Melbourne Intl. Airport Spotting Guide

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Melbourne Intl. Airport Spotting Guide

Published by Julian at October 18, 2018 - last modified on March 04, 2019

Melbourne Airport, also known as Tullamarine, opened in 1970 replacing Essendon Airport and is now the second largest and busiest airport in Australia with around 36 Mio passsengers in 2017. The airport has 56 gates spread around 4 terminals. Three of the terminals form a single major building housing the majority of the airport’s operations. Aircraft use two intersecting runways but usually all traffic use 16/34, the longest runway at MEL. Thats why the airport is very interesting for plane spotters as its never quiet, except during the night.

MEL is a hub for Qantas/Qantas Link including several intl. destinations to Asia and USA. Jetstar Airways, Virgin Australia, Tigerair Australia and Regional Express Airlines are carriers that using Melbourne as a hub too. Furthermore you will see a nice mix of traffic mainly from Asia and the Pacific. Qantas Freight and Toll Aviation are the major freight operatores at this airport.

The airport authorities are going to build a third new runway, parallel to the exisiting runway 09/27 but just south of the airport boundaries. Therefore its possible that a few spots are sooner or later no longer accessible due to the ongoing constructions works.

Written by Max Getley (local spotter), Jan Seba and S. Hackenberger. Last Update March 2019.


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	Airline Variety
	Photo Locations
	Weather

Airport Informations	Runways	09/27	16/34
		2.286 m (7.500 ft)	3.657 m (11.998 ft)

	Terminals	Terminal 1	Terminal 2
		Qantas, Qantas Link	All international Operations

		Terminal 3	Terminal 4
		Virgin Australia	Domestic flights opb. Tigerair Australia, Regional Express Airlines, Jetstar and Airnorth

Spotting Informations	Ladder	Just needed at 7 for ground photos. At spots 5 and 6 if the green box is blocked.
	Car	Needed as there is no public transport to the locations. You can park directly at every spotting location.
	Restrooms	Throughout terminals. Nothing around the spots.
	Drinks/Food	Throughout terminals. Nothing around the spots.
	Season	Best to go there during the australian summer due to the north/south direction of the main runway. You will have less rainy days and much more sun hours like in the winter months.

Runway Usage	09/27	Less in use and mainly for smaller aircraft. If so then mainly 27 is used, 09 just once every few months.
Runway Usage	16/34	Due to its length this is the major runway, used in both directions and usally by all heavy departures.

	Spot #1 – Terminal 1 and 3
WHERE	Terminal 1: Qantas’ terminal has two piers and allows access to the piers through security with a security check. No boarding pass is required. Terminal 3 Pier A: Virgin’s terminal has two piers and allows access to the piers through security with only a security check. Best is Gate for spotting is Nr. 10. No boarding pass is required. The international Terminal 2 is only accessable with a valid boarding pass!

WHAT	Terminal 1: You can get up close to Qantas and Jetstar aircraft at their gates and pushing back through the various windows that look out onto the stands. Terminal 3 Pier A: From here you have the most action. You can get up close to Virgin aircraft at their gates and pushing back through the various windows that look out onto the stands. All Regional Express and Tiger Airways aircraft pass the pier and you can get a view of runway 16/34 at its end.

TIME	Best in the morning. There is reflection at all times but decent shots can still be had through the glass with care.

MISC.	Everything you need within the terminal. There are multiple obstructions plus the ever present problems of photographing through glass and with heat haze but reasonable shots can be taken with patience.

FOCAL LENGTH	50-150 mm

	Spot #2 – Car park Terminal 4
WHERE	Located at Terminal 4 Carpark, Level 6 or 7 is best for getting a good height over the aircraft on the tarmac at T4 or T3. If you arrive by car parking fee is 51 AUD for 24h.

WHAT	Most aircraft on tarmac and all traffic on Runways 16 and 34

TIME	Early Morning and late night

MISC.	Everything you need within the terminal.

FOCAL LENGTH	A380=150mm; 788=230mm

	Spot #3 – Operations Rd
WHERE	This spot is located by the roadside of “Operations Rd” near Qantas and Jetstar Maintance. The easyiest way to get there (from the city and airport) is to follow “Airport Drive”, then turn into “Link Rd” and then into “S Centre Rd”. After around 200 meters exit the roundabound at the 3rd exit and follow “Operations Rd” for about 500 meters. Park at a car small lot on the side of the road, right next to Melbourne Airport Golf Course entrance. and walk along the road for your favourite spot – this depends on the angle you wanna have and the time.

WHAT	All arrivals on runway 34 and some heavy 16 departures.

TIME	Usually the whole day, except midday.

