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August 13, 2018Cologne/Bonn Airport – Spotting Guide
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- last modified on April 21, 2022
Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN/EDDK) was founded in 1938 as military base and used till 1945 by the German Air Force and afterwards by the British RAF. In 1951 first civil flights were operated form/to Cologne. After and after the first civil terminal facilities were built and the airport got the name “Flughafen Köln-Bonn” (back in the late 1960s). In September 2000 Terminal 2 was opened. The airport was more or less inofficially named after the important German Politican Konrad Adenauer after his dead. Nowadays the airport handles more than 12 million passengers per year and is located 15km southeast of Cologne’s downtown.
Today the airport is still used by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and some more foreign Air Forces regularly. All bigger planes, which are being used by the German Government, are based here like the Globals, the A319s and the two A343s. Apart from those, CGN is the third biggest cargo airport in Germany and a hub for UPS/Star Air and FedEx. From a passengers sight, Eurowings and Ryanair are the major carriers at CGN and responsible for most movements.
Many movements can be seen on the webcam, which offers pictures/videos from four different positions. Schedule can be found on the aviation-friends-cologne website.
Written by Severin Hackenberger (regular visitor) in cooperation with Axel Weidenhaupt. Some information/pictures provided by Timo Jäger, Leon Knipp, David Mispelkamp and Tim-Patrick Müller. /// Last Update: April 2022
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| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 14R/32L | 1.863m (6,112ft) |
| 14L/32R | 3.815m (12.516ft) |
| 06/24 | 2.459m (8.068ft) |
| Terminals | |
| Terminal 1 (Gates B and C) | Old part, where the terrace is also located on. Including the characteristic 2-stars-shape (seen from above) and the gangway between. |
| Terminal 2 (Gated D) | New and modern part, north-west of the old terminal 1. Can be reached via some pedestridants-walkways. |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Not often needed and not always recommended, because CGN is kinda active military base. |
| Car/Public Transport | Car is needed in the morning hours, but from midday on you can spot from the terrace, which is very easy to reach. Just Morning site and Southern Arrivals are very difficult to reach without car. |
| Restrooms | Almost only inside the terminal. |
| Drinks/Food | Almost only inside the terminal. |
| Hotels | Inside the city and a few on the north-western side of CGN. |
| Season | Definitely summer! Many cargo aircraft are coming in quite late or early (common at cargo airports), that’s why the summer is much better for spotting at Cologne. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 06/24 | This runway is very rarely in Usage, almost only during heavy winds from eastern/western direction. |
| 14R/32L | This runway is very rarely in Usage, almost only during maintenance of the other one(s). |
| 14L/32R | The main used runway at Cologne. |
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Krieger Strasse - 32L Departures
| WHERE | This spot is located near the Cargo Center and a Sportground along the “Krieger Strasse”. Coming from the “A59”, take the exit 34 called “Flughafen” and follow the “Kennedystrasse” until the “Grengler Mauspfad”. Follow this road into southern direction for about ~300 meters, then turn left into “Waldstrasse” and immediately right again at the roundabound (so take the first exit). Then follow the “Krieger Strasse” until you found a possibility to park at and search your favourite position. |
| WHAT | Departures on runway 32L only, which is quite rare and mostly just happens during maintenance of the other runway(s). Maybe 14R Arrivals might be okay as well, but we didn’t test this yet. |
| TIME | From early midday till sunset. |
| MISC. | Everything needed can be found in the nearby cities. No ladder needed. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 150-350mm |
Terminal Driveway - Apron Alpha
| WHERE | This spot is located on the terminal driveway, on the upper deck (used for departures). Park your car at one of the many opportunities at the airport and come back to the driveway. Your exact position depends on the parking position and maybe some objects like cars or stairs. |
| WHAT | Apron Alpha can be seen form here. Some often parked guests here are CargoJet 767s, Germanwings/Eurowings planes or Star Air B767s. |
| TIME | Depending on exact angle/parking position, but mostly better in the evening hours or in the early morning hours. Night shots are “safer”, because there won’t be backlit and you can take them quite well. |
| MISC. | Everything you need can be found inside the terminal. No ladder needed as you can easily shot over the railing! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-250mm |
Visitor terrace - 14L/32R + Apron Terminal & 2
| WHERE | This is one of the or even the best photo location in Cologne/Bonn. It is the visitor terrace on the top of CGN Terminal 1, Concourse C. Just use the elevator or stairs to get on the fifth floor. The deck is open from 5am till 10pm (22 o’clock), free of charge and without security checks. The main platform is behind glass, but you can use the stairs to get on an even higher level where you have a free sight and no disturbing glass.
