Curacao Hato Airport
| Continent: Central America and Caribbean | Country: Netherlands | Region: Netherlands Antilles |
| Hato Airport | |
| Location | Willemstad, Curacao |
| IATA code | CUR |
| ICAO code | TNCC |
| Airport type | Mixed-Use |
| Website | http://www.curacao-airport.com/ |
| Overview map | Google maps |
| Communications | |
| Tower | 118.3 |
| Ground | |
| Clearance | |
| Approach | 119.6 |
| ATIS | |
Official Spotting Locations
To start off, you will need a 200-300mm lense from most locations to get nice aircraft photos or close-up photos. The only location where a smaller lense can be sufficient is near the runway as explained later (runway shots section).
The Mirador
The best spotting location by far is the "Mirador". This place is located behind the new airport passenger terminal. The Mirador used to be much bigger but it was broken down to make room for the parking lot of the new airport terminal but there is still a section there where you can park your car. The Mirador is located right next to the road that goes to the airport. When you leave the airport terminal you have to go to the left to go up the hill. When you are going up the hill you will see a blue traffic sign with an arrow to the left. Here you will see that the road originally went to the left. This used to be the parking area for the Mirador but the road is broken down but with part of the road still there where you can park your car. You can recognize this location by the white/red drums. When you come from the other direction of the road the Mirador is to your right of course. In this case you have to pass the main airport entrance which is clearly visible by the orange wall with the airport name on it in big letters. When you have passed this entrance the road will go up again and just before the road goes downwards again you will see the Mirador on your right with the white/red drums. Don't drive to fast here, otherwise you will miss the Mirador and you will have to drive all the way down the hill to turn again. The best way to reach the Mirador is by coming from the direction of the main airport entrance. The airport police will not stop you at the Mirador as many local people watch aircraft arriving and departing from this location.
The small disadvantage of this location is heat haze for arriving aircraft that are on the runway. As you have much less heat haze problems when the aircraft taxi by after arrival, this heat haze disadvantage can be avoided here.
Other Spotting Locations
Top of the Hill Behind The Mirador
Another less popular location is the top of the hill behind the airport. You will need at least a 300mm lense to photograph from here and only widebody aircraft give you good results from this location with a 300mm lense as it is further away from the airport. Even so, this location does offer you a very nice view of the entire airport so very nice airport overview photos can be taken from here as well. The disadvantage is that it is not always safe here. It is also very messy so when walking up the hill you will have to walk over the garbage unfortunately.
You can recognize this location by the Aerodrome located on the same hill. When you drive up the hill coming from the Mirador, you will see this location to the right when you see the Aerodrome building.
As mentioned above, this location is not recommended due it being unsafe and you must have at least a 300mm lense from this location to get decent shots of widebody aircraft taking off or arriving.
Runway Shots
Like many other airports we also have locations near the runway for aircraft photography. There are two locations where runway shot can be taken. The most popular one is runway 11. The biggest disadvantage of runway 11 is that airport security will most likely send you away when they see you as it is near the airport premises. So if the airport security doesn't see you, you have a nice location here but when they do see you, you will be asked to leave. But once you have reached this location, the road is made of sand which is much better. Here you can stop on the side of the road for approaching aircraft. Another disadvantage is the road that takes you there. The road is unpaved and made of what used to be coral cliffs. Another disadvantage is the extreme heat at this location. As there is nothing else in the vicinity be sure to take sufficient water with you to cool off and some snacks or food if you want to stay there for more then 2 hours. As the location is fairly remote, I would recommend not to hang out there too long as it is also a location where usually nobody drives, so if something happens to your car, you are on your own. The other runway location is on the opposite side of the runway which is runway 29. Runway 29 is mainly used when the wind changes direction during the months September until November. Runway 29 is located at the terrain which is adjecent to the road going to the airport when coming from the east. It is located on the side of the place called Hato Caves which is a tourist attraction. This terrain is planned as office park but so far there still is a view on runway 29. The disadvantage of this location is that it is not used often for landings (only during the months September until November). But if used, this location can offer very nice photography opportunities.
The advantage of runway 11 is that you can take very nice photos from this location. It is recommended that you know when the aircraft come in when photographing from this location to avoid having to wait there for hours before the aircraft come in. Another advantage from this location is that you don't necessarily need a 200-300mm lense as aircraft pass by right in front of you or above you if you stand right underneath the flying path of the approaching aircraft. The disadvantage of runway 11 is heat haze. Be sure to snap your photos before the aircraft are almost touching down on the runway. Aircraft turning from in front of you to enter the active runway usually have no problem with heat haze.
Runway 11 photos:
- Airliners.net sample photo: medium large
- Airliners.net sample photo: medium large
- PlanePictures.net sample photo: large
Runway 29 photos:
Locations to Avoid
As mentioned before, the location on the hill behind the Mirador is not recommended due to its isolated location and all the garbage that is being left there. It is accesible to the public but not recommended if you are unfamiliar with the area.
Location
Regular Traffic
A complete list of the airlines that serve Curacao (incl. aircraft type) can be seen below (dated December 15th 2006):
PASSENGER:
- American Airlines (737-800)
- Continental Airlines (737-700/-800)
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (747-400)
- Martinair (767-300ER, to stop by the end of 2011)
- Arkefly (TUI Group) (767-300ER)
- Avianca Colombia (A320/A319, F100)
- Avior Airlines (737-200)
- Aserca Airlines (DC-9-30)
- LIAT(Dash-8-300)
- Dutch Antilles Express (F100, ATR42)
- Insel Air (MD82, EMB110)
- Surinam Airways (737-300)
- Tiara Air (Shorts 360)
- E-Liner (Piper 31 Navajo)
- Divi divi Air (Britten Norman Islander)
- GOL (737-800)
CHARTER FLIGHTS:
- Jazz Air (Sunquest) (757-200 (November - May))
- TAME Ecuador (A320)
- Portuguese Charters (once/twice a year depending on passenger demand)
- Blue Panorama (767-300ER)
- Laser (Ad-hoc DC-9-30)
CARGO:
- Cargolux (747-400F fuel stops only)
- Lufthansa Cargo (MD11F fuel stops only)
- Kalitta (Ad-hoc fuel stops only)
- Lineas Aereas Suramericanas (727-200F/-100F)
- Amerijet International (767-200F, 727-200F)
- Aerosucre (727-200F/-100F, 737-200F depending on cargo demand)
- Ameriflight(EMB120F, Swearingen Metro/Fairchild III)
- DHL Vensecar(727-200F/-100F, ATR42F)