Brett Snyder at the excellent The Cranky Flier blog has posted this observation on the new terminal construction at Sacramento Airport in California.

It makes an interesting read and has some nice pictures of the plans for the building, the work that’s been carried out so far, and the existing (outdated) terminal buildings.

Click the link below to read the full article:

Sacramento’s Big Build Will Create a Monstrously Expensive New Terminal.

Those of you passing through Budapest Ferihegy airport any time soon should see a sight that hasn’t been seen for a while – an Ilyushin IL-14 aircraft in Malev colours.

The aircraft – HA-MAL – is part of the smart little museum collection of Russian types outside the main terminal at the airport.

For many years the aircraft has been in the colours of Hungarian Air Force and registered 04 RED. But now, as you can see from the colours, it has been restored to the 1950s colour scheme of Malev, who used to fly the type.

The team would be happy to accept donations for continuing restoration of the aircraft. Details to follow soon…

[View with PicLens]

When spotting in the USA, it is generally a good idea to let the authorities know that you are there and what your intentions are. In most cases, if you speak to the right person, you’ll be thanked for the information and given permission to carry on.

Here are some contact details for various airports:

Washington Dulles – contact Ops on (703) 572-2730 and you’ll be fine from the car park.
Washington National – contact dispatch on (202) 610-7515

For spotting information on nearly 70 US airports, check out our new book – Airport Spotting Guides USA

After months of uncertainty, Coventry Airport has finally found a new owner after The Patriot Aviation group stepped in to take on the airport in the West Midlands.

The group have plans to turn Coventry into a “commercial, regional hub with full air traffic service.”

Since closing, the airport has been in occasional use as an unlicensed field, with light aircraft and the resident Classic Flight aircraft still operating.

The hope is that Patriot, run by Sir Peter Rigby, will create a vibrant hub for general aviation, leisure, business and freight, “with passenger flights amongst possible future plans.”

This is great news for the airport, and the region’s spotters. Hopefully Coventry will only grow from now on, and see an increase in movements and fortunes.

German spotters listen up – your new Lufthansa Airbus A380 will be performing a pilot training schedule at various airports in May and June. Be the first to see the beast in action for endless landing, taxying and takeoff shots.

There are also a few Austrian and Swiss airports thrown into the schedule, so you guys watch out too!

The schedule looks like this:

Monday, 31 May
Full-day flight training at Karlsruhe Airport.

Tuesday, 1 June
Full-day flight training at Leipzig Airport.

Wednesday, 2 June
Line training on the Frankfurt – Stuttgart – Zürich – Vienna – Dresden – Linz – Munich – Frankfurt routes.

Thursday, 3 June
Line training on the Frankfurt – Berlin-Tegel – Hanover – Hamburg – Bremen – Dusseldorf – Cologne/Bonn – Frankfurt routes.

Credit to EmpireStateFX.com for posting the news

The BBC News website today published an article about plane spotting. It has been put together in the wake of the problems in India with Steven Ayers and Stephen Hampton. The article goes on to interview a number of spotters who spend time at Toulouse, Heathrow and other airports. It even interviews a bmibaby pilot who combines his hobby with flying around.

You can read the article at this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8530716.stm

Be sure to leave your comments here, or on the BBC site.

It’s that time again – some spotters have been arrested for acting ‘suspiciously’ and a newspaper has printed the story (click to read it).

Two spotters in India had booked into the Radisson New Delhi, requesting a room overlooking the airport. When the pair didn’t emerge from their room for 24 hours, hotel staff got suspicious and called the police, who promptly arrested them.

The spotters were found with binoculars, laptop containing Google maps of the airport, cameras, and an electronic ‘gadget’ which can track individual movements of aircraft.

Now, to all of the fellow spotters out there, we know these tools as part and parcel of the hobby. You take binoculars to note registrations, cameras to photograph aircraft, maps to find the best spotting locations, and an SBS (read, electronic ‘gadget’ for tracking aircraft movements) to monitor which aircraft are coming and going – particularly at night when you can’t see the registrations.

And as for not emerging for 24 hours – well, when you find a good, comfortable room with a great view of the aircraft, then why would you leave before you had to?

So, is this going to start a whole new wave of suspicion and unneccessary arrests of innocent people enjoying their hobby – just because of the jittery nature of air travel these days? Will this make you think again about booking your favourite plane-spotting hotel for a future trip?

Airline Business Blog today reports that the final day of operation at London Heathrow’s Terminal 2 is upon us. The last passengers will pass through today, before the building is demolished to make way for the new Heathrow East site, which will cater for Star Alliance carriers.

Terminal 2 has been with us for 54 years, and last year handled 7.5 million passengers instead of its projected 1.2 million. Many will remember the viewing terraces above the terminal which closed in 2002. Read all about it here:

Farewell Heathrow T2 – Airline Business

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Following complaints from aircraft owners over the taking and subsequent use of photographs of their stored airliners at Mojave Airport, photography by spotters on their airside tours are now firmly banned.

The airport has run tours on request for many years, giving spotters the chance to ride out to the lines of stored airliners at the desert airfield in California. This offers the chance to catch up with many older types stored here either permanently or temporarily. It can be difficult to log registrations from the perimeter road, so this tour is a major bonus.

Being able to step out of the van and take photographs at close quarters was also welcomed by spotters, but owners are apparently sick of seeing their aircraft in YouTube videos and social networking sites. It is not clear whether this is a result of malicious use, or simply enthusiasts sharing photos and videos.

The airport now encourages spotters to leave behind video and photo cameras before getting in the van to take a tour.

If after this news you are still interested in taking a tour at Mojave, you can do so by reporting to the Control Tower and asking at reception. In most cases the driver (Javier) can accommodate you for a spontaneous tour immediately.

Various enthusiasts sites exist for some of the airports in Scotland which can help in planning a trip to any of them, or in simply finding out what’s been happening up there. We have collated this information for some of the airports:

Glasgow Airport
EGPF.co.uk
Enthusiasts site for Glasgow Airport, with timetables, SBS list, spotting locations and charts, photos, live arrivals & departures, and logs of recent movements.

Prestwick Airport
Prestwick Airport Movements Site
Similar to the Glasgow enthusiasts site, with movements, photos, spotting information, airfield charts and live flight information.

Edinburgh Airport
EGPH.co.uk
A similar site for Edinburgh Airport enthusiasts. Lists frequencies, live flight arrivals & departures, airline information, photos and SBS information.

egphforum.co.uk
A forum for discussing Edinburgh Airport and its operations.