Bournemouth Airport – Plane Spotting Guide

Bournemouth is a regional airport in the south west of England, a few miles from the city it serves and from the English Channel.

Originally known as Christchurch Airfield, during the wartime it served as RAF Hurn and was the main operating base for British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) having moved their flights away from London for safety. This continued until 1946.

For years it was a manufacturing plant for airliners such as the BAC One-Eleven and Vickers Viscount.

Today, however, it is an interesting airport to visit with a mix of passenger, cargo and private operators, and a nearby aviation museum. Let’s take a look at why you might visit as a plane spotter, and what you might see.

Bournemouth Airport Layout

Bournemouth today has one active runway, 08/26, which is 2,271m (7,451ft) long. Two former cross runways are now used as taxiways.

The main passenger terminal and car parks are in the south east corner of the airfield, off the B3073/Parley Lane.

The north side of the airfield and runway is a mix of industrial units, both aviation and non-aviation related. A number of hangars can be found in this area, as well as in the north east corner, linked by taxiways, and they each serve a different company with some interesting aviation tenants.

What Aircraft You’ll See at Bournemouth

TUI are one of the main passenger operators at Bournemouth. Credit Alan Wilson

Bournemouth has a good mix of aircraft traffic to add variety to the spotter, however it is not a particularly busy airport compared to some of the other UK hubs like Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham or the London airports.

Passenger traffic is dominated by Jet2, Ryanair and TUI Airways, which each serve a range of leisure destinations across Europe, all using a mix of Boeing 737-800/737 MAX aircraft types. Their destination lists and number of weekly services increase dramatically during the summer months (March-October), making the airport much quieter in winter.

Private aircraft movements, such as biz jets, are handled on the north side of the runway by Bournemouth Aviation Services, Signature Flight Support, MC Aviation and XLR Executive Jet Centre. Each sees a number of interesting weekly movements, as well as some based aircraft.

Draken Europe has a large green hangar to the north. Here, a fleet of Dassault Falcon 20 aircraft is based, operating military training duties most days.

Cargo traffic is provided by European Cargo which utilised Airbus A340 aircraft on flights mostly to China, carrying small goods. These aircraft make quite an impressive sight at the airport, with its relatively short runway. These aircraft are usually handled from an apron near the passenger terminal, or their base on the northern part of the airport site, visible from the passenger terminal area.

A mix of aircraft types at Bournemouth. Credit Jaimie Wilson

There are also various aviation engineering, storage and maintenance facilities at Bournemouth – all on the northern side of the airport. These include Fast Aviation, Thurston Avation and Gama Aviation. Retired airliners have been a common sight at the airport for many years, often being scrapped.

Finally, to the east of the passenger terminal is a general aviation apron and maintenance facility, and another apron for light aircraft can also be found at the northern part of the site.

Bournemouth Spotting Locations

There are no longer any official plane spotting locations at Bournemouth Airport, but there are a few places where you can see and log aircraft.

First, Mountbatten Drive (postcode BH23 6NE) will offer some glimpses through the fence as it passes through the Aviation Business Park East. Here, the likes of Draken and Gama are based.

For Aviation Business Park West, Enterprise Way (postcode BH23 6BS) is the main road running through this complicated area of hangars; however, a securty post part-way along the road restricts access to authorised vehicles only.

You can also see some of the passenger apron and parts of the airfield through the fence near the Bournemouth Aviation Museum.

Walking to the end of the runway 08 threshold is also possible as a footpath runs along the B3073 road, with views through the fence and a good vantage point for arrivals.

Bournemouth Aviation Museum

Boeing 737-200 at Bournemouth Aviation Museum. Credit Alec

The Bournemouth Aviation Museum occupies a site off the B3073 on the southern perimeter. Open daily from 10am except Christmas bank holidays, with a selection of civil and military aircraft and cockpits. A double-decker bus here offers views across the airport from above the fence line. See www.bamhurn.org

Title image; James

Airport Spotting Guides UK & Ireland

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