There will be an aircraft enthusiasts’ fair held at Luton, UK, on Saturday 2 October 2010.

The fair is held at the Vauxhall Recreation Club, Gipsy Lane, Luton, LU1 3JH. This is very close to the M1 motorway and Luton Airport, so why not make a day of it and spot some biz jets!

The aircraft enthusiasts’ fair is open from 10.30am to 3.30pm.
It will have many stalls of models, books, slides, magazines, postcards, videos/DVDs, collectibles and much more. Bring your own items and you may be able to exchange!

Read more about the fair here: www.aircraftenthusiastfair.co.uk

As the MD-90′s use draws to a close in Europe, AirEvents.de have arranged a special farewell flight to take place in January at Zurich Airport.

The event will be flown by a Hello MD-90. The airline will shortly retire the type (as will SAS), leaving only a few select operators outside of Europe still flying the type.

This particular flight ties in with the World Economic Forum at Davos, which sees many business jets flying into Zurich, so it’ll be a pretty special spotting weekend if you do take part in the flight.

Some details:
Flight: MD-90 farewell flight Z

Are you heading to Barcelona El Prat Airport for some spotting any time soon? If so, we have this handy little map that the local spotters have put together detailing all of the best locations (and there’s lots of them!). Each is marked on the handy Google map, so you can see how to get there!

Click on the link below to see the map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=ca&msa=0&msid=111233084941925121843.000001133106faa3335bd&ll=41.303216,2.092724&spn=0.100844,0.213375&t=h&z=13

Ryanair have used the delay in approval to extend the runway length at Belfast’s George Best City Airport as an excuse to pull out of the airport entirely.

The airline currently bases one Boeing 737-800 aircraft there and serves Bristol, the East Midlands, Prestwick, Liverpool and Stansted. It carries around 800,000 passengers a year from the airport.

Ryanair‘s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said that ‘it is very disappointing that the promised runway extension at Belfast City Airport has still not materialised more than three years after we opened the base there.’ He said that ‘in these circumstances, sadly, we have better alternative airports elsewhere in the UK and Europe, all of whom are willing and able to provide us with the runway infrastructure and low-cost facilities we need’. He also said if permission was granted in the future, then Ryanair would come back.

Ever fancied seeing a classic VC-10 buzz just a few feet over your head in a scene reminiscent of St. Maarten’s famous Maho Beach? How about a mix of military and civil types of yesteryear all in one place? Brize Norton is one of the UK’s busiest military transport bases. It is located in Oxfordshire, closed to Abingdon, and around 65 miles northwest of London. Brize is home to the RAF’s VC-10 and L1011 Tristar fleets, as well as the C-17s and a number of Hercules aircraft. Since it is a major staging post for troops and supplies, it also handles a lot of large cargo aircraft, such as DC-8′s and AN-124′s. It also plays host to a number of private airlines being used for troop movements, flying 757s, 767s and DC-10s. The primary spotting location is at the end of Runway 26. The A4095 road leading north from Bampton towards Brize passes very close to the end of the runway. With care you can park near a crash gate as long as you do not block it. Alternatively, park on a nearby road and walk to the spot. Here you will be just a few feet under the aircraft as they approach the runway. It is perfect for photos, and has some views over the ramp (it’s difficult to read things off). To get close to the ramps usually used by the VC-10s, head west from Bampton on the A4095 and follow signs for Black Bourton. If you follow the road through this village as far as it goes, you will come to the perimeter fence. A footpath leads in either direction, and has some close-up views of the VC-10s and the runway. Eventually you can walk to the Runway 08 end too. Here’s a nice aerial view of the airfield . As always, tread with care. Military bases have incredibly tight security. Although spotters are common and tolerated at Brize Norton, don’t push your luck by trespassing or blocking a gate.

[View with PicLens]

Simon Brooke has recently written a report of a new-ish hotel at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport which has airport views and very reasonable prices.

The CitizenM hotel is a cross between a boutique hotel and the Starship Enterprise.
It is located a short (3 minutes or so) walk from the terminal at AMS (with a covered walkway) and overlooks the easyJet stands and everything to the north of that.

