runway is in use when you are due to depart to make sure you get on the correct side of the plane. On taxiing out and take off you will be able to pick off a few more that you couldn't get from the terrace. There is a viewing area adjacent to the departure runway, which is about 3 miles from the terminal. Turn left out of the terminal, go past all the blast walls and cargo area, under the approach lights, and as the road dips down towards the tunnel under the departure runway, you will see a set of steps on the right. Go up these, along a path for about 200 yards and you will see the concrete elevated platform. There are no facilities and no shade. Alternatively, turn right out of the terminal and there is a footpath around the airfield fence towards the US base and a Hotel. This is much less walking distance than turning left out of the terminal to the other area. No facilities here either. The Intercity Hotel near Freight Sud offers good views of the terminal and parallel runways, specifically room 3056 (would imagine 3052/3054/3058 offer similar). TV screen in foyer displays registrations of current movements and a courtesy bus is included in the room price. If you don’t get a room with a view, you can take the 5 min walk to the bridge and for some good views and can stay there until dark with no hassle. Or you can walk along the road toward a pathway, keeping the airfield on your left and you go pass a museum with a DC3 outside. Walk along the pathway until you get to a bit of a hill with a bridge behind you, and you can see the whole airfield from here. For more info visit http://www.rmas.de/ - German only.
The following paragraph is about the Terminal 1 viewing terrace, which at present remains closed. I have kept the information here as when it opens it will again be useful. For now, please disregard:
It does not get any better than the official viewing terrace at Terminal 1 - entry costs 3 Euros, though it appears that if you arrive before the "opening time" of 10am it's free! It shuts at 18:30. Follow the signs for Skyline Terminal 1 B and C and take the monorail for one stop. Head down some escalators (2 flights I think) and follow the signs for the exit. You'll go through passport control. As you follow the signs for the exit, you'll see signs for Besucherterrasse. As you are about to leave the terminal building head left (which will be the right hand side of the building) and in the corner are some escalators up. Head forward and to the left a bit, and there's the entrance. 3 Euros, a security check and then a long walk to the terrace itself. It's all a long walk, so make sure you leave plenty of time to get back to Terminal 2 and through the security checks. If you fly out of Pier D there are additional checks, your shoes are removed and put through the x-ray machine with your hand luggage, and your binoculars are wiped down and air particles are sucked through a machine. The terrace has everything - toilets, benches, shade (though you have to move around a bit as the sun appears to chase you!), I didn't go inside where I believe the monitors with the flights and registrations are (?). You'll see everything on the two runways in front of you, you may not be able to get the biz park due to distance and heat haze and you won't get any LH cargo flights that go straight to 18 to depart. 18 seems to be used mainly for departures though I did see one or two arrivals. Most flights will arrive on the two parallel runways, with either being used for departures when necessary. It seems you miss very little. Open 8am-8pm there is no reason not to spend 12 hours spotting here at one of the most spotter friendly and busiest airports in Europe. The terrace is down one side of pier B on T1. The other side of pier B, pier C and T2 are to the left. All the commuter flights park in front of T2, where the views aren't great but they will all taxi past at some point. Three parallel runways directly in front of the terrace. Farthest runway tends to be used by biz, military arrivals and the occasional commuter departure from T2. One Air Force base is opposite the terrace, beyond the runways. To the right of this base is one of the cargo areas and a couple of maintenance hangars. Further right is the biz ramp. From the terrace, looking to the right, your view of the Lufthansa maintenance area and the main cargo area beyond that is blocked by pier A. The runway that the cargo and maintenance aircraft use for departure is such that you will only see them when they are accelerating away from you so you will have to be quick. Once this closes at night there is a place near McDonald's to camp out.
Updated 19 March 2008
HAMBURG (EDDH/HAM)
The terraces are now incorporated with the restaurants, and are signposted from within the terminal. No problems viewing from here and it’s open til very late. The circular car park is ok to spot from for logging, but not particularly good for photographs. Website http://www.hamburgspotters.net/.
Updated 6 June 2007
HANNOVER (EDDV/HAJ)
Without a car there are two main spotting points - the Observation deck on the terminal and the 'North' multi-story car park. The observation deck can be reached by lifts and stairs between terminals A and B, is open 09.00 to 18.45 in the summer and costs 1 euro entry. Open air and behind plexi glass. It faces the south runway, but although not all stands are visible you should see everything that moves. There's a remote apron directly opposite the terrace and terminal B. Sun and glass mean it's not great for photos. To get to the north car park, leave terminal A (northern end) and follow the signs for GAT. Turn right when you reach the GAT terminal and the car park is about 200 yards in front of you – 5-10 minutes walk from the terminal. The car park overlooks the holding point of the north runway 27R and is fantastic for photos. Only facilities are toilets by the lifts at the bottom. Airport has two parallel runways, with the northern runway being much longer. The airport is split into three terminals, although they are all linked: A is the northern one and is used by Lufthansa and other flag carriers, while the southern most is C and is used by TUI, Air Berlin and Condor. The rest use the middle terminal B. If you're only interested in spotting the terrace is best as flights, especially Air Berlin etc, do arrive and depart from the Southern runway, which is difficult (but not impossible) to see from the North multi storey. No problems with security. The hotel Maritim is across the road from the terminal and even numbered rooms in the 'north wing' should have views of the North runway.
