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Malta International Airport: Difference between revisions
→The Spotters' Wall (Safi side)
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===The Spotters' Wall (Safi side)=== | ===The Spotters' Wall (Safi side)=== | ||
[[Image: 11067_wm.jpg |thumb|200 px|Embraer 170 departing from runway 31]]The Spotters' Wall, as it is known, is really an elevated viewing platform. Built by the Malta Aviation Society some years ago, it offers unobstructed views of runway 13/31 and it is the place from which to shoot takeoffs in either direction. With any luck the aircraft will rotate right in front of you. It is easily the best spot for photography at MLA. Its only drawback is its very popularity: it can get crowded if there is a particularly unusual movement. | [[Image: 11067_wm.jpg |thumb|200 px|Embraer 170 departing from runway 31]]The Spotters' Wall, as it is known, is really an elevated viewing platform. Built by the Malta Aviation Society some years ago, it offers unobstructed views of runway 13/31 and it is the place from which to shoot takeoffs in either direction. With any luck the aircraft will rotate right in front of you. It is easily the best spot for photography at MLA. Its only drawback is its very popularity: it can get crowded if there is a particularly unusual movement. Works currently under way have made this spot difficult though not impossible to reach by car. Hopefully this situation will be temporary. | ||
Just down the road, on the opposite side to the airport perimeter, lies the Medavia aircraft maintenance complex. Aircraft transiting from the airport to the Medavia facilities and vice versa cross the airport perimeter road. However, a project is under way to incorporate this area within the airport perimeter. The road past the Medavia complex has been blocked to traffic, and the sight of road crossings at MLA will soon be a thing of the past. | |||
'''Time of day:''' Noon to evening or from around 9 am on in winter for take-offs and landings. | '''Time of day:''' Noon to evening or from around 9 am on in winter for take-offs and landings. | ||
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If arriving by bus, there is a bus stop just past the end of the tunnel which is served by all the buses mentioned below under facilities and transportation, except the airport bus proper. Get off here then follow the above directions. | If arriving by bus, there is a bus stop just past the end of the tunnel which is served by all the buses mentioned below under facilities and transportation, except the airport bus proper. Get off here then follow the above directions. | ||
If driving, head for the airport but take the road to Zurrieq at the Gudja/airport/Luqa roundabout. Parking is available next to the viewing platform and across the road. | If driving, head for the airport but take the road to Zurrieq at the Gudja/airport/Luqa roundabout. Parking is available next to the viewing platform and across the road. You will need to negotiate a series of concrete barriers across the road just short of the platform, but so far at least (August 2010) the platform remains accessible. | ||
{{jplink|118458}} (the Spotters' Wall) | {{jplink|118458}} (the Spotters' Wall) | ||
{{anetlink|1024885}} (aircraft crossing the road - photo taken from the Spotters' Wall) | {{anetlink|1024885}} (aircraft crossing the road - photo taken from the Spotters' Wall) | ||