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 | [ ] |
| Overview map | [ ] |
| 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 parking lot of the new airport terminal but there is still a part 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 to be used as parking space. 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 when you have reached the top of this hill 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 park their cars here to watch aircraft arriving and departing.
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 as it is far 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. The disadvantage is that it is not always safe here I was told. It is also a bit messy so when walking up the hill you will have to walk over the garbage unfortunately. A good thing about this location however, is that aircraft can fly right over your head before arrival if you're lucky. This doesn't happen very often but when it does, it can be nice to see and photograph.
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 you are at the right spot when you see the Aerodrome building.
As mentioned above, you must have at least a 300mm lense from this location to get nice shots of widebody aircraft taking off or arriving.
Runway Shots
Like many other airports we also have locations near the runway for aircraft photography. The biggest disadvantage is that airport security will send you away when they see you as it is near the runway. Another disadvantage is the road that takes you there. The road is unpaved and made of what used to be corals cliffs. But once you have reached the beginning of the runway, the road is made of sand which is much better. Here you can stop on the side of the road for overflying aircraft. Even so, if you are lucky you can take very nice photos from this location (beginning of the runway). So it is preferred that you know when the aircraft come in when photographing from this location as it will allow you to photograph and go away afterwards. The advantage from this location is that you don't necessarily need a 200-300mm lense as aircraft fly right over your head. 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.
- Airliners.net sample photo: medium large
- Airliners.net sample photo: medium large
- PlanePictures.net sample photo: large
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.
Locations to Avoid
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)
- American Eagle (ATR72)
- Continental Airlines (737-700/-800)
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (747-400, MD11 as per March 2007)
- Martinair (767-300ER)
- Arkefly (TUI Group) (767-300ER)
- Avianca Colombia (MD83, F100)
- Aeropostal Venezuela (MD82/83, DC-9)
- Avior Airlines (737-200, Beech 1900D)
- Aserca Airlines (DC-9-30)
- Caribbean Star Airlines (Dash-8-300)
- Dutch Antilles Express (F100, ATR42)
- Insel Air (EMB110)
- Surinam Airways (MD82)
- Tiara Air (Shorts 360)
- E-Liner (Piper 31 Navajo)
- Divi divi Air (Britten Norman Islander)
CHARTER AIRLINES:
- Skyservice (Sunquest) (757-200, A320/319)
- TAME Ecuador (A320)
- Apple Vacations (757-200 on occasion)
- Rutaca Venezuela (737-200)
- TAP Air Portugal (A310-300 twice a year)
- Falcon Air (727-200)
CARGO:
- Cargolux (744F fuel stop only)
- Lineas Aereas Suramericanas (727-100F, DC-9-15F)
- Amerijet International (727-200F)
- Solar Air Cargo (AN-26)
- Corporate Air (EMB120F)
- DHL (727-200F/-100F)
- FedEx (ATR72F/42F)