Barcelona Airport has showed a step towards welcoming spotters by erecting a tower giving enthusiasts a great view over the runways and aprons.The tower has been put up by the airport authority AENA, and the local council in a bid to provide somewhere official for spotters to congregate.

It can be found alongside the threshold of Runway 25R, and will require driving or a lengthy walk to get there. However beggars can’t be choosers, and this really is the best spot for viewing and photographing aircraft at Barcelona, as the sun is always behind you.

A Spanish website has run an article on the spotting tower. You can read it here.

If you’re planning on going to Stansted Airport to spot while the G20 aircraft are in, it seems you may be hindered slightly.

Police presence will be massively increased around the airport, and anyone trying to get to the side, where the old terminal and biz jet parking is located, will be met by a temprary security gate. Police will be checking anyone trying to get in that part of the airport to make sure they have a reason to be there.

So anyone trying to spot from Stansted may be advised to find alternative locations. Some are mentioned in Airport Spotting Guides Europe

The local police have issued a warning to spotters at Gatwick airport around the time of the G20 summit in London next week. It reads:

One of Japan’s busiest and most modern airports. Osaka is a great stop-off if you’re spotting in Japan, however it has periods of few traffic movements on afternoons.

The actual traffic you get is very similar to that at Tokyo’s airports.

Osaka Kansai has a spotting deck which is four storeys above ground, and situated at the end of Runway 24, which is used most often. The deck opens at 10am and closes at 6pm. It is free to enter, and has both indoor and outdoor areas, along with food & drink facilities and arrivals boards. A bus will take you from the terminal to the Aeroplaza building, which is opposite the viewing deck.The sun is behind you here, so you can take excellent photographs.

If you are travelling through Osaka Kansai, there are opportunities to view aircraft through windows at certain departure gates, although this can be frustrating and limited at times.

It has been announced by the regulators that the British Airports Authority (BAA) must sell more airports.

It was already announced that London Gatwick will be sold. However, following this Stansted must be sold, and then either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7951377.stm

Derek Oldham has provided this excellent report on spotting at Memphis – a haven for FedEx and Northwest (soon to be Delta) jets.

I stayed in the Radisson at the airport. Contrary to what somebody said, I found the reception staff very helpful. I was given a room at the back overlooking the taxiway, but the view of the runway threshold was blocked by part of the hotel kitchen. I decided Room 373 looked the most promising and luckily it was free. The receptionist warned me it would be noisy (bless her!) and it was – NWA DC 9s and FedEx 727s actually shook the building! My advice would be to go for the corridor 351 – 373 (all odd numbers). Probably the same numbers on floor 2 would be good enough, but you will be at ground level and looking up at the taxiway. Floor 2 is the outward looking ground level because the inward facing part of the hotel has a floor 1 as well. Before 2 of you go booking room 373, I was on my own and therefore had no problem with the Queen bed! All these rooms lookonto the taxiway linking FedEx to RW 18R, and the higher the number, then the more chance you have of seeing the other aircraft taxying out from the terminal for take-off. At night you will only get the FedEx that taxy past – there is not enough light for the others – and even for the FedEx you will have to go outside (the fire escape at the end of the corridor is ideal). I don’t think any of the other rooms will have much of a view, but at the front you may have distant views of RWs 18C & L.

I had e-mailed the police beforehand about spotting at Memphis. (Google “Memphis Airport Police” and go to “Contact Us”) – I got an almost instant reply from the chief with a phone number to ring when I got there.
I arrived late afternoon Friday and saw some departures from the room, followed by a constant stream of arrivals from 2230 until I gave up at 0030. From what I heard there were a good few departures in the middle of the night.
I did Graceland Saturday morning and then phoned the police in the afternoon, was told they had my details and I spent the afternoon on the terminal car park roof with no problems at all. (It is walking distance from the Radisson.) The busy period was about 1415 to 1630 – about 50 FedEx departures and 60 or so others – mainly Northwest of course. When it went quiet, I drove around the north of the airfield and got most of the remaining FedEx from the main roads. Leave the terminal area on Winchester East, turn left on Tchulahoma and left again on Democrat. I had read elsewhere about other roads around here with views, but they have clearly been eaten up by the FedEx complex and are no more. Also the National Guard complex is now completely shut down and they have what appears to be a new complex close to the RW 36R threshold. If you now retrace your route, when you get back on Winchester, you are on the correct side of the road to turn into the Wilson Air Center and Signature FBOs where you can easily read off anything there. Coming out of Wilson you are straight across from anything on the UPS ramp.

On Sunday afternoon there were 75 Fedex departures between 1455 and 1645 with one or 2 after that. 45 used RW 18R, 4 on 18C and 26 on 18 R, so it is definitely worth going to the car park and not staying in the hotel. I saw 20 that I hadn’t seen on the Saturday. Again I telephoned the police and was left alone all afternoon – there are plenty of patrols who drive around and would have seen me up there, so contacting them is definitely worth the effort.

What can be seen at Memphis then? Loads of Northwest (some are now appearing in Delta colours) and Northwest Airlink, a few US Airways Connect, American, Continental Express a few Biz (I was there at the
weekend – maybe more during the week?) and a few twins and lights. I saw plenty of FedEx DC-10s, lots of A300s and A310s, quite a few 727s and MD-11s and a handful of 757s.

In this time of global economic downturn, business for the storage boneyards for aircraft in the USA is booming. More and more airlines are parking aircraft, with levels not seen since the year following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Read this interesting article about Victorville, CA.

Obviously this has benefits for the spotter. Lots of older aircraft all parked up in one place. Makes playing catch-up very easy!

The Renaissance Hotel at London Heathrow has a special Spotters Day Package available for those wanting to use the facilities.

The cost is £20 for spotters to have the use of the Club Longe with views of the airport.
The price includes parking, unlimited tea coffee and soft drinks and internet access.

The lounge is available on:
Mon to Fri 1030-1600
Sat/Sun 0630-1600

Telephone number for enquires is 020 8897 6363

Keishi Nukina recently posted a great overview of the main Washington DC area airports from a spotting perspective, following his recent visit. If you’re planning on heading there, it makes great sense to give this a read:

WASHINGTON – NATIONAL
Traffic consisting of mostly domestic narrowbodies with a couple of Air Canada Jazz mixed in. For spotting, there is an exibit hall between terminal A and B, from where you can see all movements and in the afternoon you can take nice photographs there as well.

WASHINGTON – DULLES
Spent there one day, spotting from the parking lot of the museum and Daily Garage 2, both are excelent for photos, but you will miss a couple of movements from both. Notable international traffic include Qatar Airways, Saudi and SAA.

BALTIMORE – WASHINGTON
A couple of movements from each major airline from the US, with a lot, and I mean a lot of Southwest and AirTran aircraft. If youre in the area, definitely an airport that is worth a visit for a half day or a full day. You can spot all day from the observation room located inside terminal without being bothered, but the place is not the best for photography due to being backlit almost all day.

COLLAGE PARK AIRFIELD
If youre going to Baltimore by public transport, you will most likely be on the green metro line to Greenbelt. After the University of Maryland stop sit on the right and get your camera ready. Right after the train leaves the station, there is that airfield with a couple of light aircraft parked outside, so you will be able to get a couple of new light frames by reading them off the photos you take. Was a nice surprise for me. Nothing for those who dont collect light aircraft.