There is a northern end and a southern end, where you can spot from. Those are connected by a walkway at the back side of the airportbuilding (northwest side of this buildingsection, where the terrace is located on) and just above one of the drop off area for cars (for more details, check the map). |
| WHAT | The terrace offers a great overview and you can see many activities from here:
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| TIME | Arrivals and parallel taxiway has light from noon till sunset. Parked planes maybe earlier/later, depending on the angle. Military aircraft using the taxiway from west to east (or other way around) have light in the early morning or the late evening (only in summer months). |
| MISC. | Everything you need can be found inside the terminal. No ladder needed! Check the official website for updates before your visit! Terrace can be close due to bad weather or events. Free Wifi can be used on the terrace! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-400mm 747 on final = 120m / 737 on final = 260 mm / 737 on Taxiway = 180mm |
Northern end -> 1st shot = south-western direction (Cargoramp) / 2nd shot = western direction (Arrivalpath + PAX apron):
Southern end -> 1st shot = maximum view you can get from this end, Apron “Alpha” + Mil Apron / 2nd shot = structure of southern end:
Parking P3 - 14L/32R + Apron Terminal 2
| WHERE | This spot is located on the parking garage “P3”, This can be found north of Terminal 2 nextto the Zero G A300. Just enter the garage and go up to the highest floor, where you can choose your favourite position. You can park in the garage as well. The fares are changing all the time, but around 3 Euro per hour. You can also just park in the nearby area somewhere by the roadside and ten walk up here. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 14L and late departures on runway 32R, but they are mostly too high. Apart from this all movements on the apron infront of Terminal 2 and the nearby parking positoins. You can also see 14R arrivals as well, but distance is quite high and those shots are more “documentation shots” than good pictures. |
| TIME | Runway 14L/32R has light from early midday/late morning till sunset. On the apron the light can change quickly due to different angles, but mostly better in the early morning (in summers) or late evenings as well. 14R Arrivals would be good from sunrise till early midday. |
| MISC. | Everything you need can be found inside the terminal or in the nearby gas station. No ladder needed! Heat haze is a problem. This spot is an alternative to spot #3, because the terrace (#3) is sometimes closed due to construction works or extrem weather. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-500mm B748 arrival 90 degree shot = 180mm |
Perimeter Fence - Apron Terminal 1
| WHERE | This spot is no exact position, rather the area along the fence north of the main civilapron. Your exact position depends on the planes/angle you wanna have. When coming from Terminal 1, pass the Zero G A300 on your right and just go to the northern end of the big unnamed street (as marked on the map). Pass P3 on your left and just a few meters later, this street will end and turn into an old bumpy one. Turn right here and then walk just all along the fence on a little path. Follow this one until it makes a left turn and you reach the apron then. Now just search your needed/favourite position along the fence between the blast walls and the foreground clutter. You can also park your car at the “Parkplatz Paradeplatz”, which is located by the roadside of “Alte Kölner Strasse” and around ~250-300 meters north of “Nordschneise”. Then walk as if you would approach spot #6, but continue walking to the south (exact way marked on the map) till you reach the fence directly next to the apron as well and choose your favourite position as well… |
| WHAT | Apron of Terminal 1 and sometimes also the apron of Terminal 2 (if the view isn’t blocked). Apart form this you can rather just see the arrivals on runway 14L, but they are quite high. |
