PHL-Spot1
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April 24, 2015
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May 14, 2015Philadelphia Intl. Airport Spotting Guide
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- last modified on September 21, 2021
Philadelphia Airport (IATA: PHL ; OACI : KPHL) is one of the biggest airports on the US East-coast and handled over 31mio passengers in 2019. The airport is used by American Airlines, as a major hub, connecting the USA with international destinations, mainly in Europe and South America. The traffic is dominated by AA and its regional partners, who are responsible for at least 2/3 of all movements. As for the regional traffic, you will see several different airlines, with types like the E70/E75, CRJ200, CRJ900. Otherwise it’s mostly A320family aircraft.
Other important carriers are Southwest, Spirit, Frontier and Delta Airlines. International airlines are a rare sight with Air Canada to Toronto, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Qatar to Doha and British Airways to London Heathrow. Furthermore UPS uses Philly as a major east coast cargo hub.
Written by Bryan Jan Seba & Julian Mittnacht. Last Update: September 2021.
| Rating | |
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| Airline Variety |  |
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| Weather | |
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| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 09L/27R | 2.896 m (9.500 ft) |
| 09R/27L | 3.202 m (10.506 ft) |
| 08/26 | 1.524 m (5.000 ft) |
| 17/35 | 1.981 m (6.500 ft) |
| Terminals | |
| Concourse A (intl.) | All international flights except Canada and some AA domestic flights |
| Concourse B | American Airlines |
| Concourse C | American Airlines |
| Concourse D | Air Canada, Alaska, Delta, United |
| Concourse E | Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, and Spirit. |
| Concourse F (regional) | American Eagle |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | No need at any location |
| Car/Public Transport | Car is absolutely necessary. |
| Restrooms | Within the Terminals, Hotels or the Penrose Plaza Shopping Center |
| Drinks/Food | There is a huge Shopping Center northwards of the airport with lots of fast food restaurants and a supermarket (tagged on the map) |
| Hotels | There are plenty of hotels within the airport area in all price categories. |
| Season | Best sun position between September and March. But better weather of course during the summer months. |
| Security | Spotting in general is tolerated at PHL by the local police, as long as you stay away from the airport perimeter fence. Never park next to it and when spotting also try to stay away from it and you will not run into any trouble during your stay. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 09L/27R | When the wind blows from the East, 09L is the main runway for the departures. If the wind blows from the West, 27R is the main runway for the arrivals. |
| 09R/27L | When the wind comes from the East, 09R is the main runway from the arrivals. If the wind comes from the West, 27L is the main ruwnay for the deparutres. |
| 08/26 | Not really in use. |
| 17/35 | The only crosswind runway is used during peak hours by AA regional flights (CRJ, E-Jets) for arrivals. If the wind blows from the west and 27 is the main direction they use 35. Wind from the east and 09 is the main runway, they use 17 for arrivals. |
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Spot #1 – Fire Fighting Area – 27L Departures (09R arrivals) |
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| WHERE | Its pretty easy to find all locations in PHL as they are all located on the same road which is leading around the whole airport area. The road is called Fort Mifflin Road and the spot is situated next to the fire fighting training facilities. There is a flat area where you can park your car. Spotting can be done directly from the parking area or from the side side of the road, which is recommended as you have more room to move around and position yourself between the lamp posts. |
| WHAT | This spot is perfect for the 27L departures of all kind of aicrafts. Regular aircraft are not too high and the smaller props don´t use the whole runway length, so they are at a perfect height to take a picture. Only fo heavies like the Qatar B777, or some US Airways A330 it is advisable to move a bit more westward, because otherwise they would be too low. Some of the smaller aircraft bank to the left immediately after takeoff, which allows for some very nice shots. For 09R arrivals you can park your car here and walk aprroximate 800 meters westwards to find an acceptable photoposition. |
| TIME | In the winter the spot is good for almost the whole day! In the summer its okay for just a few hours starting in the late morning until afternoon. |
| MISC. | Here is absolutely nothing nearby. Bring the stuff you need with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 150mm for an A330 and 230mm for an A320. A small Dash 8-100 is a little over 400mm (unless it’s banking towards you). |
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Spot #2 – Sunoco Incorporated – 27R Arrivals |
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| WHERE | This spot is located at the Fort Mifflin road too, just next to the entrance of this historical landmark. Park your car on the shoulder of the street just as tagged on the map but not on the airports perimeter side. You can walk along the road, which is not frequent in use, to find you preferred photo position. You can also move back onto the grass area to get a bit more distance between you and the approach path. |
| WHAT | Here you get all 27R arrivals. |
| TIME | In the winter the spot is good for almost the whole day! In the summer its okay for just a few hours starting in the late morning until afternoon. |
| MISC. | Here is absolutely nothing nearby. Bring the stuff you need with you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 80mm for an A330 and 120mm for an A320. |
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Spot #3 – Fort Mifflin – Arrivals rwy 27R Belly shots |
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| WHERE | Located right before the entrance to Fort Mifflin. The best way to get here is by car, where you can park off the road. Spotting can be done by the pond, or you can walk towards the road by the fields to get different angles. |
| WHAT | From here you are able to get head on shots of aircraft on final for 27L. |
| TIME | Afternoon to sunset, from late summer to winter. Other months may be backlit. |
| MISC. | Museum nearby, but tickets are required to enter. Be mindful of where you park, as it is an entrance to a museum. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 55-200mm. United 777-300ER 75mm, American 737-800 160mm, American A321 200mm |
7 Comments
Looking for an ideal spot at phl to take my 9 y/0 for taking close pics and loud planes for an hour or so! Any help would be appreciated
Is there a mixup with the maps? I’m seeing a spotter’s map of Anchorage, not of PHL.
It is fixed now. Thanks for the info Jim!
-Julian
While airside, there is a nice place close to terminal A-East, at a kids playground. You are facing rwy 09/27.
Nice for taxiing aircrafts to/from main runways,, and also for aircrafts coming to terminal A-East and Terminal B.
I spotted there in 2010 and 2012 for about 2 hours, without any problems.
https://www.phl.org/Pages/Passengerinfo/KidsCorner/playarea.aspx
Is the kids playground on the air side or the land side?
There’s one more site for runway 35 arrivals located about 2/3 of the way going from spot 1 to 2 just before the road turns to the left for the second time. It’s used for the smaller aircraft and isn’t as busy as runways 9/27, but you can get some great views here. As usual, bring the stuff you need with you
Hi Jerry, if you can provide us all the infos and some sample pictures we would like to add this location to the guide.
Thanks, Julian