Lanzarote Arrecife Airport Spotting Guide

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Lanzarote Arrecife Airport Spotting Guide

Published by Marcus at September 28, 2016 - last modified on May 15, 2020

Aeropuerto de Lanzarote-Arrecife (ACE/GCRR) is located 5 km west of Lanzarote’s capital Arrecife. The airport is accessible by bus, but to reach the spots a car is highly recommended.
In 2018 7.3 million passengers were handled, the majority are tourists visiting the island for vacation. The airport was opened 1940 as a military airfield. Later in the 40’s also the first civilian traffic started. In 1970 the first terminal was opened to start international flights as well. The current Terminal 1 went into operations in 1999 while the old Terminal 2 is now used for intra-island flights.

Current regular services are offered by Air Europa, Binter Canarias, Canaryfly and Iberia Express. Additionally ACE is served by some low-cost carriers and most of the European charter airlines, mainly Condor, Easyjet, jet2, Jetairfly, Ryanair, Sun Express Germany, Transavia, Travel Service, TUI and Vueling. Some other airlines can be seen as well, like Air Lingus, Edelweiss, Enter, Finnair, Luxair, Neos, Niki or Norwegian.

You can check the flight schedule on https://www.aena.es

Written by Marcus and Dimitri Gabriel. Last Update April 2020.

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Airport Information
Runways
03/21	2.400m Asphalt
Terminal
Terminal 1	All international flights
Terminal 2	Intra-island flights
Spotting Information
Ladder	Useful, but it’s also possible to spot without.
Car/Public Transport	A car is needed. From Puerto del Carmen the airport can be reached by bicycle as well
Restrooms	No restrooms close to the spots.
Drinks/Food	Take everything with you, as you are far away from shops and restaurants. Supermarkets are in Puerto del Carmen or Playa Honda.
Hotels	All around the island. Many hotels and apartments are available in Puerto del Carmen and especially the Hotels at the Playa Lima are very close to the action.
Season	All Year. Take sun protection with you!
Runway Usage
03/21	Most of the year runway 03 is in use. Only in very rare weather conditions 21 will be used.

	Spot #1 – Beach – 03 movements
WHERE	Leave motorway LZ-2 towards Puerto del Carmen. Follow LZ-40 towards Matagorda. On Avenida de las Playas go straight ahead at the roundabout, 50 meters after the roundabout turn left into a dirt road. Follow the dirt road until you reach the airport fence and park your car. Watch out for sharp rocks to damage your tyres! Walk towards the beach and follow the paved path until it makes a sharp left turn. You can climb on the rocks to take pictures above the fence. There is a double fence, so it’s hard to get over the fence completely for line up shots.

WHAT	Approach and line up of 03. If you prefer front action shots just stay below the approach path (first position on the map).

TIME	From early morning until early afternoon.

MISC.	Nothing around, take sun protection with you. It can get quite windy here, sandstorms are possible. So if you love your camera don’t change your lense.

FOCAL LENGTH	80 mm for A320 approaching, 100 mm in line-up.

Below the approach path:

	Spot #2 – Basement – 03 movements
WHERE	Use the same direciton as to the previous location but walk approximate one kilometer on the paved path along the runway until you find a basement from an abandonend building to your right. Get up here to clear the fence (but it is still has a dominant presence in the picture).

WHAT	Arrivals and departures from runway 03 as well as taxiway traffic (be aware of the heat). 21 movements are possible but rare.

TIME	From early morning until early afternoon.

MISC.	Nothing around, take sun protection with you. It is a longer walk to this place.

FOCAL LENGTH	A320 = 120mm; 738 (taxiway) = 270mm

	Spot #3 – Mound – 03 movments
WHERE	Park your car at the same place as spot 1. Move up the dirt mound away from the sea. Find the highest possible position for line up shots due to the double fence.

WHAT	Approach and line up of 03.

TIME	Afternoon until sunset. Line up is possible from 15:00, approach from 17:00.

MISC.	Nothing around, take sun protection with you.

FOCAL LENGTH	140 mm for A320 approaching, 100 mm in line-up.

	Spot #4 – Meadow – 03 movements
WHERE	At the LZ-40 which connects the airport and Puerto del Carmen there are two gas stations. Park at the station next to the airport and walk a bit southwards on an trail. The postion is on the middle of a meadow from where you have a great view of the airport.

WHAT	Nice view of 03 arrivals with the ocean on the background. You are very far from the runway and its not the best location for photography.

TIME	Due to the high distance we recommend to go there only in the late evening to avoid heat distortion.

MISC.	Nothing nearby so be prepared. No shadow as well.

FOCAL LENGTH	Very far away and at least 600mm needed

	Spot #5 – Car rental parking – taxiway/ramp movements
WHERE	North of terminal 2 is the car rental parking. Go to the perimeter fence and take the pictures through the mesh.

WHAT	You can photograph the taxiway movements, exits from the runway and ramp shots combined with a lovely background.

TIME	Best time from late afternoon till sunset.

MISC.	Everything you need within the terminal.

FOCAL LENGTH	ATR 72 = 105mm; 738 = 210mm

	Spot #6 – Dingo Supermarket – 03 arrivals/departures, 21 line-up
WHERE	The postion is on the other side of the track next to the motorway at the Dingo market. It can only be reached from the Av. Mamerto Cabrera which runs parallel to the motorway. Park at the market and walk up the hill to reach the approach lights..

WHAT	Arrivals on 03 that use the full runway length swell as line up for 21 departures. Face to face with 03 departures.

TIME	Only in the early morning hours.

MISC.	Local supermarket is just around the corner.

FOCAL LENGTH	A321 = 280mm