| TIME | Depending on the angle, but mostly in the late evening/very early morning (almost only possible in June). Apart from this, the spot is often used for night shots! |
| MISC. | Ladder needed! Nearest facilities for food/restrooms are the ones in the terminal or in the nearby gas station. Heat haze and foreground clutter are often disturbing your pictures here! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 18 – 300mm |
Field - 14L Arrivals
| WHERE | This spot is no exact position, rather the area around on the field. Your exact position depends on the planes/angle you wanna have. You can park your car at the “Parkplatz Paradeplatz”, which is located by the roadside of “Alte Kölner Strasse”. After parked your car, go to the eastern end of the parking to a walkpath. Follow this one for around ~100m into southern direction and you’ll arrive on a field, then choose your favourite position on one of the forest paths, as the field is fenced with an electrical wire. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 14L. |
| TIME | From early midday till sunset. |
| MISC. | No ladder needed, nothing nearby except parking possibility. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | From 70-500mm, depends on how close you are to the approach path. |
Fencekink - 14L Arrivals
| WHERE | This spot is no exact position, rather the area along the perimeter fence. You can park your car in the “Parkplatz am Rösrather Weg”, which is by the eastern roadisde of “Alte Kölner Str.” and marked on the map. Then cross the mentioned street and follow the “Mittlere Querschneisse” for about ~175m into western direction until you arrive at the fence. Then choose your favourite position around the fencekink here. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 14L can be seen from here. |
| TIME | From sunrise till early midday. |
| MISC. | Ladder needed if you wanna shoot freely. There is also a little gap thanks to a path north of the fence so without ladder may also work. Nothing nearby! Heat haze can be a problem in summer months. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70 – 300mm |
View from a 5-stepladder:
Fence - 14L Arrivals + 14L Line-Ups
| WHERE | This spot is no exact position, rather the area along the perimeter fence. However, spot #8 can be divided into two main “positions”, which nearly offer the same view:
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| WHAT | 14L Arrivals and 14L Line-Ups can be seen from here – Option b offers the unique view onto Touchdowns, which weren’t possible to shoot at CGN eariler (than APR 2020) when the vegetation airside there was still up. |
| TIME | Depending on the angle, but mostly in the morning. Runway has light from sunrise till early midday. |
| MISC. | Ladder needed! Nothing nearby! Heat haze can be a BIG problem in summer months.
|
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70 – 300mm B738 = 150mm |
Spot #8a -> Arrivals still in the air:
Spotarea along the fence looks roughly like this – you can nicely see the mentioned measuring buildings here:
View from a 5-stepladder a bit south of the measuring buildings:
Spot #8b -> Touchdown are:
Crashgate - 14L/32R
| WHERE | This spot can be reached fom the terminal facilities easily via “Kennedystrasse” – “Grengler Mauspfad” – “Alte Kölner Strasse”. If you start to follow the “Alte Kölner Strasse” at the crossing with “Grengler Mauspfad” (crossing is northwest of terminals) you’ll reach a parking bay on your left after around ~3,5km named “Parkplatz am Radarturm”. Just park your car here and follow the walking path into southern direction for about ~300 meters. Then you’ll reach the crashgate on your right along the fence. You can either stand here or proceed 300m down the fence till this leads away from the runway. The fencecurve there offers a nice view, too. |
| WHAT | All movements on runway 14L/32R. |
| TIME | Early morning till early midday/late morning in the summer. In winter months almost unuseable. |
| MISC. | Ladder needed! Nothing nearby! Heat haze might be a problem. Don’t block the fire-/crashgate!
