Bastia Poretta Airport - Spotting Guide

Bastia Poretta Airport – Spotting Guide

February 22, 2017 - last modified on November 17, 2023

Bastia Poretta Airport (BIA/LFKB) is located roughly 20km south of the city of Bastia at the eastern shore of the island of Corsica. The airport was opened during WW2 as military base, but was handed to civil usage shortly after the war ended and has experienced a significant increase of importance and traffic amount – also due to several extension and modernization works. The airport handles about 1,5 million passengers a year these days.
Bastia is (as all any other airport on Corsica) highly depending on the summer holiday season as it is a a seasonal charter flight destination. The busiest day in the summer season is always the saturday, where flights from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia and the UK arrive. On other days, there will be more domestic traffic, operated by Air France, HOP!, Volotea and last but not least Air Corsica – the local airline of the island. There are also a few scheduled cargo flights, which are all operated by ASL Airlines France. Sometimes French Air Force is flying some Touch and Go’s during their training sessions as Solenzara Air Base is nearby (just a bit down the eastern coast). In summer you may also see some firegihting CL415 flying out/in here at BIA.

Written by Severin Hackenberger in cooperation with Stephan Weidenhiller, Thibaud Schaller and Erik Loose. Last change: September 2023 (Spot 3 updated)

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
16/34	2520m / 8268ft
Terminals
T1	Only one terminal handling all passenger services.
Spotting Information
Ladder	Useful and recommended for spot #1 as well as spot #7.
Car/Public Transport	Car needed as soon as you wanna leave the spots in the south (both sides of the runway). These can be reached by foot quite quickly, the rest needs a car.
Drinks/Food	There are some facilities inside the terminal only.
Hotels	There are plenty on the island of Corsica but none directly here.
Season	Summer is way better regarding the amount of sunshine as well as the holiday charters. In winter you have only 2-3 various airlines here, in summer you can have up to 15-20 different a week.
Runway Usage
General Info	Single runway operations, 34 movements are more common though.

	Spot #1 – Parking – Line-up 34 + 16 Departure
WHERE	When coming from Bastia take the T20 with direction Poretta Airport and follow the signs to the Airport. When coming from the south on the T20 with direction to Bastia City, take the exit to Lucciana and then the second exit on the roundabout and follow the road until you reach the next roundabout, where you take the third exit. Then follow Road D107 to the Airport. Park your car directly in front of the terminal. You then have to walk 700m to reach the spot.

WHAT	You can take pictures of all aircraft taxiing to the holding point of Rwy 34, lining-up Rwy 34 or vacating at the end of Rwy 16. It’s also possible to spot Rwy 16 departures, as they are already in the air and also above the fence.

TIME	In summer from early afternoon to sunset

MISC.	Nothing nearby, bring everything you need with you. You need a ladder here as soon as you do not just wanna shoot 16 Departures, but also taxiway/34 movements.

FOCAL LENGTH	Rwy 16 Departures: 250 – 350 mm Taxiway/Runway: 70 – 200 mm

	Spot #2 – D107 West – 34 Arrivals
WHERE	Same as for Spot #3. You can also park your car alongside the street, but its on your own risk as its not an official parking area. On this spot you’ll stand directly next to a sometimes pretty busy road, so be aware. But beside of that you have a nice view on the approach path. The runway itself is not visible.

WHAT	You can take pictures of all aircraft approaching Rwy 34.

TIME	In summer from early afternoon to sunset

MISC.	Nothing nearby, bring everything you need with you.

FOCAL LENGTH	70–300mm

	Spot #3 – D107 East – 34 Arrivals
WHERE	From the airport take D107A tot he south. At the end oft he street turn lef on D107 to the east until you come to a junction where Bistro / Brasserie „A Canonica“ is located. Park at the beginning oft a gravel street/by the raodside. You can either stay at the junction (3A) or you continue by foot for approx. into a gravel road following the signs for historic monument „San Parteu“ church if you wanna get closer to the approach (3B). The gravel road is more quiet and you can then freely choose your desired angle. Those who walk from the airport can also take the parallel street that passes by the Cargo area to save a some metres. It is about 30 to 40mins from the terminal.

WHAT	You can take pictures of all aircraft approaching Rwy 34.

TIME	From sunrise till later morning/early noon.

MISC.	A small Bistro / Brasserie „A Canonica“ is at this location.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm Gulfstream: 125mm; ATR 72: 135mm, A320 90mm, A330-300 60mm

Taken from the junction:

Taken from the gravel road:

	Spot #4 – Field East – 16/34 movements
WHERE	From spot #3/D207, take an unnamed road to the north. Drive on this one for about 2km, pass some companies on your left. Once the street makes a right turn towards a company selling and horting building material, there will be some little concrete blocks on your left in the curve and a gate just behind the curve. Park your car behind the blocks here and now continue by foot to the north on a little bicycle path for only a bit more than 100m – then turn off to the left onto a field where you should see some little hills. Position yourself on them.

WHAT	From here you can nicely see all aircraft movements on runway 16/34.

TIME	From sunrise till later morning/early noon.

MISC.	Nothing nearby, heat haze can be an issue here in summer. There are some little hills around which allow you to clear the fence for the planes, however the foreground/bottom will still have some fence at some points. It’s a plain field, no shadow directly next to the spot here.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm B738 = 100mm

	Spot #5 – Bicycle path touchdown point – 16/34 movements
WHERE	Drive and park as described in the spot #4 above, but pass the little hills on your left aka spot #4 and continue north on the little bicycle path for about 400m. Then you should walk directly between the fence on your left and some bushes on your right. In there should be a little hill form where you can spot – exact position marked on the map. Total distance from the parking is ~600m, so a bicycle may be helpful here.

WHAT	From here you can nicely see all aircraft movements on runway 16/34.

TIME	From sunrise till later morning/early noon.

MISC.	Nothing nearby, heat haze can be an issue here in summer. There are some little hills around which allow you to clear the fence for the planes, however the foreground/bottom can still have some fence at some points.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm C160 on runway = 95mm / Corsica double = 70mm

	Spot #6 – Bicycle path short final – 16 Arrivals
WHERE	Same parking as for spot #4 and 5. Also start walking to the north on the bicycle path again, but pass spot #4 and 5 now. Continue till you even passed the runway’s end on your left and then just search your favourite position along/on the bicycle path in the short final area. Total distance from the parking is ~1,3km, so a bicycle may be helpful here.

WHAT	From here you can only spot 16 arrivals.

TIME	From sunrise till later morning/early noon.

MISC.	Nothing nearby, bring everything you need with you. Shadow can be found here thanks to the nearby trees.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm Avro = 150mm

	Spot #7 – Field West – 16/34 movements
WHERE	Take D207/Route de Carrorrotto to the end, a field’s edge. You can leave your car nearby here by the roadside (DO NOT PARK ON ANY PRIVATE FIELDS) and then just continue to the fence in the east, where you can freely position yourself along at. We are not pretty sure if this is private property here. There are no signs, we had no issues yet, but be prepared to be sent away.

WHAT	You can take pictures of all aircraft approaching Rwy 34.

TIME	From early afternoon to sunset.

MISC.	Nothing nearby, bring everything you need with you. A little stepladder 1-2 steps needed in order to clear the fence.

FOCAL LENGTH	100-400mm A320 departure = 140mm