Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport is the primary airport for Northeast Ohio, an area with an estimated 4 million people, and can be found roughly 17km southwest of the centre of Cleveland. CLE currently has flights to/from most every major US city, Canada, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The airport was a Continental hub until the United merger in 2010. Since then, Frontier has made Cleveland a focus city. The airport served just over 10 million passengers in 2019 and is thus among the 50 busiest US airports. It was opened back in 1925 and named after the former city manager William Rowland Hopkins.

Written by Severin Hackenberger in cooperation with Alex Crail, Davin Amy and William Noble. Last Update: Oct 2024 – Spot 1

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
06L/24R	2.743m (9.000ft) Concrete
06R/24L	3.043m (9.956ft) Concrete
10/28	1.834m (6.018ft) Asphalt/Concrete
Terminals
Concourse A	Allegiant Air, Frontier, Spirit, All international arrivals and charters
Concourse B	Delta, Delta Connection, Southwest
Concourse c	Air Canada Express, American, American Eagle, JetBlue, United, United Express
Concourse D	Vaccant since 2013
Spotting Information
Ladder	Needed at some spots (see detailed description), however only use it as little as possible/really needed to avoid problems and suspicious attention.
Car/Public Transport	Needed to get around. There is onlay a public transport from downtown to the terminal.
Drinks/Food	Terminal building (Fast food stores or pre-security shops), gas stations, Burger King
Hotels	Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel is nearby as well as other airport hotels, but none offers exclusive spotter views.
Season	Best spotting period is June-August, but late March till early November is generally good. Avoid December-Feburary for daytime spotting (minimal sunlight) and bad weather are typical these days.
Security	There should be no issues, but the danger of controls is always there. So genereally keep a low profile and your ID with you! Also, be respectful as many locations are on companies’ properties!
Runway Usage
General Info	Primary runways are 24R/24L/6R/6L. 10/28 is also used however very infrequently.
06L/24R	Used for all departures. Sometimes used for early morning or late night arrivals. Only exceptions are extremely high winds in the 10/28 direction or runway closure.
06L/24R	Used for all arrivals. Used for departures when 06R/24L is closed. Only exceptions are extremely high winds in the 10/28 direction or runway closure.
10/28	Seldom used due to short length. Only used when winds are 20+ knots in the runway heading or when both other runways are closed. Infrequently used by private aircraft to avoid long taxis.

	Spot #1 – Heartfield parking lot – 06L/24R + 06R/24L Movements
WHERE	This spot can be found west of the airport area in the parking lot of a company called “Heartland payroll solutions”. The spot is located at the parking’s southeastern most corner and can easily be reached from Aerospace Pkwy once it turns away from the airport’s perimeter fence to the north. Use “2001 Aerospace Pkwy, Brook Park, OH 44142” in your gps to reach this spot. You can positions yourself around the lot and closer to the fence for different angels. Update Oct 2024: The owner don’t wanna see spotters on his property anymore. “No Trespassing” signs along the interior perimeter of the property parking lot and the driveway entrance has been installed.
WHAT	This spot is best for runway 06L/R as well as 24L/R operations. No ladder needed as this location gets you above a fence and you have a clear line of sight with no obstructions of the aircraft.
TIME	Summer time is best for this location. After 5pm is best till sunset. In winter the sun don`t really comes over on this side.
MISC.	Try not to park near the building as they have workers who come and go at all times of the day.
FOCAL LENGTH	50-300mm B763 = 70mm / 737 =190mm

	Spot #2 – Mazzella Parking lot – 06/24 Movements
WHERE	South of the airport you will find another company along Aerospace Pkwy from which parking lot you can take nice pictures again. Head for Mazella Lifting company or use “21000 Aerospace Pkwy, Cleveland, OH 44142” in your gps to reach the spot, which can be found at the backside of the facility to be exact in their parking area there.
WHAT	This location is useable during either 06 or 24 opeartions generally. You can see runway movements as well as vacating/taxiing aircraft.
TIME	Sunrise till early noon.
MISC.	This spot however is useable during weekends only. They run a business Monday-Friday and it’s super busy but at weekends they don’t care. So please only use this spot on weekends as that is what the business has asked! You will also want to bring a ladder to this location as a fence is quite high unless you can shoot through it.
FOCAL LENGTH	100-400mm

