London Gatwick Airport Spotting Guide

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London Gatwick Airport Spotting Guide

Published by Clive at November 15, 2017 - last modified on September 11, 2022

London Gatwick is a major international airport 47.5km (29.5 miles) south of Central London. After Heathrow, it’s the second busiest airport in the UK, and it’s the eighth busiest in Europe. Until 2016 it was also the busiest single-use runway airport in the world, but it has now lost this title to Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji in India. 46 million passengers passed through Gatwick in 2018.

Unlike London Heathrow, Gatwick caters to a number of low cost carriers, and in terms of passenger numbers, easyJet is by far the largest operator, followed by British Airways, TUI, Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and Norwegian. The latter use the airport as a hub for their new long haul network offering flights on the 787 to destinations all over the world. You will also get some interesting operators which you won´t see at Heathrow like Westjet or RwandAir.
Cargo traffic and General Aviation plays no major role at LGW.

Written by Bas Velders, Alan Edwards, Severin Hackenberger, Clive Grant and Fabio Farolfi (Spot 6). Last update: Mike Lutzenberger (Access to Spot #2) July 2022.

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Airline Variety
Photo Locations
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Airport Information
Runways
08R/26L	3,316m (10,879ft)
08L/26R	2,551m (8,369ft)
Terminals
North	easyJet, TUI, Virgin
South	British Airways, Norwegian, Ryanair
Spotting Information
Ladder	Not needed, except at Spot #5.
Car/Public Transport	Necessary for Spots #4 & 5 as these locations are a long distance from the terminals, and the perimeter road is not served by local buses. It may be possible to take a free bus between the terminals and the Purple Parking car park nearby, walking to and from these two spots from there.
Restrooms	Inside the terminal or the nearby villages you’ll find quite a lot of hotels and restaurants with restrooms.
Drinks/Food	Inside the terminal or the nearby villages you’ll find quite a lot of shops, hotels and restaurants.
Hotels	The Hampton by Hilton, Sofitel and Premier Inn hotels are all alongside the North Terminal and there are several others close by. The BLOC Hotel in the South Terminal provides views of the airport, with the Hilton and Courtyard by Marriott nearby. South of the airport, there is the recently refurbished Maple Manor Hotel on Charlwood Road. This hotel is also convenient for Spots #4 + #5 when Gatwick is on easterly operations.
Season	Whilst Gatwick is a busy airport year round, the summer months between May and October see higher movement levels with a greater variety of traffic, and of course longer days and hopefully better weather.
Runway Usage
General Info	There is only one runway in use at any time and opportunities for photography, of landing traffic in particular, are available whichever end is in use. Usage: As the main runway, 08R/26L will always be used unless it’s closed due to an emergency or when runway maintenance is scheduled. In this case 08L/26R will be brought into use. There is no preference for either easterly or westerly operations so the runway end in use will depend on the wind direction. However, as the prevailing winds are westerly, 26L is likely to be in operation approximately two-thirds of the time.

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	Spot #1 – Blue car park 1 – 26L arrivals
WHERE	The spot is located on level number 5 of “Blue car park 1” multi-storey car park next to the terminal. Just take the elevator or stairs to reach this level and walk to the southern end of this car park, until you’ve reached a position with a clear view. Parking is not cheap (£12 for 2 hours) so check what’s due before you go! If you park at the “Long Stay South”, the first two hours are free of charge.

WHAT	All arrivals on 26L and some apron movements with high milimeters.

TIME	From late afternoon till sunset in summer. Unusable in winter.

MISC.	Nearest facilities are in the terminal. Light poles can disturb your view. Keep away from security cameras as we received some reports that security services are sending away spotters from this parking garage once seen on CCTV.

FOCAL LENGTH	200mm will cover most things (ATR72 200mm , 738 135mm)

	#2 – Perimeter Road East – 26 arrivals
WHERE	From inside the South Termnal (there is a shuttle between both terminals) take the lifts opposite Zone D check-in area to level 0 and then turn right out of the tunnel and walk towards Perimeter Road. Walk alongside this road until you have reached the spot (10 minute walk). Spotting is also possible in the late evening (summer): just walk underneath the landing lights back towards the South Terminal. If driving to Gatwick, park in one of the South Terminal car parks and use description as stated above. UPDATE Aug 2022: Access from the former staircase (Concord House), is no longer possible and only staff with a security ID will be able to use it. While access to the Perimeter Road Road East for this spot is no longer possible from the staircase in Concorde House it still can be accessed from the South Terminal now that it has reopened. On the departure level pass through check in area E and walk to the end. Between the escalator leading down to the domestic UK departure area and the Oversize luggage counter is a lift. Take this lift to the ground floor turn right in the tunnel and you will reach the Perimeter Road where you can find your preferred spot as described above. SEE GALLERY BELOW! By car: When you don’t want to park in the expensive airport car parks, you might use the Nestle visitor parking (marked on the map) in the City place area south of spot #3 for parking. We never had problems while using the spot for 4-5 times a 1-2 hours. Sometimes the parking is full, then parking around here is VERY difficult. Walking up here will take ~5 minutes. If you park at the “Long Stay South”, the first two hours are free of charge.