|
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-400mm A343 side on = 90mm |
Spot #9a – north:
Spot #9b – south:
Alte Kölner Strasse - 24 Arrivals
| WHERE | This spot is no exact location, rather the are along/around the eastern end of runway 24, north of the runway. You can park your car on/in one of the fieldpaths or by the roadside, but the police might ask you to leave the roadside. Apart from those two options you might also use the parking marked on the map a bit down the “Alte Kölner Strasse”. This spot can be reached fom the terminal facilities easily via “Kennedystrasse” – “Grengler Mauspfad” – “Alte Kölner Strasse”. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 24 and if you’re lucky low departures. |
| TIME | In winter months unuseable! In summer months from around ~4pm till sunset. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby. Ladder not really needed, but if you wanna have a slightly better angle, you can use the concrete blocks by the roadside (which can be seen on the overview shot). |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm |
November - 24 Arrivals (+ parked aircraft)
| WHERE | This spot can be reached from the terminal facilities easily via “Kennedystrasse” – “Grengler Mauspfad” – “Alte Kölner Strasse”. At the eastern end of runway 06/24, you’ll see some parking possiblities on your left or a few meters further down the “Alte Kölner Strasse” there are different possibilities (the bay in the curve and the parking “Altes Camp Altenrath” – both marked on the map). Then go back to the meadow and choose your favourite position, which depends on the angle and similar, so this spot is no exact position, rather the area around (t)here! You can also stand on the concrete obstacles by the roadside, where the overview shot was taken from. Then no ladder is needed, whether for arrivals nor apron shots. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 24 and if you’re lucky low departures. Apart from this, some (mostly military) aircraft are parked here – like the C17 in the example pictures. |
| TIME | Runway 06/24: In winter all day. In summer months from 7am till around ~4pm/mid afternoon. Apron parking: All months per year from sunrise till late noon (~2/3pm) |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby. Ladder useful for apron shots, for arrivals not! Heat haze might be a problem in summer, mostly for apron shots. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm |
Some pictures were taken through the fence, so please excuse the dark corners:
View from the concrete obstacles:
Fencecurve - 14L/32R, 24 arrivals and 06 departures
| WHERE | This spot can be reached from the terminal facilities easily via “Kennedystrasse” – “Grengler Mauspfad” – “Alte Kölner Strasse”. Shortly after you’ve passed the eastern end of runway 06/24, you’ll see a parking bay on your right. Park your car there and go into western direction down the path until you get to the fence. You can also park at the parking “Altes Camp Altenrath”, which can be found a few meters down the “Alte Kölner Strasse” into southern direction (marked on the map). |
| WHAT | All activities on runway 14L/32R. Arrivals on 24 and partially 06 departures. |
| TIME | In winter only good for 06/24 movements, usuable for the whole day. Early sunrise till early midday/late morning for 14L/32R and from sunrise until afternoon for 06/24 in the summer months. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby. Ladder needed! Heat haze is a BIG problem in summer months. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-400mm |
Forrest - 32R Arrivals + Line-Ups
| WHERE | There are two options to park your car at – so there are also two different options how to get to this spot, which is no exact position, rather the area around (t)here. Your exact position depends on your favourite angle/moment of the picture.
First parking option: Park your car by the roadside of “Alte Kölner Strasse” near spot #9. Then follow the walk path next to the forrestline (which should be between you and the street) for about ~500m, then turn right and shortly after this left again. The path will lead you straight down into south-eastern direction through a forrest after a short time. Shortly after you have left the big forrest, you’ll get to a crossing of 4 paths. Then you can choose your favourite position, which depends on the fact, if you want to have skyshots or not and the angle and so on. Second parking option: Park your car in/at the parking “Altes Camp Altenrath”. Leave the mentioned parking (bay), then go down the street for about ~300m before turning right. Pass the forrestline for about ~30m, then you’ll see a path in fornt of you and on the right site. Now you met the way of the first parking option, so follow the same constructions. After around another ~30m turn left again into a dirty path. This one will lead you straight down into south-eastern direction through a forrest after a short time. Shortly after you have left the big forrest, you’ll get to a crossing of 4 paths. Then you can choose your favourite position, which depends on the fact, if you want to have skyshots or not and the angle and so on. If you follow the description(s) above, spot should be reached in about ~10-15 minutes. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 32R. |
