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September 21, 2019London Stansted Airport Spotting Guide
- last modified on May 23, 2023
London Stansted Airport (STN/EGSS) is situated 55km northeast of London’s city centre and was opened 1942/1943. The airport handled roughly 25 million passengers last year and is a hub for Ryanair, Jet2, Thomas Cook and EasyJet. All in all around 200 destinations are served from STN and it is the UK’s 4th busiest airport. But Stansted is not just a major destination for LCC in greater London area, it also handles most heavy Business Jets and several state visits.
The airfield was opened during WW2 and served as a bomber and maintenance base for both USAF and RAF. The civil usage began in 1949 when first charter airlines moved to Stansted which was the airports major usage for a long time. Just in 1985 a big development plan was published which was the first step to the airport’s raise – the second one was the beginning of LCC services and their rapid growth. Although the passenger experienced a rapid increase lately, there have also been weaker times. Nowadays the airport’s maximal capacity is almost experienced with roundabout 25 million passengers…
+++ THE LOCAL POLICE RECENTLY INTRODUCED SOME NEW MEASURES IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE AIRPORT’S SECURITY – THOSE NEW “RULES” ALSO AFFECT OUR HOBBY! MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE: HERE +++
Written by Severin Hackenberger – some pictures provided by Tim-Patrick Müller and Toby Cook. Visited: June 2019
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| Photo Locations | |
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| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 04/22 | 3048m / Asphalt |
| Terminals | Divided into 3 passenger satellites this terminal hosts everything – international, domestic, LCC and all alliances. |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Needed at the western side’s spots and always recommended to be sure to get good shots. |
| Car/Public Transport | Recommended as public transport around the field is quite poor. |
| Restrooms | Actually just around the airport facilities or the pubs/restaurants close to the airfield. |
| Drinks/Food | All around here are fast food places, supermarkets, gas stations or similar where you can get such stuff. |
| Hotels | Not really around here, rather less. |
| Season | Summer is definitely the best season as the days are long so you get most cargo aircrafts and use the nice spots on the western side of the runway. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 04/22 | Used in both directions. Runway 22 is more likely to be used if the airport is able to do so. |
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Spot #1 – Essex Police Plane watch |
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| WHERE | +++ This spot is located within the boundaries of the Stansted airport Business park, where viewing and shooting planes was prohibited recently. The access might technically still be possible, but you will get into troubles, if they catch you. Please respect the security measures taken thus – for more information taken a look here or the quotes in “MISC.” a few boxes below. +++
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| WHAT | |
| TIME | |
| MISC. | Here are some quotes out of following information report written by the Essex Police:
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| FOCAL LENGTH | |
Spots looks like this – source: Google
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Spot #2 – Mound |
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| WHERE | This spot can be found at the southwestern end of the airport. It is located close to the VIP and private area next (southwest) to a storage hall on a close grassy hgiher area. Getting rid of your car here is very hard that’s why we recommend to travel by bus, which literally just stops infron of the mound (lines 509 and 510 serve the mentioned spot south of this location). Climb the “mound” and search your favourite position either… |
| WHAT | Line-Ups onto runway 04 as well as arrivals onto runway 04. |
| TIME | Afternoon till sunset; not really useable in winter. |
| MISC. | No ladder needed. Nothing around, parking possibilities limited. Police might call you over and ask some questions. Always stay friendly and polite! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-250mm A340 LineUp = 100mm / 737 LineUp = 210mm / MD11Arrival = 85mm |
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Spot #3 – Spotting Hill |
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| WHERE | Easiest way to reach this spot is to drive on Belmer road to the destination’s area and to leave your car there by the roadside then. Go thru the bushes and when facing the fence, turn right before walking down all way along the fence till you get to the hill on your right. There is a “north” and “south” hill where you can climb up.
The ‘northern hill’ is less higher, but also has a “large brick”. You can only clear the fence with a ladder/the use of the brick unlike the southern hill where you can just about clear the fence unassisted. This spot works better for side-on shots and is probably the better spot to use as it’s a lot less muddy and the rotation for takeoffs is usually just at this point. The southern hill, someone has left a large brick that you can stand on. No ladder necessary if you can stand on it (sometimes stood on by someone else), it brings you over the fence well enough. Works absolutely amazing for shots of aircraft using Taxiway Uniform (mainly titan airways, occasional bizjet). |
| WHAT | All runway activities as well as the ones on the nearby taxiways. |
| TIME | From afternoon till sunset. |
| MISC. | You can shoot thru the fence, but shots will have dark corners probably. Even on the hill a ladder is recommended in order to have less/no fence in the bottom of your shots. Heat haze might be a problem on hot days. Normally you don’t have to worry about the yellow signs which warn you of the services “watching you”.
