The Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST/EHBK) is situated 10 km northeast of Maastricht which means a 15 minutes ride by car. It was opened back in 1944 during the 2nd world war as a military Air Base and today the Airport is mainly used by LCC and Holiday Airlines. It also handels a few cargo flights within Europe and to other continents.

167.000 thousand passengers and around 87.000 thousand tons cargo used Maastricht/Aachen in 2017.
Following airlines fly to Maastricht in Summer 19: Passenger: Ryanair, Corendon (with either CAI, CND, OTF, PGT, and KKK (with A332) operating) and Enter Air with some LDE charters (sometimes carried out by Transavia).
Cargo: Sky Gates, Silk Way (Either Silk Way West or Silk Way Italia), Emirates SkyCargo (frequently operated by CLX), Cargolux, Turkish Cargo (Either THY, CKS, MNG or ULS Cargo), Saudia Cargo, Royal Jordanian Cargo, Zimex (BDA).

Private jets will be handled at the Alpha apron on the south side, no longer on the Charlie apron on C5. So private jets will be harder to photograph as they don’t backtrack the whole runway anymore (exiting at W4 and W3 instead of exiting at Echo 1 of Echo 2 and use taxiway Echo).

SAMCO and MAAS have facilities at Maastricht Aachen Airport. Information about visitors and stored airplanes for either SAMCO or MAAS and exact news about traffic or special visitors can all be found on flymst.nl.

Written by Severin Hackenberger and Bas Velders (Regular Visitors – last Visit: April 2018). Some pictures provided by Hendrik Schmitz.

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Airport Information
Runways
03/21	2.750m x 45m (tarmac)
Terminals	Used for all Acitivities, because there is just one terminal at MST.
Spotting Information
Ladder	Necessary or useful at the all locations.
Car/Public Transport	Car is recommended as locations are far apart and switching runway will take very long otherwise. The public transport around the Airport is poor.
Restrooms	Some gas stations and supermarkets around the airport. Restrooms are also available inside the terminal buildings.
Drinks/Food	Around the airport are a few supermarkets and you can visit the little cities around the airport or otherwise you’ll find a lot of restaurants and supermarkets in Maastricht.
Hotels	There are just a few motels/hotels around the airport (like the Holiday Inn or the Shandrani
Season	We recommend visiting the airport during the summer as the air cargo jets are rather to be encountered at late evening. As sun sets significantly later in the months around June, spotting is more efficient then.
Security	Do not touch the fences arround the airport and don´t hook the barbed wire
Runway Usage
03/21	Nothing special. Used for arrivals and departures in both directions.

	Spot #1 – Nieuwe Vliekerweg – Back tracking aircraft for 03 Departure/ Landed aircraft on runway 21 + Arrivals on runway 03
WHERE	If you start at the terminal follow the “Vliegveldweg” into southwestern direction for about 2km. Just after you turned left into “Nieuwe Vliekerweg” park your car nearby, but take care of not Disturbing other cars/vehicles/biker/people. Make sure to be on the right side of the arrival lights and then choose your favourite position, this depends on the angle you like the most and the fence (at some points the permiter fence isn’t as high as normally). For arrivals you can walk down the walkway for some meters
WHAT	Aircrafts which are backtracking runway 03 before their departure on the runway and aircraft landing on runway 21. Apart from this arrivals on RWY 03.
TIME	Depends on the position and angle of the plane, but “90-Degree-Pictures” should be okay from around 10.30am till sunset. Arrivals are okay from sunrise till around 3pm.
MISC.	Around the airport there are a few gas station, cafés and supermarkets where you can find restrooms and something to eat. Ladder neccessary! Don’t block streets or paths with your car. In the summer months you may have heathaze.
FOCAL LENGTH	24 – 400mm

Depending on where exactly you are standing for the pictures, the spot could look like this:

	Spot #2 – Bamfordweg – RWY activities and taxiway storage
WHERE	This spot is no exact position rather an area along the fence depends on the aircraft you wanna take a picture of or the angle on the runway. This area is located infront/along a old taxiway which is used for storage parking sometimes. Parking your car is a bit tricky. You can park your car at the end of “Vilek” as long as you don’t block the small gate for pedestrians to the Bamfordweg. Parking in front of the entranceways from the houses is also forbidden. The Military Police drives quite often along the Bamfordweg, and they will either send you away or give you a fine if you park directly in front of the crash gate if you stay for a long time.
WHAT	Arrivals and departures on runway 03. Apart from this heavy arrivals on runway 21 and late rotates on runway 21, so almost all runway activities!
TIME	From sunrise till around 3pm.
MISC.	Around the airport there are a few gas station, cafés and supermarkets where you can find restrooms and something to eat. Ladder very very useful! Don’t block streets or paths with your car, parking is limited for about 1/2 cars!
FOCAL LENGTH	Pictures of parked planes without cutting off something is almost not possible, just with 10mm on fullframe it might be okay. Runway: 70 – 300mm

The temporary parking/storage area:

And along the fence for runway/apron shots:

	Spot #3 – Luxemburglaan – Apron Delta
WHERE	If you start at the terminal follow the “Vliegveldweg” into southwestern direction for about 2km. Then turn left into “Nieuwe Vliekerweg” and follow the street for about 1km, then turn left into Bamfordweg. Follow the road for another 1000m, but pay attention, the street becomes Europalaan (streetname changes). After around 1km turn left into Luxemburglaan and follow this street for about 300m. Park your car somewhere on the parking area, but take care of not Disturbing other cars/vehicles. Then choose your favourite position, this depends on the angle you like the most. You can get to this spot by bus, too. There is a bus station nearby (marked on the map), where Bus 30 stops.
WHAT	Planes parked on Delta Apron.
TIME	Depends on the angle the planes are parked, but for example the light for the B737 was good from about 3pm till sunset.
MISC.	Around the airport there are a few gas station, cafés and supermarkets where you can find restrooms and something to eat. Ladder needed! Don’t block streets or paths with your car and don’t park on reserved parking spaces.
FOCAL LENGTH	70 – 300mm