WHAT	All arrivals on Runways 26L/26R. Don’t hang out near the fence, but stay near the roadside.

TIME	All day during the winter. In the summer the light’s OK from about 9 until about 16 and in the evening.

MISC.	You can find everything you need in the terminal building. Dis-/Advantages over spot #3: Less distance, so you won’t have problems with heat distortion that easy and you won’t need that high focal lengths, but therefore the angle isn’t that good, it’s not that flat here, which is bad especially for heavies.

FOCAL LENGTH	Depending on your location: ~ 60 – 150 mm From the entrance of the staff carpark: ~ 200 – 250 mm

Route by foot mentioned above:

	#3 – City place – 26L arrivals
WHERE	This spot is located on the walkway by the roadside of “A23″/”London Rd”. Your exact position depends on the angle and the light poles, which can be very annoying. By car: You might use the Nestle visitor parking (marked on the map) in the City place area south of this spot for parking. We never had problems while using the spot for 4-5 times a 1-2 hours. Sometimes the parking is full, then parking around here is VERY difficult. By bus: You can use the bus stop next to the Nestle building called “City place”. For more details about the bus lines stopping there and their departure/arrival times, please click on the icon on the map and follow the given link!

WHAT	All arrivals on Runways 26L/26R. Don’t hang out near the fence, but stay near the roadside.

TIME	All day during the winter. In the summer the light’s OK from about 8 until about 16.

MISC.	You can find everything you need in Crawley’s suburb a bit south of this spot. Heat haze can be a problem as well as parking your car! Dis-/Advantages over spot #2: Distance is higher, so you’ll have more problems with heat distortion and need more focal length, but therefore the angle is flatter/better here. This can be seen especially on heavy aircraft.

FOCAL LENGTH	120-350mm ATR72 = 320mm / B767 = 190mm / A380 = 150mm / A319 = 280mm

	Spot #4 – Lowfield Heath Road – 08 arrivals
WHERE	Driving from the South Terminal, take the A23 London Road towards Lowfield Heath. Turn right at Lowfield Heath Roundabout and then left onto Charlwood Road. Follow this road to its junction with Bonnetts Lane on the left with the Purple Parking depot on the right. The Road then bends around to the right where it changes to Lowfield Heath Road and Spot #2 is on the left. Although there is a lay-by alongside Spot #4, the police may sometimes move drivers on from here, so it may be better to park in Bonnetts Lane and walk around to this spot. If you’re on foot, you may be able to catch the free bus from the terminals to Purple Parking and walk to the postion from there. The bus runs every twenty minutes.

WHAT	All arrivals on Runways 08R/08L

TIME	All day during the winter. In the summer the light’s OK from about 09:00 until about 16:00.

MISC.	Apart from the Maple Manor Hotel back along Charlwood Road, there are no facilities here so bring what you need. SECURITY UPDATE JULY 2018: We received information and reports, that police and security services send us spotters regularly away from here, because the area around here is already to close by the fence and it is unsafe to let us spot there!

FOCAL LENGTH	100-300mm should cover most things. You can adjust your position to suit the angle you prefer.

	Spot #5 – Western End Crash Gate – 08R departures
WHERE	This spot is located on the right side of “Lowfield Heath Road”. Shortly after you passed the Arrivalpath lights of runway 08R you’ll get to the crashgate, which is the spot.

WHAT	~~Through a single latch between the pole and the door of the crash gate it’s possible to take photos of aircraft lining up on 08R.~~ It is now almost impossible to take pictures through the crash gate because the new crash gate prevents any photos being taken through the latches, and the gap to the right of the gate is too narrow for most aircraft types. Temporarily, there was a second gate behind the first one which made all photography impossible, but this has now been removed.The only alternative to take photos at this spot is a ladder with seven or more steps. With a tall ladder you can take photos over the gate, although the authorities don’t like ladders within three metres of the fence. Alternatively, use your ladder on the strip of grass to the north of the crash gates, but as you can see, in this case it’s almost impossible to take photos without the fence in your picture.

TIME	From early afternoon until sunset.

MISC.	Just inside the crash gate, the yellow metal barriers can get in the way of photos. At busy times and especially at weekends, this area gets pretty crowded so spaces to take photos is limited. The crash gate is secured so don´t touch it too strong. A tall ladder is the only way to take photos from this spot now, but the authorities will ask you to remove it if it’s within three metres of the fence. Apart from the Maple Manor Hotel back along Charlwood Road, there are no facilities here so bring what you need.

FOCAL LENGTH	40-200mm should cover most things.

	Spot #6 – Railway Crossbridge – 26L arrivals
WHERE	The location is very easy to find. It´s on a footbridge over the railways. If coming from #1 get down to the rental cars and there is a small path at the southwesternmost corner running up to the bridge. You can also get there if coming from #3 or #2 if you wanna switch the position in the summer evenings. There is a footpath that runs next from the Nestle building all the way up along the railway till the bridge. If you park at the “Long Stay South”, the first two hours are free of charge.

WHAT	Side on shots from the bridge and front shots from the footpath for 26L arrivals.

TIME	From late afternoon till sunset in summer. Unusable in winter.

MISC.	Terminal is very close so you can get everything there.

FOCAL LENGTH	Air Baltic 735 = 200mm