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July 13, 2018Charlotte Douglas Intl. Airport – Spotting Guide
- last modified on June 26, 2026
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) located in Charlotte, North Carolina, US. It’s one of the largest and busiest airports on the east coast of the United States with 44.9 million passengers one year. It used to be the hub for US Airways and it now becomes the second largest hub (after DFW) for American Airlines after US integrated to AA. CLT services more than 160 domestic and international routes.
CLT is one of the busiest airports in the USA so you will never get too boring there. However, around 90% of traffic will be American Airlines/ American Eagle, American Airlines A330s fly daily and seasonal routes to European cities like Frankfurt and London and Lufthansa A330/ A346/ A350 might be the only foreign traffic services regular flight in CLT. FedEx A300F and MD10 can be seen 5 days of a week. As CLT is a civil-military airport, USAF C-17 and C-130 can also be seen sometimes if you are lucky enough.
Written by Ruoyang Yan, Jerry Zhang, Jesse De Jonghe and A.J. Spring. Last change: June 2026 , Spot 7 added
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety |  |
| Photo Locations |  |
| Weather | |
| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 18C/36C | 3.048m (10.000 ft) Concrete |
| 18L/36R | 2.743 m (9.000 ft) Concrete |
| 18R/36L | 2.645 m (8.677 ft) Concrete |
| Terminals | |
| Concourse A | All domestic flights operated by non-American Airlines, including Air Canada, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, United. |
| Concourses B,C and E | used by American Airlines and American Eagle. |
| Concourses C and D | International flights, used by American Airlines and Lufthansa. |
| Airport Chart |  |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Only needed for location 4 |
| Car/Public Transport | Necessary for location 1 and 4 |
| Drinks/Food | Available in the terminals and can be accessible for location 2 and 3. |
| Hotels | There are serval hotels around the airport and offer a shutter bus from the terminals, but none of them are really close to spotting locations. |
| Season | All year round is fine, in summer you may spend more time spotting there in the afternoon. |
| Security | Please note, there is an empty space next to the museum which is good for spotting departure in 18L but please avoid it, the armed soldiers will ask you to leave immediately as they think you’re too close to the military ramp. Other than that, the authority is pretty friendly to the spotter and you will have a good time there. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 18C/ 36C | Mainly used for departure. During southern operations, international arrivals like American and Lufthansa A330s will also land at 18C. But for northern operation, international arrivals are more likely to use 36R. |
| 18R/36L | Mainly used for arrivals. More traffic will use 36L for northern operations as some arrival traffic will move to 18C during southern operations. This runway is usually only used by smaller jets. Heavies or private jets usually don’t use this one. |
| 18L/36R | Used for both departure and arrivals. Heavies are more likely to use 36R during northern operations and in southern operations, they prefer 18C. |
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Spot #1 – New Viewing Area – 18C/R movements |
|---|---|
| WHERE | New permanent overlook at Charlotte Douglas International. Opened June 7th. Parking on site is available free of charge. No public transportation available. Fences, but can easily get a camera over the fence. Ladders unnecessary. Find a big blue sign that says CLT Airport Overlook and follow the road up. Construction still going on here and view is limited. |
| WHAT | Best for 18R arrivals and departures. 36L arrivals are possible when they exit on W7/W8/W9/W10. Furthermore taxiway W can be seen but bad is mainly backlit. 18C/36C are obscured by ongoing construction of the future parallel runway. |
| TIME | Sunrise to noon: 18R/36L. Noon to sunset: 18C/36C. Expected to be year round. Heat haze doesn’t seem to be an issue in summer, but please hydrate. Taxiway W is backlit excpect summer mornings and evenings. |
| MISC. | Restrooms are available on site. Online website lists food trucks, yet none are scheduled for this time. Food trucks are expected to be around Fridays to Sundays when they start showing up. This is a public place and you will not have any issues with airport security or local law enforcement. Website for more information: |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 200-300mm |
 |
Spot #2 – West side of the hourly parking garage – All movements on 18C/36C |
|---|---|
| WHERE | You can access the hourly parking deck from the main Airport entrance road. The Hourly and Daily Decks share the same entrance point off the main entrance road. Follow the signage and veer to the right to enter the Hourly Deck and drive to the top floor.