| TIME | In winter months almost unuseable. In summer months form sunrise till late morning/early midday. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby. Ladder not really needed, but if you want to spot the planes if they are already lower and shortly before touchdown, a ladder might be useable. Heat haze is a BIG problem in summer months. The area around this airport was/is a military base, that’s why DON’T LEAVE the WALKING PATHS, because military equipment as weapon ammunition might is still around there! On your way you might pass some cabinets, which generally shouldn’t be a problem, if you do this by foot and not by car and if you don’t leave the paths! While walking by the roadside, BE CAREFUL! Many drivers are furious and think to have to show the world how fast/great they are! Disadvantage: Cause of the walking distance, changing runways is very difficult here! If you choose this spot, you have to be sure, that this runway will be used for a time! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-400mm |
Kaiser Weg - 32R Arrivals
| WHERE | This spot is no exact position, rather the area around (t)here. Your exact position depends on your favourite angle/moment of the picture. If you follow the description(s) above, spot should be reached in about ~15-20 minutes. |
| WHAT | |
| TIME | |
| MISC. | The area around this airport was/is a military base, that’s why DON’T LEAVE the WALKING PATHS, because military equipment as weapon ammunition might is still around there! On your way you might pass some cabinets, which generally shouldn’t be a problem, if you do this by foot and not by car and if you don’t leave the paths! Disadvantage: Cause of the walking distance, changing runways is very difficult here! If you choose this spot, you have to be sure, that this runway will be used for a time! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | B748 = 75mm |
Wahner Heide - 14L Departures
| WHERE | If you follow the description(s) above, spot should be reached in about ~40 minutes. +++ UPDATE APRIL 2021: Signs were installed on the way saying it is forbidden to leave the marked ways. It is not allowed anymore to go here. Military police will control you and send you away Usage AT YOUR OWN risk!+++ |
| WHAT | *AIRCRAFT ON TAXIWAY/TRESHOLD PRODUCE A LOT OF HAZE – GOOD PICTURES ONLY LIMITED POSSIBLE THEN* |
| TIME | |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby. 3 step ladder needed for arrival, for taxiing aircraft infront 5 steps needed. The area around this airport was/is a military base, that’s why DON’T LEAVE the WALKING PATHS, because military equipment as weapon ammunition might is still around there! On your way you might pass some cabinets, which generally shouldn’t be a problem, if you do this by foot and not by car and if you don’t leave the paths! Disadvantage: Cause of the walking distance, changing runways is very difficult here! If you choose this spot, you have to be sure, that this runway will be used for a time! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Runway: B744 = 115mm / Global 6000 = 255mm / B737 = 200mm Taxiway: B738 = 75mm / LJ35 = 185mm |
Planitzweg - 32L Arrivals
| WHERE | Park your car at the “Wahner Heide Parkplatz” and start following the sandy path into northern direction for about ~200m, until you get onto “Eisenweg”. Turn right onto this path and follow it for about ~400m, then you’ll reach “Planitzweg”. Turn left onto this pathand follow it for about ~3km. Then you’ll pass a concrete block on your right and shortly after this you’ll see a glade on your right. Then choose your favourite position near/on the glade. This spot is no exact position, rather the area around (t)here. Your exact position depends on your favourite angle/moment of the picture. If you follow the description(s) above, spot should be reached in about ~40-50 minutes. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 32L only. |
| TIME | From late morning/early midday till sunset in sommers. In winter all day. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby. Ladder not needed. The time for taking pictures might be a bit short – shotingwindow quite small! The area around this airport was/is a military base, that’s why DON’T LEAVE the WALKING PATHS, because military equipment as weapon ammunition might is still around there! On your way you might pass some cabinets, which generally shouldn’t be a problem, if you do this by foot and not by car and if you don’t leave the paths! Disadvantage: Cause of the walking distance, changing runways is very difficult here! If you choose this spot, you have to be sure, that this runway will be used for a time! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-250mm |
Telegrafenberg - 32L Arrivals
| WHERE | There are two options how to get to this spot, which is no exact position, rather the area around (t)here. Your exact position depends on your favourite angle/moment of the picture.