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	Spot #3 – Postal Road – International/Charter ramp
WHERE	Turn off Berea Fwy into Postal Rd south of the airport’s cargo/industry area. Keep heading northbound on Postal Rd then till you reach a little gate on your left just on the opposite side of the UPS facilities. You can stop your car there quickly, make your shots and leave again. If you miss the spot by our description here, use “5801 Postal Rd, Cleveland, OH 44135” for your gps.
WHAT	At this location you will have the opportunity to photograph any large international aircraft or charter flights. They will park these aircraft on the old deice pad and most will stay a few days. This spot gets shut down however if Air Force One comes to town.
TIME	Sunrise till noon.
MISC.	A ladder is reuired for this spot but try not to hang around for longer than 30 min to one hour. As stated before, this spot gets shut down if Air Force one comes to town or any other high ranking official.
FOCAL LENGTH	24-200mm works best. There are 5 parking spots and sometimes a cargo DC-9 at spot 5 is hard to reach with 200 and may require something slightly larger.

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	Spot #4 – Postal road south – Cargo ramp
WHERE	Just once you turned off Berea Fwy onto Postal Rd, the road will make a right turn and continue northwards. You have already reached the spot then after the mentioned curve as it is located along the fence on your right on the meadow simply. Park your car on the side of the road/grass, take your shot and leave.
WHAT	At this spot you will see the cargo ramp. You can see a wide variety of planes from CRJ200F to a DC-9F. BerryAviation EMB-120F are often present at this location.
TIME	Sunrise till later morning.
MISC.	Police patrols this area and often sits/is present in the parking lot accorss the street. This spot should be used as a grab and go spot where you get your photo and bail after. Do not linger around at this spot!
FOCAL LENGTH	18-70mm works best at this spot however a 200mm might be helpful depending what spot along the fence you are at.

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	Spot #5 – Long Term Parking Lot roof – Apron + 06L/R Departures + 24L/R Arrivals
WHERE	A few meters east of the airport terminal and the driveway you will find the airport’s major parking garage. This spot is located on its upper floors, it is as simply as this. Use the “Smart Parking Garage, Cleveland, OH 44135” in your gps to reach the spot and make your way up to the top, there you go already!
WHAT	This spot will give you a great overview of many terminals. You can use this spot for great terminal D shots if planes are parked there or good shots of the even number gates at terminal C. You will also get a good view of departures if runway 06L/R are in use as well as arrivals if 24L/R are in use. This gives the chance to get the NASA building in the background of heavier aircraft.
TIME	Sunrise to about later noon works best here. Heat haze is also a facor you might have to worry about on the warmer days.
MISC.	This is an airport parking lot so plan to spend $5 per hour with a daily max of $20. Also Security might come and see what you are up too but they should be fine and leave asking a few basic questions. During the winter the roof often gets shut down due to snow so park one floor below and take the stairs up to the top.
FOCAL LENGTH	A focal length of 400mm or greater will certainly be helpful at this location.

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	Spot #6 – Brookpark Rd – 24R/L Arrivals
WHERE	Northwest of the airport you will find a sort of aviation restaurant with two aircraft displayed in front. Simply turn off Brookpark Rd into Old Grayton Rd and just enter the parking on your right then. You can directly shoot from there or from the restaurant’s terrace. If you miss the location, use “4960 Old Grayton Rd, Cleveland, OH 44135” in your gps.
WHAT	From here you can nicely see all 24R/L arrivals.
TIME	Summer time is best for this location. After 5pm is best till sunset. In winter the sun don`t really comes over on this side. Heat haze can be bad in the summer especially as a street is between the runway axis and this spot producing lot of heat.
MISC.	There is nothing around, so bring everything. Keep a low profile here as you stand along/close to a busy street and some suspicious drivers otherwise may call the cops/security.
FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm should work here nicely

Unluckily we cannot provide any example pictures yet, but the spots itsself looks like this: