Leipzig has grown into one of Germany (and Europe’s) largest cargo airports. It is the main hub on the continent for DHL Airways and their various subsidiaries and partners, allowing them a central location to receive, process and send on packages from around the world.

Aside from cargo, Leipzig is a moderately busy airport for passenger services, with around 2.3 million passengers passing through each year on domestic, intra-European, and holiday flights.

But naturally the vast majority of movements are those affiliated with DHL, and cargo carriers such as Bluebird, Swiftair, Kalitta, Europe Air Post, Air Atlantique, ABX, RAF Avia, Aerologic, Aviastar etc. This sees a lot of A300, B737, B757, and B777 types, but most interestingly also a lot of AN-12, AN-26 and TU-204 aircraft operating from countries to the east.

Cargo movements are largely between 10pm and 2am, but some operate during the day and it’s often possible to see many aircraft parked up during the day.

Spotting
The best place to spot at Leipzig is the viewing terrace atop the Administration Building next to the terminal. The outdoor terrace is open 24 hours a day, making it ideal for catching those nighttime movements (if a little chilly in winter!). It costs €2.

You can also get good views from the top of the car park.

Hotel
If you want to watch the cargo movements from the comfort of your warm hotel room (with SBS or Flightradar24), try the Globana Airport Hotel. It has rooms facing the airport, but some have restricted views.

Elsewhere
Whilst in Leipzig, remember to look out for the former Interflug IL-18 and TU-134 aircraft at the airport, which are easily seen from the viewing deck. There’s also an IL-62 in the city used as a cafe, and an IL-18 at one of the city’s museums.

DHL Timetable
You can download a handy DHL flight timetable from this link.

Credit goes to Mark Allday for the information in this article.

From 26 April 2012, Allegiant Air will open a new base at Oakland Airport, California.

It will see two MD-80 aircraft based there for scheduled operations to a number of airports. Routes include:

Billings, MO
Bozeman, MO
Kalispell, MO
Idaho Falls, ID
Medford, OR
Missoula, MO
Redmond, OR

These are in addition to the airline’s existing routes from Oakland to Bellingham, WA, Eugene, OR, and Phoenix-Mesa, AZ.

Grant from the Plane Crazy Down Under Podcast brought my attention to a great page on the website of Sydney Airport which is aimed at spotters and enthusiasts who want to know more about its history and where to watch aircraft.

The page, which you can visit here, gives a history of the airport. It includes pictures from key moments, such as the first Boeing 747 arriving, and the recent 787 Dreamliner visit.

It then goes on to give you technical details about the airfield (elevations, runways, identifiers etc), and a list of the best places to go and watch aircraft. If you’re new to the hobby, it even tells you what aircraft registrations are, so that you can start spotting!

I’m mightily impressed at this. Sydney is a fantastic place to spot at, with variety, good weather and great spotting locations. Having this information on their website to encourage the hobby only makes things better!

Here’s the link: http://www.sydneyairport.com.au/corporate/community-environment-and-planning/aviation-community.aspx

To mark the start of international scheduled services this week by ANA’s Boeing 787, I thought I’d mention a few other places you’ll be seeing the type this year. We’ll see a lot more Boeing 787 Dreamliners in our skies this year as more are delivered to airlines such as Air India, Japan Airlines and China Southern, so it’s time to start getting them in your logbooks!

Tokyo Haneda & Narita
With both ANA and JAL operating the Dreamliner this year, one of the best places to catch the type is at their Tokyo Narita and Haneda bases. This seems likely to be the place to catch the biggest concentration of Dreamliners outside of Seattle or Charleston this year.

Frankfurt International
For Europe, Frankfurt is the first place to see 787 operations with ANA from Tokyo. This was the type’s first international destination, and will be flying in every day.

Seattle
OK, so there are a few Seattle airports to see Deamliners. Most notably, Boeing’s Everett facility is the place where they’re put together. So you’ll see them quite regularly on flight test and out on the flight line. This includes the demonstrators, which is quite cool. However, ANA have also announced 787 flights to Seattle-Tacoma Airport from Tokyo, starting soon.

Boston
The US East Coast gets its first Dreamliner service from Japan Airlines in April, with non-stop service to Tokyo Narita.

Singapore
From September, Japan Airlines’ flights from Tokyo Narita will switch to 787s, increasing to 14x weekly by the end of October.

Melbourne
From October, Air India is expected to begin sending its 787s to Melbourne from its Indian bases. This will likely mark the first scheduled Dreamliner services to Australia.

