INN-Spot1
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January 10, 2013
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February 1, 2013Innsbruck Airport Spotting Guide
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- last modified on January 19, 2019
With almost 1,0 Mio passengers in 2014, Innsbruck in Tirol is the third biggest airport in Austria. Usually its not worth to visit this airport as the traffic movements are very low. But in the winter season, many ski-charter flights, mainly from UK with Thomson, Thomas Cook, Easyjet and British Airways. Scandinavia is served by SAS, Finnair and Malmö Aviation, taking place on Saturdays and Sundays. Austrian offers many charter flights on these days using their narrowbody aircrafts like the whole A320 family, Dash 8-Q400 and Fokker 100. Transavia servs the airport on a regular basis too. General Aviation traffic is another main pillar for the airport.
On theses days the ramp is crowded with single aisle aircrafts, from the smaller Dash 8 up to the Boeing 757 which is currently the largest aircraft at INN. The high number of movements and the beautiful scenery with the mountains in the back makes it worth to visit Innsbruck on these winter days.
You can always check the actual traffic/situation on the WEBCAM.
Written by Julian Mittnacht / Updated by Severin Hackenberger: December 2018
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| The rating is for the winter season only!! | ||||
| Airport Informations | Runways | 08/26 | ||
| 2.000 m (6.562 ft) | ||||
| Spotting Informations | Ladder | Not needed. | ||
| Car | Not really needed as the public traffic is also quite good due to the airport’s nearness to the university. | |||
| Restrooms | Inside the Terminal. | |||
| Drinks/Food | Inside the Terminal and the supermarket, which is tagged on the map. | |||
| Hotels | Hotel Penz is next to the Terminal. | |||
| Season | Only recommended between December and March on Saturday & Sundays (Winter Charters). Check the airport website for a winter timetable in PDF format or the actual flight informations. Off season there are only a handful of schedule flights a day! | |||
| Runway Usage | 08/26 | The runway is used in all directions and they mix it pretty often when the ramp is full. | ||
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Spot #1 – Visitor Terrace – 08/26 departures&arrivals, apron |
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| WHERE | This is the official visitor terrace at the terminal. Just follow the signs (“Besucherterrasse”) to the upper level. Its next to the one and only restaurant inside the terminal. |
| WHAT | You will find a great overview of almost the whole apron as well as the runway. There isn’t a glass wall and you have a distinct view of the action. For the runway movements a higher focal length is needed. You won’t miss a single plane at this place as there isn’t a real taxiway parallel to the runway. |
| TIME | A great place for the whole day in the winter. |
| MISC. | The terrace is sheltered and toilets are just behind the entrance. No security checks and no admission fees. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-400 mm |
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Spot #2 – Hotel Penz Parking – 08 departures, 26 arrivals and departures |
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| WHERE | Walk out of the terminal and follow the road back to the city. Until 5 minutes you will see the Hotel Penz on the right side. On the left there is the hotel parking. Cross this area until you will reach a dirt road. Stay along at this road. Arriving by car park on the Hotel Penz Parking lot or along the ‘Fürstenstreet’ where parking is free of charge during the weekend. |
| WHAT | You will get 26 arrivals and departures as well as the 08 departures. For the 26 departures walk to the perimeter fence just in front of you to the turning point. You can shot over the fence if you have a live view mode on your camera or trough the fence with a small lense. Otherwise you need a 2 step ladder. The airport is to the left and you will see whats going on on the ramp. |
| TIME | In the winter its a good spot for the whole day. |
| MISC. | Walk back to the terminal for the facilities you need. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-300 mm |
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Spot #3 – Promenade – 08/26 departures & arrivals |
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| WHERE | You have plenty of different photo positions at this location. It is at the end of RWY 08 along the river Inn. Follow the road signs to Garmisch/Zirl on the 171. The road is parallel to the runway. After you have crossed a roundabout you will see a parking lot after 500 meters. Park your car here (you have to pay a fee now) and walk for around 5-10 minutes along the perimeter fence to get on the other side of the airport (footpath tagged on the map in green. Usually there is snow where you can easily walk on). |
