Ancona Airport - Spotting Guide

Ancona Airport – Spotting Guide

March 25, 2026 - last modified on January 30, 2026

Ancona Airport (AOI/LIPY) is the main airport of Marche region in Italy. The passenger traffic is not that huge and you get most traffic in summer with additional charter flights. There is a decent cargo traffic and the spotting locations are quite good to make it a good choice if you have a target to get there. There are flights to other Italian cities like Milan and Rome, a flight to Munich of Lufthansa and some Wizz Air flights to Eastern Europe. Sometimes some delivery flight or military aircraft does a fuel stop there.

There is this Antonov 74 stored there, wich can be easily shoot early morning or late summer afternoon.

Written by Tombarelli Federico. Last Update: October 2025

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
04/22	2.991 m, asphalt
Terminals	One small terminal for all flights
Spotting Information
Ladder	Recomended at spot 1
Car/Public Transport	Some buses going around the airport but we suggest to rent a car
Drinks/Food	Something in the terminal or in the village nearby, nothing at the spots
Hotels	Nothing close but you can find plenty in 10mins drive or with 2 stops of train towards Ancona city
Season	Winter is better to get apron shots but the traffic is overall slow, summer for cargo airplanes in movement and more charters
Security	We never had issue with the Police but always keep in mind that spotting is somehow strange in Italy and you might be inspected and maybe asked to leave.
Runway Usage
04/22	Used in both directions, depending on the wind only. No preferred direction. Sometimes the pilot asks for one and the atc agrees

	Spot #1 – Via Fossatello – Apron and 04 movements
WHERE	This spot is along the Via Fossatello, the road around RWY04. It is very easy to reach from the terminal, even by foot. You will find plenty of space next to some industries to park the car.

WHAT	Landings: You can spot landings on rwy04 both morning and afternoon, just choose the side based on the sun position and walk closer/further as much as you like to choose your favourite angle. Better to stay on the farm road for this kind and not directly at the airport fence. Departure: if you go a bit left of the airport you will face the taxiway and relative way to the runway, so you can get great side shots of departing aircraft. Apron: from the southern side you can see all the apron in front of you. Closer you will have passengers parkings, further back, but not that far, the cargo area. If there is a heavy passenger airplane it will park close to the street. So if you stay on the rightmost part of the fence, if you look at the airport, you can take pics of parked aircraft (the stairs are on the other side so they won’t block your shot).

TIME	Arrivals morning and late afternoon, apron/departures will be good from 10 to 15 more or less. You have a lot of room to move and so you can always “play” with the light. In winter the light doesn’t turn that much to provide a good light for landings, but it is great for apron/departures, and best time to catch Cargo planes as they are a bit far but you won’t have heat haze.

MISC.	A 3 step ladder is needed for the ground pictures. You can try to shot through the mesh, the fence is “old style” and you can find some larger holes, but if you have something to climb it is better. As always in Italy don’t keep the ladder to the fence if you are not shooting. There is nothing here around but the village on the other side of the airport has everything you need. The traffic is so low that you won’t need to stay there a lot, in case take food and drinks with you. There are some trees to provide shadow in summer, which can be very hot.

FOCAL LENGTH	ATR Cargo Apron: 300mm ATR Civilian Apron: 100mm A330 Taxiway: 50mm

	Spot #2 – Bridge – 22 arrivals
WHERE	To get there from the terminal continue after Spot#1 all the way down the Via Fossatello. It runs along the northern side of the file. The location is on a bridge at Via delle Caserme. You will find parking space in the fields there. You can move a bit there around to change angle but the bridge for is the best option.

WHAT	Afternoon landings rwy22.

TIME	Like from 15:00 to sunset and so in winter you have only a short time slot in the evening.

MISC.	You are in the middle of nowhere so bring with you everything you need. There should be no shadow so be careful in summer to hot weather

FOCAL LENGTH	A330: 150mm

	Spot #3 – Bridge – 22 movements
WHERE	This spot is located on a bridge over the railroad tracks at the eastern end of the airport. From the terminal take Via del Consorzio and reach the roundabout at the end. There turn left and you will find the bridge. The road becomes higher than ground level so it is above the airport grounds. To reach it you have to leave the car at the beginning of the bridge by the roadside. Then you have to walk back on the bridge.

WHAT	All the action of rwy22, landings, taxi and departures

TIME	From sunrise to 13:00.

MISC.	This spot is on a walkpath, there is usually a bit of traffic on the road so be careful. There is a fence along the road so you can both use a small ladder or step over the guardail.

FOCAL LENGTH	Taxi 150mm Rwy 230+mm