	Spot #4 – Samco Aircraft Maintenance – Apron Charlie
WHERE	If you start at the terminal follow the “Vliegveldweg” into southwestern direction for about 2km. Then turn left into “Nieuwe Vliekerweg” and follow the street for about 1km, then turn left into Bamfordweg. Follow the road for another 1000m, but pay attention, the street becomes Europalaan (streetname changes). After around 1km turn left into Luxemburglaan and follow this street for about 300m. Park your car somewhere on the parking area, but take care of not Disturbing other cars/vehicles. Then walk behind the big building, which is just behind or above you (depends on the parking area you use) and then choose your favourite position, this depends on the angle you like the most and the plane you want to spot. You can get to this spot by bus, too. There is a bus station nearby (marked on the map), where Bus 30 stops.
WHAT	Planes parked on Samco Aircraft Maintenance area, Charlie Apron.
TIME	Depends on the angle the planes are parked, but for most of the planes light is okay from sunrise till 6pm.
MISC.	Around the airport there are a few gas station, cafés and supermarkets where you can find restrooms and something to eat. Ladder needed! Don’t block streets or paths with your car and don’t park on reserved parking spaces
FOCAL LENGTH	18 – 200mm

	Spot #5 – Horsterweg – Cargo Apron
WHERE	From the terminal, drive on the Vliegveldweg and turn right at the first road you see. Walk alongside the fence to get a decent spot. You can also drive to the Australiëlaan and park near the roundabout on the end. +++ Update Aug 2018: spotting from here is tricky due to a newly constructed double fence. With a very huge ladder you can photograph over the fence+++
WHAT	Taxiing traffic to/from the cargo apron.
TIME	Most of the time, you will have problems with the sun here. Probebly early mornings/late evenings in summer are the best moments.
MISC.	There is nothing here.
FOCAL LENGTH	18 – 80mm

	Spot #6 – Visitor Terrace – All acitivities
WHERE	+++ UPDATE 09/2019: CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO CONSTRUCTION WORK! +++ On the left side of the terminal building, you will find stairs to the observation area on top of the terminal. You will need a small step to get over the glass. Spotting from the parking is very tricky due to a newly constructed double fence and you need a very huge ladder to photograph over it.
WHAT	Departures and arrivals on runway 03/21 and overview of the passenger apron.
TIME	Late afternoon/evening
MISC.	Everything you need is inside the terminal. However: most of the services are closed in the weekends.
FOCAL LENGTH	30 – 100mm

	Spot #7 – Emergency accessroad – All activities on runway 03/21
WHERE	Around 1km south of the terminal there is an emergency access, you can park on slot on the other side of the bicycle path (50.908610, 5.761476). But don´t block the crash gate or police will send you away.
WHAT	Departures and arrivals on runway 03/21.
TIME	From around 3.30 pm till sunset.
MISC.	The taxiway just after the access is closed for aircraft movements. Smalls aircraft landing on 21 can exit via W4 so they don’t go on turnpad. A ladder is needed otherwise you won’t get over the fence! Around the airport there are a few gas station, cafés and supermarkets where you can find restrooms and something to eat.
FOCAL LENGTH	For aircraft on the runway : less than 70mm for 747/777 profil picture, 200mm for buisness and prop aircraft.

	Spot #8 – Vliegveldweg – (Almost) All activities on runway 03/21
WHERE	This spot is located at the fence and again not an exact position rather the area along the fence depending on the angle you wanna take pictures of. Just park your car a few meters to the south on the dirtroad called  Meerssenerbergweg and walk here. Shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes depending on your prefered position.
WHAT	Departures and arrivals on runway 03/21, but small aircraft might be very high as 21 departure or might already left the runway as 21 arrival. All heavy activities should be seen from here.
TIME	From around 3pm till sunset.
MISC.	Ladder needed! Cafe/restaurant nearby. Don’t block the mentioned road please, it isn’t that big.
FOCAL LENGTH	24 – 300  (depending on exact position).

	Spot #9 – Bridge – Arrivals on RWY 03
WHERE	This spot is located on a bridge near the “restaurant bergrust”. Simply just leave your car there or at the marked position on the map and walk here. Stand on the western side of the bridge otherwise the trees might disturb your view, for heavies it might be a problem already. If so, you might walk through the few trees into northern direction to get an undisturbed view, but we didn’t take pictures from there yet!
WHAT	Arrivals on runway 03.
TIME	From around 3pm till sunset.
MISC.	No ladder needed! Take care of traffic as you’re standing by the roadside!
FOCAL LENGTH	50 – 200mm Dash 8-300: 150mm

	Spot #10 – Europalaan – RWY 03/21 + Apron Delta
WHERE	This spot is just the area along the fence in the curve of “Europalaan”. Park this by the roadside of Europalaan (as done on the overview shot) and then choose your favourite position along the fence. The western end might be better for the runway and the eastern one (depending on your prefered angle) for the Apron Delta.
WHAT	From here you can see all activities on the runway, for which you should use the western end of the “spotroute” marked on the map as well as all activities on Apron Delta.
TIME	Apron Delta: Early midday till late afternoon. Runway 03/21: From sunrise till late midday.
MISC.	Ladder needed. Nothing nearby. It looks the airport wants to have a viewingwall our of plants between fence and apron/runway, so there might be some bushes in the lower part of your picture -> that’s why a ladder is very useful and recommended!
FOCAL LENGTH	50 – 250mm B747 – Apron Delta = 60mm