Bergen Flesland Airport - Spotting Guide

Bergen Flesland Airport – Spotting Guide

October 3, 2021 - last modified on March 18, 2024

Bergen Flesland Airport (BGO/ENBR) is Norway’s second busiest airport behind Oslo, with ~6 million passengers a year. It was opened in 1955 and is located 13km west of Bergen itsself. The airfield is serving quite a few Norwegian/domestic destinations and thus sees SAS/Wideroe/Norwegian aircraft (from Dash 8 up to B737), but also international routes to big hubs like Amsterdam/Frankfurt or Eastern Europe for foreign workers like Gdansk. That’s why you can see the common European carrier like KLM, Finnair, Wizz, Lufthansa and many more. However, the airport is famous for its busy helicopter traffic which serves the local offshore oil platforms in the Northern Atlantic here with Bristow Sikorsky S92s for example. In addition, BGO handles big charters for the whole region and thereby you may spot a VDA IL76 or also passenger heavy like an Air Belgium A340.

Written by Severin Hackenberger in cooperation with Richard Toft. Last Update: Summer 2021

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
17/35	2990m – Asphalt
Terminals
T1	Not in use anymore for passenger airplanes, but helicopters now.
T2	Older terminal in the shape of a star in the north.
T3	Newly opened (2017) terminal in the south.
Spotting Information
Ladder	Useful at the fence spots = 2/4. But you can also make nice shots or shoot thru the mesh there otherwise.
Car/Public Transport	A car is needed in order to get close to spots 1 and 5. The rest can be reached by foot or public transport from the terminal as well. The airport is connected to the local citytrain and thus the citycentre.
Drinks/Food	There are almost no facilities west of the airport. Just around the terminal you can however find a gas station and a bit towards the city also supermarkets.
Hotels	There is a Comfort Hotel and a Clarion Hotel just next to the terminal. Latter one offers nice views onto the northern apron as you can see HERE.
Season	Summer is definitely better here regarding the weather and traffic amount. However, winter can offer nice photo opportunities with awesome light conditions and snow.
Security	Spotting is no problem here at all. Nothing to be worried about.
Runway Usage
17/35	17 is more likely to be used.

	Spot #1 – Farmer’s hill – 35 movements
WHERE	This is a farmer area, but normaly it is no problem to drive the car up the hill all the way. Just turn off Fleslandsvegen to the left a few meters north of Slettenskiftet bus stop and make your way up the hill there. It can be reached by bus no. 57 too.

WHAT	From here you can nicely shoot all 35 movements. 17 movements are mostly too high or left the runway already.

TIME	Noon till sunset.

MISC.	Ladder not needed. Heat haze can be a problem on summer days here and there is nothing around.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm IL76 runway = 100mm / An26 taxiway = 300mm

	Spot #2 – CHC Helicopter hangar – 17/35 runway movements
WHERE	This spot can be found at the end of Flyplassvegen next to the CHC Helicopter hangars at the fence. You can park directly in front of the fence here or walk from the terminal by following the signs to the P8 parking, which is close to this spot.

WHAT	From here you can spot all runway movements, 17 and 35 direction, as well as the ones on the taxiway in front.

TIME	Sunrise till noon.

MISC.	Ladder not needed. No problem with heath haze as you are quite close. Closest facility is the nearby gas station or terminal otherwise.

FOCAL LENGTH	24-200mm B38M on runway = 140mm / B737 on taxiway = 80mm

	Spot #3 – Forest hill – 17/35 runway movements
WHERE	Turn off highway 580 and make your way up the hill to the south on Flyplassvegen and later Lilandsvegen. Take care, the road you need to drive up here is a bumpy dirt road and roughly 400m long. Plan some more time for getting here so you can drive slowly. Once there you have a nice view of there runway and terminal. You can also walk from the terminal on the sidewalks by passing the Comfort Hotel and a car park and then finally up the hill as described above.

WHAT	From here you can spot all runway movements, 17 and 35 direction.

TIME	Sunrise till noon. Heat haze can be a problem in summer.

MISC.	Nothing around here directly. Wear good shoes as it can get slippery. Ticks are an issues too, so check your body after you have visited this point.

FOCAL LENGTH	100-400mm A343 = 230mm / CRJ900 = 370mm

	Spot #4 – Parking P14 – 35 movements + nearby apron
WHERE	The spot is at the perimeter fence of the long time parking area P14, so you have to park in one of the airport parking lots and once you got rid of your car, you have to come back here by foot. Then just position yourself along the fence front. You can also easily walk from the terminal to this location. Just follow the signs to the parking P14.

WHAT	35 movements and aircraft parked on the apron in front.

TIME	Sunrise till noon.

MISC.	Ladder useful if you wanna avoid shooting thru the mesh and thus getting dark corners. Haze is no issue here normally, but your view may be blocked by parked aircraft sometimes. Closest facility is in the nearby hotel or terminal otherwise.

FOCAL LENGTH	24-250mm B738 on stands = 70mm / B738 on runway = 180mm

	Spot #5 – Forest – 17 movements
WHERE	You need to drive to the end of the road on the airport’s west side at the coast. Park at the end of Fleslandsvegen in a sort of turning circle and then walk thru the woods as marked for about 15 minutes until you have reached the perimeter fence. Ladder is not needed as you are elevated here to clear the fence. It can be reached by bus no. 57 too.

WHAT	From here you can nicely shoot all 17 movements. 35 movements are mostly too high or left the runway already.

TIME	Noon till sunset.

MISC.	No problem with heat haze normally, but nothing around.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm