Zakynthos Airport Dionysios Solomos (ZTH/LGZA) is located 6 Km south of Zakynthos town and 1 km from the famous resort of Laganas on the south east coast of the Ionian island of Zakynthos, in Greece. With over 1.2 million passengers a year, the Airport is served by Olympic Airlines with frequent flights to Athens, as well as by other European low-cost airlines and seasonal charters. Planes are not permitted to land or depart during the night. This is due to the endangered loggerhead turtles or “caretta caretta” which lay their eggs on the beaches at night.

The airport has lot’s of flights from the UK but also lots of airlines from the Netherlands. There are not a lot of flights from Germany, however Condor sends the 757-300. This is the largest aircraft I’ve seen on the island. Some other airlines: Easyjet, TUI Belgium + Scandinavia, DAT, Blue Air, El Al, Israir, Ellinair, Olympic, Aegean, Bulgarian Air Charter, Blue Panorama, Volotea, Enter Air, Nordstar, Vueling, Tarom, Air Moldova, Scandinavian Airlines, Norwegian, Finnair, Sky Express, Austrian, Lauda, Swiss, Air Baltic and more.

Busiest days in terms of movements is friday (info from the airport), while the weakest traffic is on saturdays. A detailed timetable can be found on the official airport website.

Written by Cornelis Boersma, Markus Mainka and Chabada György (spot 9). Last update: 2020

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Airport Information
Runways
16/34	2.228 m (7,310 ft)
Terminals	One for all operations
Spotting Information
Ladder	Not needed.
Car/Public Transport	If you have a hotel near Kalamaki Beach you can easily walk for all runway 34 arrivals (mainly in use). But a car is absolutey needed in case of runway changes or if you like to visit other spots!
Restrooms	Plenty of hotels, restaurants and the airport itself around.
Drinks/Food	Plenty of hotels, restaurants and the airport itself around.
Hotels	Best to book a hotel near Kalamaki Beach at the 34 approach.
Season	Zakynthos is busy in summer (May till the end of September). In winter you might only see interisland traffic or the scheduled flights to/from Athens.
Runway Usage
16/34	Runway 34 is mainly in use for all landing and departures. Runway 16 is in use occasionally.

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	Spot #1 – Lidl – 16 Arrivals
WHERE	You can park your car at the Lidl supermarket. From here you can see all the inbound planes landing and you can read all the planes numbers easily. For photographers you can walk around to get the angle you like. Country side is right behind with unobstructed views. From the parking lot itself you have light poles and powercables partly obstructing your view.
WHAT	Arrivals on runway 16
TIME	Light conditions in the summer are perfect from noon until late evening
MISC.	You can park your car at the LIDL’s parking lot where you can buy food.
FOCAL LENGTH	~100-200mm.

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	Spot #2 – Mound north – Rampshots + 34 movements
WHERE	The spot is just next to the terminal were is a waste company located. Park your car before the dump where there is shade and other cars are parking. Walk up the hill, there is a white dirt path to the top. From here you have great views on the ramp, only the first parked aircraft unfortunately, but you can read of and photograph all landing and departing aircraft.
WHAT	Rampview, all runway actions. If they are using runway 34 most landing traffic will roll to this point and anything taking-off will just be airborne by here. If they are using runway 16 anything taking off will come close but landing traffic is a bit more difficult as there is a lot of thick vegetation at the top of the hill which prevents views to the west. Walk to the north side of the hill for runway 16 landing traffic but there may be better places.
TIME	From sunrise till 11.00.
MISC.	Bring your own drinks, there is nothing here. The hill is right next to a dump so it can be a bit unpleasant (smell/flies/rubbish)! Maybe a local dog will join you.
FOCAL LENGTH	~50-200 mm.

