Airport Spotting Blog

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

Andy Bowden of Plane Spotting Hotels website reports on what is regarded one of the best hotels for aircraft spotting at Singapore’s Changi Airport. He writes…

I would rate this hotel as probably one of the best all round hotels in the world for aircraft viewing and photography. As an added bonus, from the rooms mentioned below the occasional movement from Seleter Airport can seen in the distance. The hotel is situated in an excellent location, connected to terminal 3 at Singapore airport. The hotel is a short walk from the terminal 3 viewing area. The viewing areas on terminal 1 and 2 are a short 5 minute ride on the airport monorail, the station of which is a 2 minute walk from the hotel. The airport restaurants are expensive, however a wide range of food courts, as well as a supermarket can be found in the terminals. If you decide to order room service to allow you to eat and spot a typical American Style breakfast of ham, eggs and hash browns is around £8, a pizza for dinner is around £11.

For the ideal views you require a room on the 7th, 8th or 9th floorending in *02, *04, *06, *08, *09, *10, *11, *12. These rooms give a fantastic view over the right hand runway in front of terminal 3. The hotel corridor is open plan allowing you to walk out of the room into the corridor to see movements on the busy central runway (SBS and a scanner is helpful for you to monitor movements on the central runway as you do need to leave your room to see this runway). At busy times the right hand runway is used for arrivals only, however in moderate to quiet times a mixed mode operation is in force therefore you do require a means of monitoring the central runway to ensure that you do not miss the movements. Be warned, the above rooms all are reported to have the one large queen size bed, therefore if there are 2 of you be prepared to get cosy (or a roll away bed is available for a costly £30 a night). Photos can be taken from the room although the windows are tinted. A 10 second walk from the room will take you to an opening on the outside corridor where superb outdoor shots can be taken (80-200mm for aircraft on the taxiway, 200-400mm for runway shots). Morning to early afternoons are best with the sun behind you. Examples of the view from the rooms can be seen at http://www.plane-spotting-hotels.com/plane_spotting_singapore_airport.htm.

The aim of the rip was to see as many Singapore 777 as possible prior to them withdrawing the older ones. After two and a half days we came away with all but 8. All of the A380’s were seen within the first day and a half. The new A330’s were harder with the final 1 of the 5 seen at lunchtime of the finalday. All A340’s were also seen, these creep in early (0500ish) and depart mid morning, and are away from base for a couple of days due to the length of the flights to New York and LAX.

Things get a little quiet between 1100-1400 giving you the opportunityto wizz into Singapore on the local train (about £2 each way) and see the sights.

Travelodge are holding another £9 per night room sale. This is particularly useful if you’re on the road spotting as there are many Travelodge hotels located near airports in the UK.

Some particularly useful ones are at and around London Heathrow airport. The new one at Terminal 5 even has rooms overlooking the action.

The sale starts at 6am on 23 April. Booking period is 27 August to 30 November. Click here for booking.

It seems Travelodge have an offer on hotel rooms at their London Heathrow hotel. This would be ideal if any of your are heading over there for some spotting this year.

The hotel is not ideal for viewing aircraft, but is located in a convenient place.

See this link

If you’re staying at Hong Kong for some spotting, probably the best airport hotel at Chep Lap Kok is the Regal Hotel. This has many rooms with views over the action at the airport.

Clive Hindmarsh recently posted some pictures taken from his room (8066) there www.flickr.com/photos/superspotter

He reports you need to be in the South Wing of the hotel, in even-numbered rooms of floors 7, 8 or 9.

Although the hotel only overlooks one side of the airport, it tends to be the side favoured for runway operations so you should catch most movements.