| WHAT | At this location you have more opportunities to stay. If 08 is in use for arrivals I would stay next to the river. There is a crash gate with two holes just next to it, so you can catch the 08 departures too as the turning point for the aircrafts is in front of you. For 26 departures I would walk a little bit to the second point as the planes rotating earlier. You can shot over the fence. For 26 arrivals use the second point because most planes exit the runway earlier and don´t use the turning point. In this case there are more holes in the fence and you will be able to shot the taxiway here (only in the afternoon) as together with the runway (whole day). As said there are plenty of opportunities and holes in the fence so just find your preferred position! |
| TIME | In the winter its a good spot for the whole day. |
| MISC. | Its just a promenade along the Inn, so you will not find much here. There is a bench but nothing else. A supermarket is tagged on the map. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-300 mm |
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Spot #4 – Container – 08/26 departures & arrivals |
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| WHERE | The spot is located at the runway’s northern side and can be reached from “Kranebitter Allee” (also known as “Bundesstrasse 171”), which runs north of the spot and airport fence. There is a sign at the beginning of the unnamed road, which connects the above mentioned busy road and the spot/fence, which says that it’s only permitted to use the street and enter the following area, if you are a visitor of the gliding club next to the spot. But nobody cares about this sign and you can easily pass this point, without any worries normally. So follow this unnamed street till you have reached the fence and then just park your infront of the fence or at the parking of the nearby building.
Then you have different options for your exact photo position at this location as there are a hand full of photoholes in the fence as well as a container and kinda big “ladder”, which is normally used by spotters, on the parkingarea infront of the fence. |
| WHAT | From here you can see all activities on the runway (although you can’t see the whole runway; western end is covered by objects) and on the apron on the runway’s southern side. Apart from this, you’ll be able to see some taxiways from here. |
| TIME | Only useable on early summer mornings or late summer evenings as well as during the night or on grey days. In winter unuseable. |
| MISC. | Ladder nort really needed as there are photoholes and a ladder nearby , so you don’t need any object to get over the fence. Therefore there are no facilities with food/drinks/restrooms directly at the spot, but a nearby supermarket is tagged on the map. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300 mm
A321 on runway (90 degree-shot) = 75mm / CL600 on runway = 140mm |
12 Comments
HI,
WHAT TIME DOES THE VIEWING TERRACE OPEN? AND WHEN DOES IT CLOSE? THANK YOU.
GRAHAM
Hi Graham, there are no official opening hours for the terrace. Its open when the airport has opened its main entrance. You can go there very early and stay till the last flight has left.
-Julian
MANY THANKS.
Hello.I wish to visit INN at around the Christmas.Is there any public transport from Innsbruck Hbf to the airport in the early morning?
Best wishes.
Hi,yes there is a bus service. From their website:
“Innsbruck Airport is easily accessed by train or bus. Bus route F connects Innsbruck main station with the airport main building. The journey takes about 20 minutes.”
-Julian
Is it possible to walk from the city centre to the airport?
Hi, yes thats absolutely no problem but you have to walk a few kilometers. You can use the public transport too.
-Julian
I was last there in 1988! Good to see the viewing deck is still there. Lot more movements now of course!
Paul in NZ
*Penz*
[…] In 10 Minuten mit dem Bus am Flughafen und in weiteren 10 eingecheckt und am Gate? Läuft bei uns in Innsbruck. Zwar nicht, wenn gerade Urlauberwechsel ist, ansonsten schiebt man am Innsbrucker Flughafen eher eine ruhige Kugel. Gratis WLAN gibt’s auch, ebenso wie in den Bussen der IVB. Auch Planespotting (der Sport des leidenschaftlichen Beobachtens und Fotografierens von Flugzeugen) ist in Innsbruck ein Kinderspiel und heiß begehrt laut berichten des Spotter Guides. […]
Olympic Air returning to Athens after maintenance at INN a/p
OA3003 INN-ATH DH4 SX-BIT ETD 0930 UTC
best regards
Spiros Kastamonitis
Olympic Air / Aegean Airlines CLC
Athens International Airport
e-mail: s.kastamonitis@outlook.com
Hi Spyros!
Thanks for this information. Stay tuned for new Greece guides!
Cheers
Marlin