Philadelphia International Airport

Philadelphia International Airport
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
IATA code	PHL
ICAO code	KPHL
Airport type	Commercial
Website	http://www.phl.org
Overview map	Google Maps
Communications
Tower	118.50 - 27R/9L, 35/17, 8/26 135.10 - 27L/9R
Ground	121.90 East 121.65 West
Clearance	118.85
Approach	126.60 South Arrival 128.40 North Arrival 125.40 Final Vectors One 132.675 Final Vectors Two (RWY 35) in normal west Ops - In SAPR2 Ops it's used for 27L
Departure	124.35 North 119.75 South
ATIS	133.40 Arrivals 135.925 Departures
Departure	122.95
Plane Spotting Hotels guide

Official Spotting Locations

Hog Island Road

Runway 26

After going through the underpass, continue for 100 yards, stop, U-turn to the opposite side of the road, good location for Rwy. 26 approaches, small aircraft & RJ's.

Hog Island Rd

Runs right next to the airport and there are numerous spots along the road. The main use of Hog Island Rd is just after the first curve out of the tunnel straightens out. Excellent location for shooting arriving flights on final for runway 27-R.

Side On

You can go farther up park and right when the road starts to climb a light grade to shoot side on shots of aircraft over the threshold through the fence. Airport police tend to restrict shooting through the fence, however, enforcement is applied on an individual basis.

Gravel Lot

Further down Hog Island Road, next to the UPS facility, there is a small gravel parking lot which is near 27L. Good views of the 27L departures can be had. When you see fire training equipment that is the Gravel Lot right there.

Other Spotting Locations

Location

Locations to Avoid

Not any places to really avoid on the Philadelphia County side of the airport. Just don't park along the fence side at all. Tinicum Twp PD may have a problem with you parking down by 9R. So keep the time your there for a shot minimal and move on. Granted you sometimes can go a whole day without having problems. But if they do say move then don't give them any problems as there are some No Parking signs along this portion of the road. You can then move back to the Gravel Lot.

Regular Traffic

Domestic Carriers

Alaska Airlines B737-800, B737-900ER (4:30 arrival, 6-6:30 departure)
American Airlines A319, A321, A330-300, B737-800, B757-200, B767-300
American Eagle E170, E175, E190, DH8, CRJ-200, CRJ-700, CRJ-900 (hub city)
Delta Air Lines A320, B717-200, B737-800, B737-900, B757-200, MD-88, MD-90 (flights throughout day)
Delta Connection CRJ-200, CRJ-700, CRJ-900, ERJ-145 (flights throughout the day
Frontier Airlines A319, A320 (focus city)
JetBlue Airways A320, E190 (2x daily A320 service added)
Southwest Airlines B737-300, B737-700, B737-800 (throughout day)
Spirit Airlines A319, A320 (focus city)
United Airlines A319, A320, B737-800, B737-900 (numerous daily)
United Express CRJ-200, CRJ-700, ERJ-145 (numerous daily)

International Carriers

Air Canada Express E170, CRJ-200 (newly added YUL flight with Jazz CRJ-200s)
Apple Vacations operated by Sunwing B737-800 (seasonal)
Apple Vacations operated by Frontier A320 (seasonal)
British Airways B777-200ER (BA67 day and BA69 night), B787-9 (occasional)
Lufthansa Cityline A340-300 (all Star Alliance livery
Qatar Airways A350-900XWB (occasional), B777-200LR (5x weekly) B777-300ER (2x weekly)

Cargo Carriers

DHL operated by Kalitta Charters II B727-200F (weekdays at 7:30 AM, departs 11 PM)
FedEx Express A300-600, B757-200F, B767-300F, MD-11
UPS A300-600F, B757-200F, B767-300F, MD-11F (Only daytimes are MD-11 and 767-300)
UPS operated by Centurion and Atlas B747-400F and MD-11F (all Christmas seasonals)

Frequent Charters

NetJets Aviation C560, Dassault Falcons
Delta Air Lines B747-400, B757-300, B767-300ER (mostly during football seasonal)
Air Canada Jetz A320 (around hockey season)
Elan Express B727-200 (around baseball and basketball seasons)
Antonov Design Bureau An-124 (one or two monthly)
Volga-Dnepr An-124 and IL-76 (one monthly)

It is also worth getting soaked with rain while spotting because KPHL is notorious for getting all sorts of diversion gems ranging from Caribbean 737-800s to Lufthansa 747-8Is due to PHL's close proximity to JFK, EWR, BWI, and IAD!

NEW ADDITIONS:

Frontier Airlines has designated PHL as a focus city, mainly due to Cuba flights starting in 2017!
American Airlines flights from Miami and Zurich are now 767-300ER
Jetblue has added two FLL frequencies on the A320
Spirit Airlines has designated PHL to be a focus city!
Lufthansa Cityline took over PHL service and now operates 5x weekly A340s in Star Alliance c/s.
British Airways has put a B777-200ER on BA69 and puts an occasional B787-9 on BA67 (777-200 usually)
Qatar Airways is scheduled to make a return with the A350-900XWB in August
DHL operated by Kalitta Charters II has made a temporary swap to B727-200F for an undisclosed amount of time.