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.

Whilst visiting Sweden recently, I took the opportunity to spend a night at Stockholm Arlanda’s new novelty item – the Jumbo Hostel!

This Boeing 747-200B was dragged from storage at the airport into a new spot next to a taxiway and the main road to the airport and converted into an upmarket hostel to join the other hotel offerings at Arlanda.

The aircraft (c/n 21162/283) had previously flown with Singapore Airlines (9V-SQE), Pan Am (N727PA), Nationair (C-FNXP), Tower Air (N514DC / N620FF), Air Club International (C-GCIH), Transjet Airways (SE-RBN), and North East Airlines (3D-NEE), before retiring in 2004.

Oscar Diös, a hostel magnate, heard about the aircraft for sale and snapped it up. He set about transforming it by stripping out much of the interior and turning it into a unique hostel.

You can’t really miss the aircraft as it stands high above the road and is visible from the terminal area too. To enter, you climb the steps or use the lift to reach the L1 door. Remember to leave your shoes in the rack at the door as I was told off immediately!

The reception is directly in front of you, next to the original spiral staircase. To the left, in the nose of the aircraft, is the cafeteria area where you can have a drink, watch TV, or have breakfast in the morning (60SEK). To the right, the main cabin of the aircraft has been partitioned into rooms on either side of the central corridor.

I had chosen a single room, however dormitories are available too at less cost, and upstairs they have a suite in the cockpit. I entered my room and was confronted with original overhead lockers (still usable) with their original seat numbers in place (29ABC for my room). There were also a few of the original windows, giving a view out over the massive wing.

The room had a double bed on the bottom, and single bed above, so there is room for two or a family to share. It was very comfortable, and included a TV.

At the rear of the cabin, down the corridor, is an enclosed wash area which sits outside the rear door and has fantastic views over the surrounding. There are also three private toilet/sink/shower rooms for everyone to use which were very clean and had soap dispensers provided. My room had clean towels provided.

Free wireless internet was included (access key is printed on your door key), so once settled it was on with the laptop and Flightradar24 to keep an eye on the evening arrivals at Arlanda. My room on the port side of the aircraft looked out on the distant runway 19L/01R and taxiway which linked it to the cargo ramp/Terminal 2. I could also see some departures from runway 19R after they turned.

The other side of the aircraft has views over the cargo ramp at Arlanda, and part of Terminal 2 and runway 19R/01L.

Breakfast the next morning wasn’t anything special, but it was enough to get me going. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed staying the night in this aircraft.

You can visit their website at www.jumbostay.com

Here are some pictures of the stay:

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This report comes from Rob Aldridge on the Singapore Changi Village hotel, near the busy airport.

As its name suggests the hotel is in Changi which is a small town near Changi airport. This is Singapores main airport. The hotel has 7 floors with a swimming pool on the roof. Aircraft fly close to the hotel. They actually advertise the hotels swimming pool as offering great views of aircraft arriving or leaving the airport and they are right. Aircraft noise is however minimal.

Changi has two runways some distance apart from each other. 20 Right is close to the hotel and aircraft registrations can easily be read off with a basic pair of binoculars as the aircraft come into land. When they use 20 Left for landings, normally only at busy times, then a good pair of binoculars or telescope are needed. Obviously an SBS box makes life a lot easier and also allows for spotting to continue when it gets dark which is at about 7pm. As with many Asian airports it gets very busy at night. It is a similar situation when they depart off 2 Left or 2 Right i.e. aircraft using 2 Left can be easily read off. Most of the time I was there the 20 direction runways were in use for landing traffic.

To get an even better view there is a beach area close to the hotel and from the beach great photographs can be taken.

The hotel has rooms that overlook the sea which if you tell them you want to watch the aircraft is what you will get given. However when we arrived at the hotel at 9am in the morning they said that none of these rooms were available and gave us room 751. Which was good of them since check in is supposed to be at 2pm. This is where I struck very lucky because this room not only offers views of the landing aircraft (When they are using 20s) but aircraft departing can also be seen at about 800 feet as they clime out. An SBS box or similar is needed to obtain the registrations as these aircraft are about two miles away and you see a tail on view of the aircraft. Aircraft cannot be seen landing on 02 runways from the hotel. They cannot easily be seen departing on 20 runways from the rooftop pool however most of the aircraft execute a loop and head back over the hotel. Those that don’t are normally those heading south e.g. to Indonesia and Australasia.

From memory other rooms that would give a similar view to 751 are 749 and 750. The higher the floor the better as there are trees that can limit the view. The rooms on the 7th floor are described as Quality rooms and I paid about 80 pounds a night.

