Grant from the Plane Crazy Down Under Podcast brought my attention to a great page on the website of Sydney Airport which is aimed at spotters and enthusiasts who want to know more about its history and where to watch aircraft.
The page, which you can visit here, gives a history of the airport. It includes pictures from key moments, such as the first Boeing 747 arriving, and the recent 787 Dreamliner visit.
It then goes on to give you technical details about the airfield (elevations, runways, identifiers etc), and a list of the best places to go and watch aircraft. If you’re new to the hobby, it even tells you what aircraft registrations are, so that you can start spotting!
I’m mightily impressed at this. Sydney is a fantastic place to spot at, with variety, good weather and great spotting locations. Having this information on their website to encourage the hobby only makes things better!
Here’s the link: http://www.sydneyairport.com.au/corporate/community-environment-and-planning/aviation-community.aspx
Sharjah Airport has reintroduced the airside photo pass scheme which was abandoned a few years ago. Traditionally, this was one of the best opportunities for spotters and photographers to get amongst the excellent selection of rarer aircraft that could typically be found at this UAE airport.
Sharjah is famous for the Russian types, cargo aircraft, and Western types from years gone by. It also has been used extensively for storage and scrapping. Sadly the airport is much quieter these days, and many of the stored aircraft have gone. It has instead turned into a major hub for Air Arabia, and services a number of other airlines.
The airport’s website has the application form for the pass. Although it stated the price is AED350, the application form has the true price of AED1000. A little steep perhaps. A minimum of 10 working days is required to process the pass, with the UAE working week being Sunday to Thursday.
What does the pass allow? Well it allows airside access to the various ramps. Whereas in the past you were often free to roam as you wished, these days you will be escorted by an agent.
A quick link to the application form: http://www.sharjahairport.ae/photographyform.pdf
The excellent ‘Krayzeekris’ website has been updated this week, with a number of airport spotting guides added for French airports and airfields.
The site is officially known as AircraftSpotting.co.uk
Go take a look.
I’ve been an avid fan of Johnny Jet’s weekly newsletter for quite a few years now. It always makes a fascinating read as he travels week-by-week around the globe, taking up frequent flier deals with airlines and hotels, and often trying out new services, routes and aircraft.
Whilst his reports are geared around travel, and the places he sees around the world, I thought I’d give it a mention here because he travels almost exclusively by air. Therefore in each of his weekly newsletters, you get an account of at least two airports, and an airline.
Whilst this doesn’t help you much with spotting aircraft, it will surely be useful in giving you an overview of the various airports he visits (he covers everything from how modern the terminal is, to the price of a bottle of water). i know a lot of you travel by air to spot at different airports.
He runs a large website known as Johnnyjet.com, and has his free newsletter which you can sign up to. I really recommend it!
Grant from the Plane Crazy Down Under Podcast brought my attention to a great page on the website of Sydney Airport which is aimed at spotters and enthusiasts who want to know more about its history and where to watch aircraft.