MISC.	Closest facilities nearby are at the terminals

FOCAL LENGTH	70-350mm A330 = 110mm / Saab340 = 320mm / B738 = 160mm

	Spot #4 – Link Road
WHERE	Located in the cargo area use same direction as #3 but continue on Link Road and drive till the end at the front of a truck station. Park on the side of the road.

WHAT	Runway 34 arrivals only.

TIME	Time is good from sunrise till (late) midday.

MISC	Closest facilities nearby are at the terminals

FOCAL LENGTH	100-250mm

	Spot #5 – Operations Road
WHERE	This spot is along Operations Road. Just continue from #3 for a kilometer. Park your car on the side of the road at a green box where you can climb up to photograph over the fence. Otherwise use a ladder for line up.

WHAT	Best for arrivals on RWY34 and aircraft holding short for 34 take off. Smaller aircraft don´t use the full length of the runway and using an earlier entrance.

TIME	From afternoon till sunset.

MISC	Closest facilities nearby are at the terminals. Ladder recommend for ground photos.

FOCAL LENGTH	A332=100mm; A350 line up = 260mm

	Spot #6 – Airport View Point/Operations Road
WHERE	This spot is another official aircraft viewing point for Melbourne Airport located on Operations Road. Just continue from #5 until you see a parking lot to your left. This spot is great to chill back in the car and watch the planes takeoff and land on the main runway at Melbourne. There is a green box where you can climb up to photograph over the fence, Otherwise use a ladder for planes on the ground. Pictures trough the mesh of the fence are possible as well.

WHAT	All Runway 16 and 34 action.

TIME	From afternoon till sunset.

MISC	Closest facilities nearby are at the terminals. Ladder recommend for ground photos.

FOCAL LENGTH	150 mm for A320

	Spot #7 – Mansfield Road
WHERE	This location is a bit difficult to reach as Operations Rd ends at spot #5 and its only accessible from the south. From the spots before drive back south to get on Annandale Rd. From there you can turn into the Mansfield Road. Follow it for a few kilometers until you are right up close to the runway and very close to the Air Traffic Control Tower of Melbourne. You can move along the fence here to find your prefered position.

WHAT	All movements. Departures on 27 and arrivals that vacating the runway. Line up and arrivals on 09 but which is pretty rare.

TIME	Only in the summer months in the morning and from late afternoon till sunset.

MISC.	Here is absolutley nothing and the spot is pretty far from any facilities. Ladder recommend for ground photos.

FOCAL LENGTH	A320=230mm; 787=120mm

	Spot #8 – Old Bulla Rd
WHERE	From the terminals drive northwards on Sunbury road, pass the official viewing area spot #9 and then take the next left into the Old Bulla Rd. The last part of the road is closed with an iron chain, so check out your favourite position, where you can shoot between the trees (example Qatar 380, Ethiad 787, Sichuan 350).

WHAT	RWY 16 arrivals only. Better angle for afternoon arrivals compared to spot 9.

TIME	From afternoon till sunset.

MISC.	Nothing nearby. Don’t pass the iron chain, as the residents of the nearby house don’t like spotters there.

FOCAL LENGTH	250 mm for A320

	Spot #9 – Airport Viewing Area
WHERE	There is an official viewing area north of the terminals directly under the approach of runway 16 located at the roundabout Sunbary Rd / Oaklands Rd. Park directly at the park. The park itself is not the best place for photography as you are directly under the aircraft but its a nice place to have a break and relax. But from there you can walk on the grass a bit to the east along Sunbury Rd. and west till the Bulla Uniting Church (you can park there too) to gather a perfect angle.

WHAT	All Runway 16 Arrivals and 34 heavy takeoffs.

TIME	Usually the whole day except midday.

MISC.	The park has some benches to sit down and sometimes a food truck appears.

FOCAL LENGTH	738/A320=200mm;

From the viewing area:

East side (morning):

West side (afternoon):

	Spot #10 – Sunbury Rd.
WHERE	From the terminals just continue northwards on for a kilometer on Sunbury Rd. This spot is located on the side of the road with a small gravel surface for cars. This is one of the only spots for good shots of Runway 27 traffic, plus RWY 34 departures! Its also within the walking distance from the terminal but we did not checked that. +++ Update January 2019: Due to recent road reconstruction completed last year, Spot 10 on your guide has disappeared. The lay-by/car park has been removed. A steel crash barrier has been installed from near spot 9 and runs continuously on both sides of the road towards the terminals to a point just past RWY 27. +++

WHAT	Arrivals on RWY27 and RWY34 heavy departures.

TIME	For RWY27 the whole day in winter. In summer you have backlit in the morning and evening. For RWY34 from sunrise till (late) midday.

MISC.	All you need within the terminals which are very close.

FOCAL LENGTH	100-200mm for RWY27 300-400mm for RWY34