It is almost totally computerised so there is, for example, no reception – just six self-service check-in screens. As the screens give a “runway view”
room choice, this shouldn’t be a problem for enthusiasts.

The view from the fifth (top) floor is pretty good!

The rooms are not very big, and the bed takes up the whole width of the room
for a couple of metres from the window into the room (so the only way to get
a really good view out of the window is to lie on the bed – spotting in
comfort!!!!). No good for photography as the venetian blinds are adjustable
but immovable.

Wi-Fi is free, and there is a British 13 Amp socket in the room (as well as
several European sockets) but the 2 tables are tiny. However the bed is so
big that the SBS box and laptop can happily lie on it beside a single
sleeper….

The bar/coffee shop is open H24 and snacks (hot & cold) are available H24 as
well. There are, of course, plenty of other eating options in the Schiphol
terminal.

There is no parking at the hotel, and the hotels is all non-smoking.

The computerised check-in system allows you to check in early – before 14:00
- for a fee (I checked in at 10:30 in the morning) and offers you a similar
facility for late check-out – after 11:00.

It’s rather twee and amusing – especially for technocrats – but it’s
reasonably priced, convenient for the airport, totally B-S free and the
“runway view” rooms on the higher floors are pretty damned good. The staff
are very friendly and helpful. It also has the best lounge area – virtually
the whole ground floor – of any hotel I’ve ever used!

I hope this is of interest as an alternative to the Ibis and Etap.

London Heathrow Airport will have runway and taxiway work taking place from 13 September 2010, and is expected to take six weeks to complete.

During this time, normal daytime operations will be affected. When arrivals are from the west (over London), only the southern runway will be used for arrivals, and the northern runway for departures. They will not switch at 3pm as usual.

Whilst this will no doubt cause a lack of noise respite for those living under the flightpath, it is also something for spotters to note when planning where to spot at Heathrow.

The full BAA news release can be found here

Southend Airport is a great place to catch up with airliners that are in transition from one airline to another due to the maintenance and painting work that is regularly carried out there on behalf of a number of leasing companies and airlines.

The airport is only 40 miles from central London, and has tried to bill itself as London Southend in order to attract new airline services. At the moment, only seasonal flights are operated to Jersey with Flybe Q400′s.

There are a number of smaller cargo operators passing through the airport on a daily basic.

For the spotter, Southend has many nooks and crannies to explore and you’ll often find aircraft hidden in different places. Most prominent will be those parked around the terminal, and outside the spray hangars. These are the easiest to spot, simply by following signs to the airport terminal and entering the car park to the side.

After this, if you follow signs to the Southend Flying Club, it will bring you to another vantage point with views of other aircraft parked outside the hangars or on the main apron.

Next, it’s wise to head to the opposite side of the airfield, where many other aircraft are stored or receiving maintenance. In recent years, there have always been a large number of BAe 146 and Avro RJ airliners here at any time, with other HS.748 and BAe ATP aircraft to compliment them. Sadly the number of aircraft in residence here – particularly the more exciting Boeing 707s, 727s and 737s have all but gone now.

To reach the opposite side, drive back to the airport entrance and turn right onto Eastwoodbury Lane. Follow this past the runway end, and turn right along Aviation Way (next to the church). If you follow this road, you will eventually come to a dead end, but on your right you will see many vantage points to quickly log and photograph aircraft on the various ramps. Don’t loiter too long as it may cause suspicion.

Here are some recent photos from Southend:

[View with PicLens]

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!

Air France will be sending their Airbus A380 aircraft into London Heathrow on a few of the mid-morning runs from Paris CDG between June and August.

Lucky UK spotters will get the chance to see the beast (along with Singapore, Qantas and Emirates examples) on the following days:

Saturday, Sunday and Monday 12 June to 30 August inclusive, plus Friday 2 July to Friday 30 July inclusive.
Flight AFR1980/1981
Arrives Heathrow 1025, and departs 1250