A slight drawback to what is a nice hotel is that the fans on the roof do create quite allot of noise. During the day you don’t notice them but at night they can seem quite loud. It is not dissimilar to the noise you get on an aircraft. Nevertheless it didn’t distract from what was a great holiday. My wife and my son didn’t notice the noise and just assumed when I mentioned it that it was the rooms air conditioning which it isn’t.

The hotel has an hourly shuttle to and from the airport. It leaves the hotel on the hour and the airport at twenty to the hour. The alternative is to get a taxi from the airport, which for four of us cost $15. Another alternative if travelling from the city centre is to get the MRT to Tampines and then catch the 29 bus. The bus stops outside the hotel and costs about 75p. The bus station is next to the MRT and buses are frequent.

Outside of the hotel are a number of food outlets. There are also a number of mini markets similar to a local corner shop (alcohol is expensive in Singapore).

Singapore is also a busy Cargo airport and a typical day would see:
Nippon Cargo 747 (It departs at about 6am)
Fed Ex 777, MD11 (Or Dc10)
UPS 757 plus an occasional 767 or MD11
Asiana 747
Cathay 747
Korean 747
China Airlines 747
Transmile 727.
Cargolux 747
Aerologic 777
EVA 747
China Eastern and Shanghai MD11

Sinagpore Changi Village Hotel’s official website is http://www.stayvillage.com/Changi/index.aspx?page=home

This report comes from Simon Brooke, who reports on the Radisson SAS Hotel at Istanbul Ataturk Airport…

Some six years ago, I reported on the Radisson SAS hotel which is immediately to the north of Istanbul’s Ataturk International airport. I’ve just been back there for a few days and had a splendid time clearing the blanks in my THY fleet plus a goodly number of others….

OK, on this occasion I splurged and got myself a suite for the 4 nights – having done so, I would seriously suggest that (if there are enough of you) somebody gets the suite (I had 386) – everybody else can “slum” it, but the suite is the spotting room! Assuming that the numbers are the same on
higher floors then 486 and 586 would be even better – however, I wanted a smoking room……

My suite had an enormous living room/dining room with picture windows on two sides. The windows on one side gave a superb view of the airport and on the other gave a good view of approaches onto 18L/R or departures on 36L/R. Any arrivals on the cross runway at the far end of the airfield (05) were also easily visible.

The suite was huge, easily able to accommodate a bunch of enthusiasts during the airport’s operational day.

There is a Shell petrol station next to the hotel with a shop, so snacks are available.

The restaurants in the hotel are appallingly expensive so I would suggest that a taxi or walk of some 500 yards would offer much cheaper Turkish food.

IST is surrounded by watch-towers manned by armed Turkish Air Force personnel. Two of those watch-towers are clearly visible from the hotel – whether the guys on the watch-towers can see into the hotel rooms is a different matter….

I was keeping the proverbial low profile, aided by a constant supply of “Efes” and had no problems at all with the Turkish authorities. Indeed, when the WiFi failed to operate, I got the hotel’s IT manager up to sort out a cable connection and he was fascinated by SBS (he has a degree in Aeronautics and Meteorology from Istanbul University and is really helpful).

Great spotting hotel – not too good for pics, though and horribly expensive!!!!

During the 3 full days of my visit, I saw….

All THY A320s bar one
All THY A319s bar one
All THY A321s bar one (which was around – I just never saw it)
Most THY A340s (I wasn’t taking much notice as I’ve already seen them all)

Very few A332s/B773s – maybe it was my sleep pattern….

THY 737s/738s were a bit of a pain – a substantial number are now operating out of SAW and came nowhere near IST (apart from the very occasional low-level over-flight identified on SBS); I never saw one in AnadoluJet colours at IST.

Other than THY, the major Turkish operators are Onur Air and AtlasJet, with a few Izmir A319s operating for Pegasus.

There are some nice oddities operating into IST as well….

Royal Jordanian E170
Air Moldova E190
Gulf Air E170
Saudia MD90/A330

Plus many second-hand aircraft – mostly of the Boeing 737 family – from the “stans”.

Also a few biz jets, and plenty of helicopters around although I only read off and identified one of them.

Singapore A380 9V-SKA seen from London Heathrow Holiday Inn Ariel hotel

I recently had the fortune to spend a night at London Heathrow’s Holiday Inn Ariel hotel, so I thought I’d check it out as a spotting location.

I did a bit of research first, and found out that rooms  270, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 284 are all good (thanks to Plane Spotting Hotels website). I even rang ahead to request one of these rooms and was told it was not a problem.

However, upon arriving at the hotel I was told these rooms were not possible with my reservation. BUT there was an upgrade option available to room 376 for £15, or £20 with unlimited internet access. So I snapped up this offer.

These rooms are one level higher, so I think they will actually be better than those in the 27x range. They are billed as Executive Rooms, with a double bed. However I’m not sure if they’re any different to the ones on the floor below.

