East Midlands Airport
| Continent: Europe | Country: United Kingdom | Region: England |
| Nottingham East Midlands Airport | |
| Location | Derby, England |
| IATA code | EMA |
| ICAO code | EGNX |
| Airport type | Commercial |
| Website | http://www.nottinghamema.com |
| Overview map | [ ] |
| Communications | |
| Tower | 124.00 |
| Ground | 121.90 |
| Clearance | n/a |
| Approach | 134.175 |
| Departure | 134.175 |
| ATIS | 128.225 |
Official Spotting Locations
The only official location is the viewing park. Drive past the airport on the A453 with the entrance on your right. You will come to a roundabout. Continue straight ahead, then turn right at the traffic lights. You will pass Donington Park on your left, then continue through the 09 approach lights. You will then come to another roundabout. Take the second exit, the viewing park is straight ahead.
There is a mound that lifts you above the fence to view arrivals on 09, however you are south facing so into sun. There is also an admission fee to the viewing park.
Location
Other Spotting Locations
Runway 09 end
Diseworth Lane
By far the most popular location to view aircraft. This spot offers good views of arrivals on runway 09, as well as an overview of the DHL ramp and main apron. Departures from 27 are normally airborne by the time they reach this spot. Landings on 27 normally turn off just before so you can read them off. You are facing into sun however so photography isn't great.
Drive along the A453 with the entrance to the airport on your right. You will come to a roundabout - continue straight on. At the traffic lights turn right towards Castle Donington. You will follow the road through the approach lights to a roundabout with the viewing park ahead. Turn left and proceed down the hill. After approx. 500 yards there is a pub on the right. At the side of the pub is Diseworth Lane. Drive along this road and you will come to a crash gate. There are normally cars parked either side at the end so you know you're in the right place.
Runway 27 end
From the Moto service station, take the A453 towards Nottingham. You will head down the dual carriageway and through the approach lights of runway 27. Immediately after the approach lights there is a turning on the left. Take this turning and you will come to a crash gate with parking.
From here you can stay here (although you are into sun and quite a distance away), or head to one of two spots at the 27 end.
The Mound
Walk back towards the A453, shortly before the hedge there is a stile on your right. Cross this and walk along the footpath, keeping to the airport fence. Leave the footpath and follow the fence alongside the runway. You will come to a mound. This mound offers good views of landings and departures from runway 27. It is a good angle for photography of arrivals, and departures hold short right in front of you. With a set of steps you are above fence height.
Warning - although this is great for photography, security are sometimes a little keen here. If you are asked to move on do so immediately. If you don't move when asked they will send the police around to move you on forcefully. Please don't jeapordise viewing opportunities even further by ignoring them or getting defensive.
A453
Leave your car parked and walk back to the A453. Turn right back towards the approach lights, and climb the bank. Walk through the approach lights onto the old disused road. You can get great landing shots on runway 27 here, but you can't see anything else as there is a huge hedge between you and the airport.
Locations to Avoid
Location
Regular Traffic
Passenger
Lots of easyJet A319s, Ryanair B737-800s and bmibaby 737s. After that, there are the usual UK charters, for example Thomson 757s, First Choice A321s etc.
Freight
East Midlands is the UK's largest freight operation. DHL have a base here on the western apron, containing DHL (European Air Transport/DHL Air) 757s and DHL (European Air Transport) A300s. There is a nightly Lufthansa Cargo MD11, and a weekly Kalitta Air 747 on a Saturday.
There are daily UPS 767s and Maersk Air 767s that utilise the eastern apron.
There are two Antonov AN-12s based at the airport, operating ad-hoc charters.
The airport sees regular heavy cargo flights for local company Rolls Royce. AN-124s are a common sight (several times a week) transporting engines to Toulouse.