+++ UPDATE April 2022: Reservation is needed in advance to use the parking deck. The parking situation on all decks is in general extremely tight. Check the airport website for more information where you can park. +++ |
| WHAT | What you can spot here is the same movement as location 1 and light condition at this location is good in the morning. In the early morning, you may see some interesting visitors to CLT like USAF C17, FEDEX’s A300F. During Southern operations, spotting the movement on the runway is only ideal in the early morning or l in the winter as heat haze will be a problem later. Alternatively, it’s good for spotting aircraft on the taxiway as it’s closer. During northern operations, you can spot all the departures on 36C which you can get a pretty nice background. |
| TIME | From sunrise to noon all year round. |
| MISC. | Restroom or shops are located in the terminal and there is a pathway connecting the garage with the terminal. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | During southern operations: 200mm for aircraft on the taxiway, 300mm for aircraft on the runway. During northern operation, 300mm or longer for departure flights. |
Taxing for 18C departure in the morning:
36C departure:
 |
Spot #3 – East side of the hourly parking garage – Movement on the ramp and 36R departure |
|---|---|
| WHERE | Follow the same direction of location 2 but please go the east side. |
| WHAT | What you can spot there is the movement on the ramp. 18L movements are only ideal during winter as heat haze will be a problem in summer. During northern operations, you can spot departure on 36R as they are already in the air. |
| TIME | From noon to sunset all year round. |
| MISC. | Restroom or shops are located in the terminal and there is a pathway connecting the garage with the terminal. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | During southern operations: 200mm for aircraft on the taxiway, 300mm for aircraft on the runway, during northern operation, 300mm or longer for departure flights. |
Ramp and 36R departure:
18L landing:
 |
Spot #4 – Sullenberger Aviation Museum – 36R departures |
|---|---|
| WHERE | The parking lot of the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, located north of the National Guard base, offers a good view of 36 departures. Accesses is via Minuteman Way als the way up till the end. |
| WHAT | 36R departures are possible. 18L arrivals might be spotted as well but not testet. |
| TIME | From sunrise to noon all year round. |
| MISC. | Everything is needed inside the museum. Don’t forget to have a look inside! More detail on the official website. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-200mm |
 |
Spot #5 – Wallace Neel Rd – Movements on 18R/36L |
|---|---|
| WHERE | Use Wallace Neel Rd Road and follow the direction of the airport, there are several hills around the runway, just find one and climb on it. You can park your car off the street just make sure it will not block the road and don’t stand too far with your car. Normally the airport authority is fine for people spotting there but the local police may sometimes ask to move your car, so it’s better to come on weekends. |
| WHAT | 18R/36L is mainly used for arrival regardless of the direction of operation. |
| TIME | Afternoon until sunset. Note that this location is only available from ~October to ~ April every year from noon to sunset. Otherwise, trees along the runway are too high and it’s tricky to spot between the gaps (See picture below). |
| MISC. | There is no restroom or shops nearby, please bring your own food and water. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 150mm for A320 /B737, 200mm or longer for regional jets. |
Photos taken on Spring:
 |
Spot #6 – Fuel Farm – 36C departures |
|---|---|
| WHERE | The location is on a sidewalk next to the airports fuel tanks on the northern end. There are two options to get there. The shortest way is to start at the terminal and use the sidewalk next to concourse A northwards tuntil you reach a roundabout and you can see the fuel tanks on your left. Continue on the sidewalk westwards for a few meters until a line of trees. This is you place to be.
UPDATE June 2026: constructions are gone but there is now a very huge fence, which limits the view now. |
| WHAT | 36C departures above the fence, but most aircraft are already too high. Might be able to photograph ground movements but we did not test it. |
| TIME | From sunrise to noon all year round. |
| MISC. | The closest amenities are within the terminal faciliets. The trees spending shadow. People walking and jogging for exercise along the same sidewalk so be polite and don`t attract attention. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Departures: 300-400mm for regional jets |
 |
Spot #7 – Building 8211 – 18R arrivals |
|---|---|
| WHERE | This spotting location is situated along Old Dhow Road, near its intersection with Wallace Neel Road at Building 8211 on google maps. While it is possible to park your car next to the building, this is not recommended. A better option is to park at the official Airport Overlook and walk to the location, which takes approximately 20 minutes. You can choose your preferred position along the area once there. For those using public transportation, the nearest bus stop is Industrial Drive @ Amazon (Stop Code: 60531). However, please note that the spotting location is still around a 40-minute walk from the bus stop. |
| WHAT | You will have a great view on the arrivals for runway 18R. This runway is usually only used by smaller jets. Heavies or private jets usually don’t use this runway |
| TIME | Best time from early afternoon until sunset, all year long. |
| MISC. | No ladder is required. There is nothing around so bring everything you need. Trees provide some shade. Police has passed several times, but they never stopped. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | B717 = 155mm; A32N= 170mm; B737= 160mm |
To those who doesn’t drive and wishes to go to the airport, you can take CAT (Charlotte Area Transportation if I recall correctly) #5 and #60 to Ben Elbert Douglas Sr. International Airport. Coming here was an awesome experience and I got to see Contour Airlines for the first time. It was amazing and I hope to return here again at some point.