Bring waterproof boots/wellies. The airport cars drive along the grass and it’s one giant puddle and muddy mess even in summer with no rain for weeks. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm ERJ135 on runway = 250mm / B733 on runway = 160mm / B757 on runway = 105mm / B77W on runway = 80mm |
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Spot #4 – Grass pitch |
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| WHERE | First the same as for spot #3… Easiest way to reach this spot is to drive on Belmer road to the destination’s area and to leave your car there by the roadside then. Go thru the bushes and when facing the fence, turn left now before walking down all way along the fence till you get to your favourite position, which depends on the angle and baclground you wanna have. |
| WHAT | Arrivals onto runway 22. |
| TIME | From afternoon till sunset. |
| MISC. | Ladder is not really needed as it is very hard to shot over the fence – at least 4 steps recommended if you want to avoid the fence on your pictures. You can shoot thru the fence, but shots will have dark corners possibly. Normally you don’t have to worry about the yellow signs which warn you of the services “watching you”… |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm Global 5000 = 170mm |
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Spot #5 – Terminal Gates 40-59 |
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| WHERE | This spot is located inside the Terminal and behind security check, so airside. Once you passed the security check, follow the signs to the Gates 40-59, which are located in the most northern terminalfinger. Once in this finger, go till its end, where you have the best view. |
| WHAT | Apron activities infront as well as 22 Line-Ups and arrivals. |
| TIME | Useable from morning till afternoon. |
| MISC. | Everything you need around. Spot can only be entered with a valid boarding pass, is airside and behind security check. Heat haze can be a problem fast and shots are partly not sharp due to the tinted windows. Especially if you shot through them aslantly! |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-400mm Arrivals 200-400mm |
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Spot #6 – Field path |
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| WHERE | This spot is located north of the airfield boundaries and can be reached a bit hardly. The easiest way is still to take Green street till its end and drive into the little farming path from where you can dip to the field on your right after 350m. The other way to reach this spot is to leave Hall road at a small gate, which can only be passed as pedestrian. Hard to describe, easy to show – take a look at the map and follow the blue line… |
| WHAT | Arrivals onto runway 22. |
| TIME | From sunrise/early morning till late midday/early afternoon. |
| MISC. | Nothing around here. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm 100mm = B742 / 145mm = B752 |
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Spot #7 – Green St |
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| WHERE | This spot is located north of the airfield boundaries and can be reached quite easily in comparison to spot #6. The easiest way is to turn off Hall road and just follow Green street almost till its end – to be exact just to the last houses on your left. Once you have arrived there, get rid of your car and search your favourite position around here… |
| WHAT | Arrivals onto runway 22. |
| TIME | From afternoon till sunset. Almost not useable in winter. |
| MISC. | Nothing around here. Recently, some people were sent away by the police from here as one is not allowed to park hier allegedly – although there are no signs around. So normally it is no problem, but be aware that police may approach you anyway. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50-250mm |
Hey there seen in Instagram that some plane spotter have been to spot one cab u go there now or are u still not aloud any info would get thanks
Hi
I am lacking information on how to identify the more obscure planes coming into stansted
Where is the best place to look for this? Thanks
Simon
Hi,
I am new in the UK, I’m planning to go Stansted Airport for spotting. May I know about spot point 3, It’s possible driving my car directly, I mean is there have any place for parking safety nearby?
Thank you very much 🙂
Dickson
I am arranging to visit stansted sometime in may, & i am not into photography but log the registrations. I have not been to stansted for some time but i am planning to go to spot 2 by bus route 509/510. Do these buses still run & stop at this location from the terminal bus station
Many Thanks
We do not know, sorry.
-Severin
[Posted Feb 2020]
Hi there,
I was hoping to get some help – I’m not a plane spotter but do have an interest in planes and my 3 year old is crazy about them. We have hours of take offs and landings playing in the background all day!
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anywhere I could go near Stansted that we could just park and he could see the planes flying over from his car seat. We don’t need to be close, I’m not taking photos, its just for him to see them coming in and going out in relative comfort.
Unfortunately for me I fit a certain “profile” so I’m not interested in taking chances and being questioned by the Police. I know there’s a BP petrol station near by but I don’t remember that being a particularly good place to see planes.
I’m happy to into the airport / pay for parking too if that can give me a good vantage point as I don’t rememebr seeing any viewing points before security inside the airport building.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Hi Michael!
Probably close to spot #7 (Green street) should be best. Drive the marked dirt path close to the gate just below the arrival glidepath and park your car facing right head on the planes or from the back and then you cna watch aircraft arriving/departing out of your car easily and comfortabely.
Hope this helps…
Severin
Hi there, I’m curious about this spot. I have been taking my young children here for a a couple years and the dog also loves it.
Last week we were moved on by the police and told we were not allowed to be there.
There are no signs or areas which say parking restrictions apart from on the gate. We were not parked close to the gate but on the dirt path. Could anyone shed any light on this?
Thanks
Hi Karen!
That is strange, maybe the police men had a bad day as it is no problem normally…
Thanks anyway for the heads up, will add a hint to the guide.
-Sev
On seeing how old the google map is, if from spot 3, if you carry on walking towards the airfield operations tower, (which is not shown on the map),there is another little mound, that was created, when a new water balancing pond was made, it is about 200 metres further along the track and you would only need a 3 tread pair of steps to clear the fence .
Hi dead, thank you for leaving a suggestion, I’ve added it to the map, temporarily
Hi Dean, thank you for leaving a suggestion, I’ve added it to the map, temporarily
At spot 2, this is now part of the MAG/Harlow collage building, where students attend during the day,so if you get caught with a camera, you might have same questions to answer to the police.
How ever, if you look to the right , (approx 75 metres) there is an old hill, which, I often go to, when 04 runway is being used, and only once have the police called me over to answer a few questions, then all is well, when proof of identity is shown.
You can get to this spot, from the terminal, either use the Nova hotel bus fare approx £4–00 each way, or the local service bus, 509, or 510, to the end of Long Boarder Rd, There is no car parking here!!!
Best time for photos, midday to sunset
Spot added/fixed now. Everything okay like that now?
Could you please provide some example shots for spot #2?
Thanks, Severin