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	Spot #3 – Rental car parking – 16/34 movements
WHERE	This spot can be found in a car park area for rental cars (probably Enterprise should be located here as well) north of the terminalbuilding.
WHAT	From here you can see all movements on the runway.
TIME	From sunrise till ~12.00.
MISC.	Food, drinks, restrooms inside the terminal building. Be aware of taking pictures of aircraft to/from Israel. People might ask you to delete your photo’s. Other aircraft is no problem.  Be aware when there is an aircraft parked on the most northern parking spot, you can have APU exhaust as most aircraft use it during turn-around! There can be a lot of ground equipment in the way, plus the ramp which the passenger buses use to/from the terminal can get in the way.
FOCAL LENGTH	~50-200mm

	Spot #4 – Terminal airside – 16/34 movements + ramp
WHERE	Inside the terminal, arrivals, or on departures (both airside) you can easily take pictures from inside the building, but it is behind glass. Now and then a bus will stop in front of you to pick-up or drop off passengers.
WHAT	Ramp and full runway view.
TIME	From sunrise till ~12.00.
MISC.	Food, drinks, restrooms inside the terminal building, but be aware of APU exhaust thus heat haze. Keep in mind, that you need a VALID BOARDING PASS to reach this spot, which is located AFTER SECURITY CHECK, so it’s AIRSIDE.
FOCAL LENGTH	~50-200mm

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	Spot #5 – Airport car park – 16/34 movements
WHERE	This spot can be found in a car park area south of the terminalbuilding.
WHAT	From here you can see all movements on the runway.
TIME	From sunrise till ~12.00.
MISC.	Food, drinks, restrooms inside the terminal building. Be aware of taking pictures of aircraft to/from Israel. People might ask you to delete your photo’s. Other aircraft is no problem. Aircraft can park right in front of you blocking your view. Also here you can have APU exhaust as most aircraft use it during turn-around! There can be a lot of ground equipment in the way, plus the ramp which the passenger buses use to/from the terminal can get in the way.
FOCAL LENGTH	~50-200mm./td>

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	Spot #6 – Airport café – 34 Movements
WHERE	On the road from Kalamaki to Laganas. You can park your car directly at the cafe. It offers a terrace on the roof which can be reached via a disused airport stairs. Runway view is obstructed by trees and a neighboring house but there’s a small gap where you can take shots. You can walk from spot 6 to spot 8 which is just several minutes. From Macedonia hotel you have approximately the same views as from this spot.
WHAT	Runway 34 arrivals and Line-ups/backtracks.
TIME	From sunrise till ~12.00.
MISC.	Cold and hot drinks at reasonable prices inside the cafe. Please order something if you stay here for spotting! There is also some shadow available on the cafe’s terrace. View to the runway a bit disturbed by bushed/trees. This can be tricky sometimes as well as the hazy air making spotting to/on the ground impossible if it’s hot.
FOCAL LENGTH	~50-400mm E190 arrival = 100mm / Aircraft on runway = 400mm

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	Spot #7 – Beachfront – 34 Arrivals
WHERE	Relax at the Kalamaki Beach and take your photos! You can park your park on the side road (next to spot 6) or you can drive up to the beach (Kalamaki Beach Taverna) where lots of parking places are available. The further you walk down the beach, the better the angle becomes and you can get the mountains as a background.
WHAT	Runway 34 arrivals only.
TIME	Actually all day: you can start at sunrise and just walk yourself into the spot you like all the way till sunset.
MISC.	Some hotels offer facilities. In morning you are close to the hotles, but for the afternoon/evening its easy to bring water/food so you don’t have to walk all the time.
FOCAL LENGTH	Depends on your angle and postion, but 24-200mm should cover everything

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	Spot #8 – Roadside south – 34 Arrivals
WHERE	This spot is located by the roadside of the street leading from Kalamaki to Laganas. You can park your car along the road or by the roadside and just spot from here directly.
WHAT	Runway 34 arrivals only.
TIME	Light conditions are good from noon, but best from 15.00 till sunset.
MISC.	There is a small van, selling cold drinks, small bites, icecream. You can relax in the shade as well.
FOCAL LENGTH	50-200mm

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	Spot #9 – Mound south – 34 Arrivals
WHERE	The location can be reached by car from the Kalamaki main road, or a 15-20 mins of walk from Kalamaki beach. Turn right/left at the signs to Agrilia Αγριλιά and continue on the smaller road till a huge 180 degree turn. There is no dedicated parking place. Cars can be parked next to the road. No ladder needed as the fence is not that high and maybe the small hills made of construction waste will remain there for a while.
WHAT	RWY34 arrivals with a nice background and RWY16 rotations.
TIME	From afternoon till sunset
MISC.	Most probably the hills won’t be there permanently, but taking photos are possible without them.
FOCAL LENGTH	18-135mm for 34 arrivals and 70-300mm for 16 departures

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