Osaka Itami
Again, ANA sends its 787s to Itami. Maybe we’ll see more routes out of Osaka’s Kansai airport in the future, but for now the domestic one is the place to be.

New Delhi
Japan Airlines will start daily 787 flights to Delhi from Tokyo Narita later this year. However, if Air India receive their 787s on time, the airport is likely to get even more of the type in residence.

Moscow Domodedovo
Japan Airlines will send their Dreamliners to Moscow DME this year, replacing their 777 equipment. This sees the second known destination in Europe for the type.

Guangzhou
Despite heavy delays, China Southern are expected to take delivery of their first 787 before the Autumn. Therefore their home base of Guangzhou will become a hub for the type very soon.

There are of course more airports that the 787 flies to, such as domestic destinations within Japan. And as new frames arrive for Air India and China Southern, new routes will be announced. If you hear of any, let me know.

Luton Airport is planning to increase its capacity to 18 million passengers a year and improve efficiency in a bid to capture some more of the demand at London’s airports, especially since the Government is adamant there won’t be a third runway built at Heathrow, and the Thames Estuary Airport is just a dream at the moment.

Luton is already a popular low-cost gateway for easyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air and others, and it has also made a mark for itself as THE place for biz jets visiting London. On any given day there are up to a hundred biz jets present (admittedly a number are based, or are in for maintenance). So to expand on this seems a good idea.

This article states the airport will look to “consider where modifications are required to optimise capacity, including taxiways, aprons, piers and parking stands, the road network, car parking and the passenger terminal.”

It’s not clear when these changes will take place – presumably it will need a lot of planning. But I anticipate one of the improvements they’ll look to add is a full-length parallel taxiway for the runway, which will instantly increase the hourly capacity of the runway.

According to a report today, building a new London airport in the Thames Estuary is becoming more and more likely, with David Cameron showing significant interest.

This is a major u-turn from previous statements, and it seems we might just get this development. The government has also reiterated that Heathrow will definitely NOT get a third runway.

Naturally there are still a lot of skeptics about the project, especially since it will take many, many years to approve, plan and build, during which the problems at Heathrow and other London airports won’t go away.

What are your thoughts on the plans?

Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan has opened a new observation area for watching aircraft.

Built for people to wave off family, and watch them arrive, it’s also perfect for the enthusiast with its views over one of the runways and many of the parking stands at the terminal.

The area is believed to be indoors, which makes it sheltered and air conditioned, but it’s likely to mean photography is through glass.

Have you visited? What’s the observation area like?

The 2012 edition of my popular Airport Spotting Guides Europe book is now available to buy through Amazon, Destinworld Publishing, and various airport and online shops.

I’ve completely revamped this edition, and added a bunch of new airports that weren’t included in the previous one.

The book is an ideal companion if you’re planning to do some spotting at European airports, and also handy to take on the road to help you get around and make best use of your time.

The book features over 40  airports in detail, and lists of all major commercial and storage airports in Europe.

Detailed guides cover:

- Airport map, with spotting locations and roads marked
- Descriptions of spotting locations
- Airport hotels with views
- Runway info, radio frequencies and other statistics
- Airlines which use the airport
- Nearby aviation attractions, such as museums or other airports

The book is out now, priced £11.99. Buy it online now from this link http://www.destinworld.co.uk/products-page/airport-spotting-guides/airport-spotting-guides-europe-2012/

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner World Tour continues, with new destinations and dates announced.

The aircraft used is ZA003, and is fitted out to best show off the interior possibilities to airline customers it visits.

The new dates are:

20-23 January – Wichita, KS
23-25 January – Rockford, IL
25-27 January – Dublin, Ireland
27-30 January – Huntsville, AL

Keep an eye out here for more dates as they become known!

Ryanair has announced its 50th base will be at Paphos in Cyprus.

I didn’t see that one coming, but the airport has lost a lot of routes from Cyprus Airways recently, so it probably makes sense.

The airline will base 2 Boeing 737-800s at Paphos from April, and routes will include:

Paphos – Chania
Paphos – Frankfurt Hahn
Paphos – Kaunas
Paphos – Krakow
Paphos – London
Paphos – Memmingen
Paphos – Milan
Paphos – Oslo
Paphos – Patras
Paphos – Pisa
Paphos – Rome
Paphos – Stockholm
Paphos – Thessaloniki
Paphos – Venice Treviso