ALA-Spot1-East

King County Intl. Airport / Boeing Field – Spotting Guide
June 15, 2022
Spotter Magazine Issue 35
June 22, 2022Almaty Airport – Spotting Guide

Almaty Airport (ALA/UAAA) is the biggest airport in Kazakhstan with roughly 6,5 million passenger a year, although it is not the airport in the capital Nur-Sultan. ALA was opened in 1935 and is located roughly 20km northeast of the city of Almaty. The airport is home to Air Astana, Qazaq and a few other local carriers, but is majorly known as fuelstop for cargo aircraft and also hosts a big storage area, where you will find many stored F100 and some old sowjet metal these days.
+++ Due to civil war like protest in early 2022 we would recommend to contact the local spotting community for sure once you plan/are on trip to Kazakhstan for spotting now! +++
Written by Severin Hackenberger in cooperation with Dirk.
Rating | |
Movements | ![]() |
Airline Variety | ![]() |
Photo Locations | ![]() |
Weather | ![]() |
Visitor Rating How was your trip? Rate this airport! |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Airport Information | |
Runways | |
05R/23L | 4400m/Asphalt |
05L/23R | 4500m/Concrete – only used as taxiway |
Terminals | |
T1 | One Terminal for Domestic and international flights and all airlines. |
Spotting Information | |
Ladder | Not mandatory as you mostly will have a mound clearing your view onto the aircraft. But a ladder is useful to avoid/reduce fence and wall in the lower part of the pictures. |
Car/Public Transport | Car nessesary as there is no public transport. |
Drinks/Food | Bring everything you need as there is nothing around the spots: no shops, no toilet, nothing |
Hotels | There are some west of the terminal, but no specific popular spotting hotels. |
Season | The winter is cold, the summer therefore very hot and hazy. |
Security | It is definitely recommended to search yourself a local guide/spotter before you come here, best to contact the Kazhakstan Spotting Club on Facebook or Instagram. They know how to behave, they know how security/police is behaving here, helps in keeping a low profile which is better here for sure! Spotting is not generally forbidden, but the fewer attention you attract the better! |
Runway Usage | |
General Info | If there is no wind, they use both directions, but 05L/23R is only used as taxiway, so they only arrive/depart runway 05R/23L. |

By loading the map, you agree to Google's privacy policy.
Learn more
![]() |
Spot #1 – Dirt mounds south – 05R/23L movements |
---|---|
WHERE | This spot is located at the end of a small farm road (which turns off UL. Lenina) at the end of a cemetery. The road is very bumpy and hard to drive, but at its end you will find enough space to leave your car and then walk onto the hills around there. |
WHAT | From here you can see almost all 05R/23L movements except maybe light 23L departures. In addition also aircraft taxiing to 05L/23R. From the western hill, even aircraft parked on the ramp can be seen. |
TIME | Sunrise till late noon. |
MISC. | The area here is very bumpy and not flat with some artifical hills made of dirt, so no ladder needed here thankfully. But bring everything you need as there is nothing around. |
FOCAL LENGTH | 40-300mm 90mm B733 / 40mm B744 / 260mm CRJ200 on taxiway behind |
Eastern hill:
Western hill:
![]() |
Spot #2 – Unfinished terminal – 05R Movements |
---|---|
WHERE | To get here, take the bit bumpy route/small road turning off the main street at the gas station. It runs along a forestline first, then crosses a field and will lead you to the area of the new, unfinished terminal. You can get with the car directly to the fence/unfinished apron from where you can take pictures. There is a mound from where you can see the runway. In the meantime, the area may have been fenced already as constructions are slowly going on… |
WHAT | This spot offers views onto landing and takeoff on 05R. |
TIME | Sunrise till late noon. |
MISC. | Quite hard to find and the road may be bumpy and muddy sometimes.Nearby is also a gas station to get food/drinks. |
FOCAL LENGTH | 40-300mm |
![]() |
Spot #3 – Dirt mounds north – Taxi on 05L/23R + 05R/23L Movements |
---|---|
WHERE | Just turn off Zakarpatskaya street, there is a small field/meadow with another pair of artificial mounds north of the runway here. You can park your car easily in front/next to them. |
WHAT | From here you can see almost all 05R/23L movements except maybe light 23L departures. In addition also aircraft taxiing to 05L/23R. |
TIME | Early afternoon till sunset. |
MISC. | The grass is quite high here often, which causes hazy and cut off gear/aircraft parts. But you should be high enough to see the runway. |
FOCAL LENGTH | 200-400mm Dash 8 = 300mm |
Apron Tour | |
---|---|
WHERE | The Kazhakstan Spotting Club was also keen to organize foreign spotters apron tours in the past. Get in touch with them on Facebook or Instagram, to organize such an event. They will assist you with transport, language problems and access onto the storage ramp/area. |
WHAT | You will be able to spot the whole apron with all the old beautiful gems stored there: Antonovs, Tupolevs, Fokkers, … |
MISC. | You will need to pay the Kazhakstan Spotting Club for the organization/permits. Get in touch with them to organize the details… |
FOCAL LENGTH | 18-200mm should cover everything |