Spotter Magazine Issue 33
October 17, 2021
Shenzen Bao‘an Int. Airport – Spotting Guide
October 20, 2021Spotter Magazine Issue 33
October 17, 2021Shenzen Bao‘an Int. Airport – Spotting Guide
October 20, 2021Medan Kualanamu Intl. Airport – Spotting Guide
- last modified on December 7, 2023
Kualanamu International Airport (KNO/WIMM) is a relatively new airport that mainly serving Medan and surrounding areas on North Sumatera. With around 10 Mio pax, it is the fifth-busiest airport in Indonesia. It serves as one of the main hubs for domestic flights and also international flights; at one time there was even a regular route from this airport to London and Amsterdam. Located in Deli Serdang regency – around 23km east of Medan, it was inaugurated for service in 2013 to replace Polonia Intl. Airport (MES/WIMM – now SWO/WIMK) which is already congested and deemed to be unsafe due to very close proximity to the city center. There were several high-profile accidents that occurred at the former airport. Polonia itself nowadays still serves limited military flights as Soewondo Airport.
Kualanamu is designed to be easily expandable in near future (even land for the second runway already prepared) and is able to handle big airplanes such as Boeing 747-400 and 777-300ER; thus widebody aircraft movements are pretty common here.
Spotting at this airport is pretty hard (and could be pretty expensive in cost) for solo planespotters due to a pretty remote location and you can easily lose your way to spotting locations. Thus better to ask a local spotter to assist you.
Written by Eka and Eduardo Purba 757spotter (Local Spotter). Last Update December 2020.
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety |  |
| Photo Locations |  |
| Weather | |
| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 05/23 | 3.750 m x 60m (12.303 ft) Asphalt |
| Terminals | |
| Main Terminal Building | All Flights |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Not Needed |
| Car/Public Transport | Airport train and other land transportations such as buses and taxis are available from Medan city centre to Kualanamu Airport terminal vice versa. To reach the spotting location from the city center, you can either use your own vehicle or hire a taxi to reach there or alternatively you can use the airport train to the terminal building then continuing using the airport taxi to the location. Please note that it could be pretty hard for a first-timer (even a local taxi driver find it hard) to reach the spotting location (and GPS is not so reliable here – sometimes it can lead you to a path that car unable to use) so it’s highly advised to reach local planespotters to guide you. Indonesian Plane Spotters group on Facebook is a good start to reach out spotters in many airports across Indonesia. |
| Restrooms | Available inside the airport facilities/hotel building |
| Drinks/Food | In the airport facilities or hotels around the airport. On planespotting locations listed below also selling some drinks, snacks, and noodles. |
| Hotels | It seems like only one hotel is available on the airport complex. Other hotels especially top-notch hotels can be found closer to the city center. |
| Season | When the weather is clear, light seems good both morning and evening. |
| Security | The spotting location itself was safe and commonly used by local residents to watch airplane movements. However, considering that this airport is located in a sparsely populated area, it is said that it’s not good to drive alone around this area after sunset especially if using a motorcycle – even said that security and airport staff won’t go home alone after dark and will go in a convoy. |
| Runway Usage | |
| General Info | With presently only one runway is available, you’ll get most of the movements here. |
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Spot #1 – Pondok Kualanamu Sidourip Pantai Labu – Runway 05 Departures / Arrivals |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is one of many private “observation decks” built by local residents along Kualanamu runway to observe airplane movements. This deck is facing Kualanamu’s cargo terminal and is also close to the Runway 05 touchdown point. Also the closest spot to the main road. Compared with other spots, this spot has a bit more population.
From Kualanamu main terminal, you can take a airport taxi / online taxi (could be costing more than IDR 100K/~USD10 one way) and ask the driver to follow the map. Alternatively you can take a train from Medan to Araskabu station (unfortunately the train is not running frequently), get a online taxi / motorcycle taxi (seemed to be cheaper due to closer distance) and ask the driver to follow the map. While this spot seemed to be the easiest to reach compared with the other two, it still highly advised to ask local planespotter to assist you as GPS could become unreliable here. For a return trip to the terminal/station, it could be hard to get an online taxi here so again, highly advised to ask the local planespotter to assist you. |
| WHAT | Runway 05 Arrivals and Departures can be perfectly spotted here. Unfortunately for airplanes in taxiway can’t be perfectly spotted, seems like the taxiway is a bit lower. |
| TIME | This spot can be used from afternoon until sunset. In the morning hours you will face the sun. |
| MISC. | The observation deck admission fee is very cheap, less than IDR 10.000 (USD1). You can pay either in advance or after you finish your work. Beverages, snacks, and foods are available for purchase here. Shadow and seating are available. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Could be less than 55mm for widebody airplanes at the closest point. |
Photo of the location
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Spot #2 – Pondok Kualanamu Tengah – All Runway Movements |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This is another private “observation decks” built by local residents along Kualanamu runway to observe airplane movements. This deck is located almost close to the runway’s middle point. Compared with other two decks, at this location has several decks (with separate admission fee) so you can try explore some possible angles; although the differences is not so significant.