Hello, I visited Charlotte in mid October 2025 for a few days and found this site very helpful, as I am relatively new to plane spotting.
I used spot 2 for morning shooting, as they were using 36C for mainly departures. This was a good spot for shooting taxiing aircraft, as they were much closer.
I used spot 3 for afternoon shooting.of 36R departures and taxiing aircraft. I also used spot 1 for 36C departures.
Spot 1 would have been great in the morning for shooting 18R landings, but the wind was always from the north while I was in town, so I never got to shoot those. Spot 2 would also have been great for morning landings on 18C.
Thanks again for the info posted here.
Just a quick note for parking in the hourly deck…It may be hit or miss, but I did not need a reservation for the hourly parking, as I pulled to the far left entry gate and got a parking pass. $8 per hour. You can get in and out very quickly (at least I did for the three days I was there). I was very surprised.
Do the a330s still fly to Charlotte? I have been spotting a few times and have never seen one…
EDIT: American Airlines retired their A330 fleet during the pandemic… very sad 🙁
If you are talking about American Airlines, the don`t have them in their fleet anymore. And Lufthansa uses the A350. So I can’t image that you will see A330 there.
-Julian
A little piece of advise. There are a lot of awesome plane spotting locations, but be careful. There is a gravel lot next to runway 36R which is awesome for morning arrivals. It’s on Piper Lane and Commander Road. I have been taking pictures there 3 or 4 times with no issues. I even had Cops drive by and wave to me. However today I had a Cop pull up and tell me this was restricted property and I had to leave. Just in case anyone was going to use that spot.
Spot 1 is awesome for take offs from 1C as well. There is a second area with less cars. A little under the aircraft’s for a perfect side shot but definitely not bad at all.
Hey, can you provide some photos and more details through our form please: https://www.spotterguide.net/guide-update/
How do you add photos? I would love to help.
Send me a mail to support@spotterguide.net
-Julian
The road leading up to spot 6 has been destroyed. It is completely gone and there is no way to get there anymore.
I left a note. Maybe it is just temporary and they are build a new one? -Julian
Does anybody know a place near runway 36R where I can catch traffic( mainly wide body’s like cargo jets)?
I visited CLT week of May 9th and spots #2 & 3 are a “no go” at this time. Right now the hourly parting is by reservation only and is typically always full.
The spots are still available but indeed the parking situation at the deck is tricky and you need a reservation.
-Julian
Anyone familiar with the overlook at Charlotte-Douglas, can you comment on when you might be able to view military aircraft taking off or landing?
Hi, military traffic (C-17s) will normally use 18L/36L as it’s closer to military ramp. The roof of hourly parking garage will be the best spot.
Think I found a new spot this weekend…if you look due east of the northern end of Runway 18C/36C, you’ll see the jet fuel pumping station (labeled on Google Maps as “Menzie’s Aviation CLT Fuel Farm”) Directly across the street there is a sidewalk along a grove of trees where I stood for a while taking takeoff shots from both 18C/36C and 18L/36R. On the day I went operations were northbound, but I would imagine you’ll get some really great taxi shots during southbound operations as the hill is only about 250 yards from the end of the apron, which is a hair closer than the runway is to the Overlook.
You will need a long lens…mine went out to 300mm and while that’s good enough for the planes coming off 18C/36C, if you want good shots of the wheels leaving the ground on that runway or anything at all coming off 18L/36R you’ll need longer than that. Quite frankly your shots of 18L/36R are probably too far to be excellent, but you should be able to get some really good ones off 18C/36C, particularly the first half of the day when the sun prevents you from taking good ones from the Overlook (Spot 1) (this spot also has the advantage of offering plentiful shade, a huge bonus on the morning I was there as the temp was already above 90° by noon). I also think this is a nice alternative to the parking garages to watch takeoff action from both runways. Again, that’s all during northbound operations…during southbound operations you will not be able to see anything on 18L/36R but you should get some great taxiing shots of 18C/36C, in which case 300mm will be more than enough.
To get there, I just walked from the Observation Area as there’s a sidewalk that goes around the northern end of 18C/36C. It’s about a mile and you can get some shots from really interesting angles along the way, although the fence and the terrain prevent that coveted straight on takeoff shot. I saw a few people walking and jogging for exercise along the same sidewalk so I don’t think they’ll mind an unattended vehicle parked at the Overlook. Looking at the walking route I highly doubt there’s anywhere that airport security would allow you to park closer.
Hi AJ, thanks for the info about this location. I think I see where it is on google maps. The option to shot the line up on 18C sound interesting too.
Can you provide us some sampel shots you took there and send them over to support@spotterguide.net
Thanks
Julian