First option: Park your car at the “Wahner Heide Parkplatz” and start following an unnamed path/road into western direction. This one will end up in “Stellweg” after around ~200m. Keep following the “Stellweg” for about ~700m, before turning right sharply. After another 50m turn “halfleft” into “Kuckucksweg”, which will lead you to kinda glade on your right. Second option: You can also park your car in the parking of “Waldwirtschaft Heidekönig” (marked on the map – west of spot #14). Then just walk to “Stellweg” as well, follow the road for about ~450m, before you turn left into an unnamed path. After 50m on this path turn “halfleft” into “Kuckucksweg”, which will lead you to kinda glade on your right. If you follow the description(s) above, spot should be reached in about ~5-10 minutes. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 32L only. |
| TIME | From late morning/early midday till sunset in sommers. In winter all day. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby. Ladder not needed. The area around this airport was/is a military base, that’s why DON’T LEAVE the WALKING PATHS, because military equipment as weapon ammunition might is still around there! On your way you might pass some cabinets, which generally shouldn’t be a problem, if you do this by foot and not by car and if you don’t leave the paths! Disadvantage: Cause of the walking distance, changing runways is very difficult here! If you choose this spot, you have to be sure, that this runway will be used for a time! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Should be around 70-300mm |
We didn’t test the spot ourselves yet, but it was recommended by some local spotters. If you have some pictures, taken from here, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Scheuermühlenteich - 06 Arrivals
| WHERE | By car: Park your car at the “Scheuermühlenteich Parkplatz” parking west of the pont/lake, which can be entered form the “Flughafenstrasse” easily. Then start walking to the east end of the parking, until you get to the water. Then turn right and walk along the path for about ~150m, before turning left again. Follow this path for around ~100m; then you should have arrived at a glade on your left, from where you can see the arrivals.
By bus: Busline 162 is serving the nearest bus stop here called “DLR Wahnheide”. Once you have exited the bus, walk into eastern direction along “Planitzweg” for a few meters, before turning left into an unnamed path. Follow this one for a bit more than ~60m and then turn left at the “T-junction”. Keep walking into western direction then for another ~30m – now should have arrived at a glad on your right from where you can spot the arrivals. If you follow the description(s) above, spot should be reached in about ~5 minutes from the parking and ~3 minutes from the bus stop. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 06. If you head to the fence on the other side of the pont and keep walking into eastern direction, you will get to the parking apron of (parts of) the GAF fleet. We never tried to make pictures there, because it might be forbidden due to military area! No guarantee! |
| TIME | Runway 06/24: In winter all day. In summer months from sunrise till around ~3pm/early afternoon. |
| MISC. | Nothing really nearby! Ladder not needed! Keep a low profile, because most facilities around are military ones! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-200mm A319 = 140mm / A332 = 85mm / A345 = 70mm |
Im Bruch Field - 06 Arrivals
| WHERE | This is an alternative spot for Runway 06 arrivals (spot 18), but it offers a slightly better angle and is much safer (as you do not penetrate security or military area at all). A much higher focal length is the disadvantage. By car: Enter the street “Im Bruch” and park your car anywhere at the side of the street. Then follow the walking path next to the meadow as long as you like (I would recommend ~130 meters) and move a few steps onto the meadow. Take care if something is planted on the meadow and don’t destroy anything! By bus: Busses 160 and 162 are serving the closest stop “Linder Weg” from the train station Porz. After deboaring follow the street “Viehtrift” for 50m and then turn right into “Im Bruch”. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on Runway 06 and departures on 24 – but they are very high already, so a steep angle. Arrivals on Runway 06 occur only very rarely. Mostly this happens only due to very strong easterly winds or closed main runway. |
| TIME | Summers: Sunrise till ~ 15.30 Winters: All day long |
| MISC. | Ladder not required. A Kiosk/Mini Market and a bakery a rather close to this spot, a toilet might be available there too (but no guarantee). |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A319 ~ 320mm; B737-800 ~ 300mm; A330-200 ~ 190mm; A340-500 ~ 170mm |
Altenrather Str - 32R Arrivals