From Kualanamu main terminal, you can take a airport taxi / online taxi (could be costing more than IDR 100K/~USD10 one way) and ask the driver to follow the map. Alternatively you can take a train from Medan to Araskabu station (unfortunately the train is not running frequently), get a online taxi / motorcycle taxi (seemed to be cheaper due to closer distance), and ask the driver to follow the map. To reach this spot could be pretty hard for first-timer even for the local driver. GPS is very unreliable here and it can even lead you to wrong narrow path that car unable / very risky to pass through! Highly advised to ask local plane spotters to assist you so you can avoid inconveniences when finding the location. For a return trip to the terminal/station, it will be hard to get an online taxi here considering the pretty complicated access so again, highly advised to ask local plane spotters to assist you. Please spend plenty of time between departing from the spotting location to your flight schedule considering the aforementioned complicated access. |
| WHAT | Arrivals and Departures can be perfectly spotted here. Unfortunately for airplanes in taxiway can’t be perfectly spotted, seems like the taxiway is a bit lower. |
| TIME | This spot can be used from afternoon until sunset. In the morning hours you will face the sun. |
| MISC. | The observation deck admission fee is very cheap, less than IDR 10.000 (USD1). You can pay either in advance or after you finish your work. Beverages, snacks, and foods are available for purchase here. Shadow and seating are available. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Could be less than 55mm for widebody airplanes at the closest point. |
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Spot #3 – Pondok Kualanamu Runway 23 – Runway 23 Arrivals / Departures & Runway 05 Departures |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This is the third “observation decks” built by local residents along the Kualanamu runway to observe airplane movements. This deck is the farthest but has the closest view of the airport terminal and Runway 23.
From Kualanamu’s main terminal, you can take an airport taxi / online taxi (could be costing more than IDR 100K/~USD10 one way) and ask the driver to follow the map. Alternatively, you can take a train from Medan to Araskabu station (unfortunately the train is not running frequently), get an online taxi/motorcycle taxi (seemed to be cheaper due to closer distance), and ask the driver to follow the map. To reach this spot could be pretty hard for first-timer even for the local driver. GPS is very unreliable here and it can even lead you to the wrong narrow path that car is unable / very risky to pass through! Highly advised to ask local plane spotters to assist you so you can avoid inconveniences when finding the location. For a return trip to the terminal/station, it will be hard to get an online taxi here considering the pretty complicated access so again, highly advised to ask local plane spotters to assist you. Please spend plenty of time between departing from the spotting location to your flight schedule considering the aforementioned complicated access. |
| WHAT | This spot can be used from afternoon until sunset. In the morning hours you will face the sun. |
| TIME | Left side will be in a backlight in the morning but perfect in the afternoon, while the right side will be perfect in the morning but with a backlight in the afternoon. Heat haze may occur in the afternoon. |
| MISC. | The observation deck admission fee is very cheap, less than IDR 10.000 (USD1). You can pay either in advance or after you finish your work. Beverages, snacks, and foods are available for purchase here. Shadow and seating are available. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Could be less than 55mm for widebody airplanes at the closest point. |
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Spot #4 – Waiting room next to the airline Customer Service desk – Taxiway Movements |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spot is the waiting room inside the terminal check-in area, next to the airline customer service desk, and located before the security check. The waiting room directly overlooking the taxiway movements. |
| WHAT | Arriving traffic and Runway 05 Departures can be spotted here, however, there are several trees obstructing your view, and maybe only be possible to take a photo of smaller jets on the taxiway. Still worth to be mentioned though. |
| TIME | Almost anytime, depends on the angle – Heat haze may occur in the afternoon. |
| MISC. | Glass reflection may occur. All things you need are available in the terminal. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | More than 250mm |
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Spot #5 – Waiting Room Gate – Apron Movements |
|---|---|
| WHERE | After you have passed the security check (you need to be a flying passenger to access this spot) go straight ahead to the waiting room/gate area. From there you can take photos of the apron. The windows are double but it is still possible to spot here. Lookout for windows with lesser obstructions. |
| WHAT | Taxiing airplanes and those on apron can be spotted here. |
| TIME | Almost anytime, depends on the angle – Heat haze may occur in the afternoon. |
| MISC. | Glass reflection may occur. All things you need are available in the terminal. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Around 100mm for taxiing airplanes. |
I went to spot 2 and I hired a car with driver. Even the local driver was not able to navigate when using Waze or Google maps. He had to ask local residents for directions. It is advisable to use a hire car or ask a local spotter to help you. Taxi or e-hailing drivers may not be able to come and pick you up!
As this location is backlit in the morning, it is advisable to go in the afternoon for the best light conditions. I had a pretty satisfying spotting session but most traffic is narrow body or turboprops. There are more widebody aircraft during the Hajj season.
For foreign spotter who want to go Spot no1,please remeber to order the Indomie Goreng..Trust me,is very nice to have that when spotting