The view from the window was fantastic. It’s not as close as the Renaissance is, and my room didn’t have a view of the western end of the airport or runways, but you could easily see most movements and a lot of aircraft parked on the ground.

In particular, it had a view of Terminal 3, Terminal 4 and the maintenance areas. Runway 09L/27R is right in front of you, and 09R/27L in the distance.

On my visit, 09L was in use for arrivals, which meant I missed a lot of them as they exited the runway early. But I’d catch them on departure later on from 09R.

It helped to have FlightRadar24 on my laptop the whole time. Having a SBS box would be just as handy. This way, when it got dark I was still able to log departures.

Photographs are good for larger airliners, especially if they taxi from 09L to Terminal 4, as the picture below testifies.

So, there’s a good example of an affordable (if booked in advance) hotel at London Heathrow!

Photo (c) www.plane-spotting-hotels

News has come through from a number of people over the past few days that spotting has once again been banned at one of the world’s best-known spotting hotels – the Sheraton Deira in Dubai.

The hotel has a roof-top pool area which is just underneath the approach/departure path of the runways at Dubai International Airport. Hundreds of spotters make use of the facilities every year, either for a purpose spotting trip to Dubai, or at the start or end of a journey further afield whilst transferring through Dubai.

Recent reports state that twitchy holidaymakers reported ‘suspicious’ activity by a spotter on the rooftop, who was then asked by security to stop. The police have now banned spotting there as a result.

Do you have any updates or recent experiences there to share? Please comment.

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?

If you’re planning on spending any time spotting at Tokyo Narita, you might want to consider the information below on the best spotting hotels and which rooms work.

Holiday Inn
This is fairly expensive, but has some views. Room 1250 is the best, giving you a view of everything on the western runway. If aircraft are landing to the west then you can poll everything that taxis to the end of the runway. If you have a SBS box you get everything landing and departing.

You can also see everything that takes off on the other runway and visa versa if they are landing in the other direction, but aircraft are very high by the time they are visible.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/pc/1/en/hotel/narja?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/pc/1/en/hotelsearchresults

Holiday Inn
Tobu Narita
320-1 Tokko
Chiba
Narita
Chiba
286-0106

The Rest House
A basic, cheap hotel with a few rooms that have very limited views. You can see about 60% of the cargo ramp and if they are taking off to the west then stuff taxying off to the runway on the North only.

You can walk to T1 from here as it’s only 5 minutes away. There are plenty of places to eat in both terminals. T1 is good for Ti and there is a free shuttle to T2 and T2 has two observation decks that allow you to see most of the stuff around T2

http://www.apo-resthouse.com/english/index.html

Rest House Hotel
Narita International Airport
Narita City
Chiba-Pref
Japan
282-0011
yoyaku@apo-resthouse.com

Nikko Winds Hotel
A great spotting hotel at Narita. Room 910 is noted as having the best views of the action on the ground. It also has a restaurant on the top floor with great views of the airport.

http://www.jalhotels.com/domestic/kanto/winds/

560 Tokko
Narita-shi
Chiba 286-0106
Apan

The Sheraton Deira hotel is well known amongst the spotting community for its roof terrace under the flight path to Dubai Airport. What better than spending time in the sun, by the pool, with exotic airliners flying overhead all day?

Well, it had to happen – eventually someone would find another hotel with decent spotting opportunities in Dubai. The Nojoum Hospitality luxury apartments may not be as cheap as the Sheraton, but if you’re in a group they could be superior. It is located on Abu Baker Al Siddique Road, only a couple of roads up from where the Sheraton Deira is situated.

Most of the apartments contain 2 twin ensuite bedrooms, however there are some with 3 rooms, however I don’t think these over look the airport. Each apartment has a massive living area with plenty of sitting space and a table to eat at and a TV, kitchen and utility area which is full stocked with plates, cutlery and glasses, a cooker and oven, microwave, washing machine, iron and board etc., along with a 3rd toilet in the living area. Most importantly, each apartment also has a balcony, and rooms over looking the airport can be requested. The hotel also has a roof top pool area with sun loungers, tables and chairs, but no bar!

When it comes to spotting, the Nojoum could be considered superior to the Sheraton as it is much better for photography when aircraft are landing over the hotel (despite the Sheraton being closer to the aircraft). However once aircraft change direction you lose the ability for photography, and for those without the help of an sbs box it can be very hard to read things off unless the reg is underneath the wings.

From the rooftop, there is an opportunity to look over the wall towards the airport. You have a clear view of the airport and by using a strong scope things parked on Terminal 2 to the left and Terminal 1 on the right can easily be read off, along with things taxiing along the edge of the airport.

A link to the Nojoum Hotel here: http://www.nojoumhospitality.com

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.