Belfast International Airport

Continent: Europe

Belfast International Airport (Aldergrove)
Location	Belfast, Northern Ireland
IATA code	BFS
ICAO code	EGAA
Airport type	Mixed-Use Commercial
Website	[www.belfastairport.com www.belfastairport.com]
Overview map	[ ]
Communications
Tower	118.3
Ground	121.75
Clearance
Approach	128.5
ATIS	128.2

Official Spotting Locations

Terminal Viewing Facility

The international airport in Belfast has a dedicated viewing facility within the terminal. Entrance is free. Views are relatively good across the active passenger apron and onto runway 25/07. However, the freight ramp is hidden behind the international arrival pier. Photographs from the viewing lounge can be reasonable but you will have to avoid the grubby windows as the gallery is completely enclosed!

Also landside, there are limited views from the bar area in the terminal towards the GA ramp and biz jet parking. You also get a view of one or two of the Easyjet stands that are out of site of the viewing gallery.

Airside - there are limited views from the windows beside the "Rankin" cafe. You can see the international pier and a section of the main runway 25. Most lounges have views of some sort with the best being from the international departure gates. The Easyjet lounge (the old BA lounge) also has reasonable views although it can be very busy.

Other Spotting Locations

Runway 25 Approach

On approach to runway 25 there are a few places where photos are possible. 25 is the most commonly used runway.

Upon exiting the airport, follow the main road towards Belfast which runs parallel to runway 25. You will come to a lay-by on the left hand side after about 1/3 mile. This is level with the end of runway 25 and you can see the threshold. Unfortunately you are also looking south so the sun can be a problem. There is a disused road here which used to be the main road to the airport from the south of the province, but during Northern Ireland's "darker" times it was closed for security reasons. People can be seen walking here so there is no real problem going through the barrier (However be careful about leaving your car unattended).

If you continue another 1/4 mile on along the road towards Belfast you will pass a bar/guesthouse up off the road on the right side. Shortly after this there is a small road to the right which runs between the landing lights. There is a no-stopping zone directly under the approach but if you drive towards the church at the far end (Killead Church), you can pull in and take reasonably good air-shots on finals at the gate opposite the church hall. If the sun is out, especially in winter, this can produce some nice shots with a 300mm lens.

If you turn left at the church (away from the airport), after another 300yards you will see the main road from Nutts Corner to Antrim. Just before this there is a road on the left leading up to some houses and a furniture business. It's a public road and you may pull in here. The council have even provided litter bins! You get decent views of aircraft on short finals although photos aren't great as you are a bit "underneath". You used to be able to see the threshold of 25 about 1/2 mile away but the hedge has grown up too high now.

There are other spots along the main road to Templepatrick/Belfast, but obviously the further away you go from the airport, the higher the aircraft are.

If you want to see the freight apron, turn left out of the front door of the airport and walk towards the holiday (long-stay) car park. Once at the car-park entrance turn left and walk down to the airfield gate past the car hire outlets. You can take the car here as well but only for a brief stop as there is no parking. There are views of the aircraft on the freight ramp but no chance of photos due to the double set of chain-link fencing. You may also want to walk into the long-stay car park to get a different view onto the freight ramp.

Locations to Avoid

Southern Perimeter/RAF Camp

Avoid the road on the south side of the airport leading to the RAF camp. There are security cameras mounted along here and anything more than a 10 second stop is likely to result in you being stopped by the military. The "south side" of the airport in general is out of bounds unless you have permission from someone within the RAF camp. If runway 35 is in use (not often) do not be tempted to locate a spot near the threshold as this is well within the unofficial security zone for the RAF site.

Security is reasonably tight around the perimeter in general and you might be stopped by either airport police (most common), PSNI (Northern Ireland police force) or British Army. The airport police are fine if you explain what you are doing. They might even offer some advice! The PSNI and army are less regular visitors but you would undoubtedly run into them if you stopped anywhere around the south side of the airport. The locations on approach to 25 are fine as long as you adhere to the signage, you shouldn't have any bother.

Regular Traffic

Movements are dominated by Easyjet, BMi Baby and Jet2 although My Travel and First Choice usually have a based A320 or A321. Continental Airlines has a daily flight to Newark throughout the summer which reduces to 4 or 5 days per week in the winter schedule.

Summer charters operators include Futura, Air Europa, LTE, Air Transat, Zoom, and Monarch.

Military movements are dominated by based helicopters (gazelles, pumas etc) with occasional influxes of RAF Hercules/VC10/Tristar troop carriers.

Facilities and Transportation

Ulsterbus run a bus to Belfast City Centre (Europa Bus Centre) every thirty minutes from the front of the terminal. Service number is 300 and the journey takes about 30 minutes. You can get a connecting minibus from Europa Bus Centre to Belfast City Airport, again departures every thirty minutes, journey time is about 10 minutes.