Added 26 August 2007
MUNICH (EDDM/MUC)
Only use the viewing terrace (Besucherterrasse) in Terminal 2 to read the biz, but it also overlooks the Lufthansa, Star Alliance carriers and commuter ramps. Located on the 5th floor and is open 8am-10pm. Take the lift to the top floor and following the signs for Observation Hall. Entry costs 2 Euros with no re-entry and there are toilet facilities. It is sheltered, but only with netting so it's no good if it rains. No problem identifying aircraft using T2 and biz but the runways are some distance away so you have to keep a close watch at all times, plus the curve of the glass means that you can miss some on landing - you'll have to wait for them to taxi back out if it's heading for T1. Check the weather reports before you leave too - if they're using 26 they're landing in front of you and it's easy, if using 08 then the glass will get in the way, but you can still see both runways. However, you can’t see the cargo area – for this go to the top of the MSCP on Level 11 to see right across the cargo ramp and those parked on T1. Definitely head for the spotting mound known as Besucherhugel, which is located within the airports viewing park, known as Beuscherpark. From the S Bahn station, it is the first stop from the airport on trains S1 and S8 and costs 2 Euros return. Tickets can be obtained from the ticket office in Terminal 1. After leaving the train you can see the mound clearly from the station, but it's then a 10-15 minute walk to get there. Entry to the mound costs 1 Euro, but you will have to keep paying 1 Euro each time you want to get a drink, use the toilet or take shelter from a passing shower. Plus it's 72 steps to get down from the mound to the park, where the refreshments and toilets are. Café is open 10am-6pm and the shop is open 9am-5pm. All movements can be logged from here, but you'll need to watch for the biz leaving runway 26 early as they soon disappear to the hangers. There is also an airport tour that runs from the viewing park: 3 times a day at weekends – 11:30, 13:30 and 15:30 and once a day at 13:30 during the week. It costs 8.50 Euros and covers most of the airside areas including the GA ramp, cargo and maintenance hangars. The tour lasts for about an hour and must be pre-booked in the administration office within the viewing park an hour before the tour is due to leave. The stored aircraft are D-ANOY Ju52, HB-IRN DC3, D-HILF Bo105 and D-AELM L1049. Each of the attractions has its own entry fee or it is possible to buy a combined ticket for 10 Euros. The combined ticket gives access to everything once including the ramp tour. Parking at the mound costs 12 Euros per day. Airside it takes a good 10 minutes to get from one end to the other, but you can see everything parked at the gates. It's not good to stay here for the day however, as you are stuck between the two runways and could miss something - a plan would be to log everything at the gates and then set up by the arrivals runway. By reviewing the Munich arrivals website you can see what is due in and what parks on which terminal. The viewing deck on top of T2 closes at 10pm but if you’re still wanting to spot, it is well lit up. The only hotel that has views is the Kempinski Hotel http://www.kempinski-airport.de/en/hotel/index.htm and it’s expensive. All other hotels are a bus or train ride away. The Kempinski Hotel is a 2 minute walk from the viewing area and is in between T1 and T2. You will need to get the right room and you will either see what's departing from T1 or T2 depending on what side of the hotel you are booked in to. There are only 4 floors to the hotel and the 3rd and 4th are executive rooms. Room 2018, for example, allows the departures to be seen. You will however have to stay on the viewing deck if you want everything. The Airport Hotel Regentpark http://www.airport-hotel-regent.com is a short shuttle bus ride away (6 Euros return) and costs 69 Euros for a twin room. Call the hotel on +49(0) 811 55040 when you are ready to be picked up from the airport (bus stop H17 at Terminal 2 or outside Terminal 1). Breakfast at 5 Euro (cold buffet before 7am or hot buffet after 7am). For more information visit http://www.munich-airport.de/EN and http://www.planes-international.com/muc-e.htm.
Updated 23 January 2008
NURNBERG (EDDN/NUE)
Good views from the terrace.
Added 22 January 2008
STUTTGART (EDDS/STR)
Entry to the terrace is 2.50 Euros. As the terminal and terrace is at the west end of the runway, if they are using 25 you may miss some biz and airliners in the morning if they are too high and into the sun. There is also the Albatros Museum of Flight on the terminal roof terrace, 2.50 Euro entry open 8am-9pm in spring/summer and 9am-6pm in autumn/winter. There’s also an aircraft inside the terminal.
Added 26 February 2008