| WHERE | Good spot for 32R arrivals in the evening – for the lazy one’s of us. Walking is much shorter than to compareable positions. However, the trees only allow shots from approx. 70-90 degrees of the bypassing aircraft, rest is obstructed by trees. Park your car at the “Wahner Heide Parkplatz” and start following the sandy path into northern direction for about ~200m until you get onto “Eisenweg”. Turn right onto this path and follow it for about ~400m, then you’ll reach “Planitzweg”. At the “Planitzweg” make it a 180 turn to the left, there is a little meadow/track for forestry vehicles. Move a little bit backwards (approx. 30m) to reach the best angle for the photos. If you arrive by car for only a couple of minutes (only for a specific plane) you may even park your car right at the crossing “Eisenweg”/”Altenrather Straße” next to the barrier. This will reduce your walking distance down to 40meters. Do NOT block the barrier and do NOT stay longer than a couple minutes – if you want to stay longer use one of the designated carparks of the nature reserve. If police or ranger asks you to leave – do so! Reportedly fines for parking there have been issued back in 2006 (during FIFA world cup). |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 32R. |
| TIME | Summers from ~12:30 till sunset. Winters from ~ 10.30 till sunset. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby, take all you need with you. Ladder not required. Please do not leave any garbage/waste behind – you are in a nature reserve! The branches of the trees are growing. So you have to go back the path to elevate the angle Please note: If we take it real seriously you already left the “designated walking paths” by moving these 30m backwards from the Planitzweg. However, as this is a forest trail there is no danger by the amunition. By now no reports have reached me in which people got send away. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A319 ~ 450mm; A320/738 ~ 400mm; B767 ~ 250mm; B747-8 ~ 200mm |
Fence/Driveway - Northern ramp + 14L Arrivals
| WHERE | This spot is literally nothing more than the walkway along the driveway of the departure floor at the airport or the grass mound at the apron along the fence. Why to come here? If you do not have time to go onto the terrace or it is closed for arrivals. Same for the ramp, if you are in hurry and do not wanna walk along the fence to spot 5. Then this spot is good, just park in P2 or P3/at spot 4 or the nearby gas station and quickly come here. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 14L as well as the northern apron. |
| TIME | From later noon till sunset. |
| MISC. | Everything you need is inside the nearby terminal or at the gas station. In summer, apron shots are often hazy – especially from the fence. Sometimes you will also struggle with ground stuff or parked airplanes in front along the fence. There you will need a small 1-2 step ladder to clear your view if you do not wanna shoot over the fence with live view. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 24-300m |
On the driveway:
At the fence directly:
I was pleasantly surprised with seeing the “south side” of the UPS terminal from point number 2. The car park along Kennedy Straße was empty (probably due to the current situation) but best to drive to near the exit gate to use a ticket machine to pay for the parking ticket.
Point 3 on top of the terminal was really good. I saw the other side of the UPS terminal, a lot of the passenger terminal, FedEx étc.
The “Parkplatz am Radarturm” parking area for number 8 and 9 is best used during the day. I arrived after sunset to see the UPS planes at the crash gate where there were quite a few males around a load of cars there. Spotters i thought, so parked on the other side of the parking area. Went to see the UPS at the crash gate and came back to see people lingering near / around my car. Drove off quickly. Did a google search, after dark the parking area is a dogging location. Best to keep that in mind…!
Thanks for your report, Dave! We are sorry to hear, but added the detail now. Hope this helps future spottervisitors…
-Sev
Can’t really recommend the new spot 17.
It is really far out. Focal length at least 500-600 mm on crop. Even for 747s. The angle is quite alright though. It is nice for watching as the position is slightly elevated and you can even see parts of the airfield. But I would not use it for spotting purposes.
Hi Sebastian, have you catched 32L or R from this postion? We recommend it for the 32L, not for R which is way too far.
-Julian
Hi Julian,
ah got you. Guess I did not read the description properly concerning runway. As 32L is used so rarely I did not consider it.
So forget my comment, as I was trying to take pictures from 32R. So never mind. 😉
Best regards
No problem, we have better locations for 32R 🙂
Would any local CGN spotter be able to meet with 2 English spotters on Saturday October 4th to help with navigation of the airport to collect registrations of everything that is parked at the airport, including the cargo and general aviation aircraft please?
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