Taupo Airport - Spotting Guide

Taupo Airport – Spotting Guide

June 19, 2020 - last modified on April 3, 2024

Taupo airport (TUO/(NZAP) is a small airport at the lake Taupo. The airport offers regulars pax services flown by Air Newzealand to Auckland and Sounds Air to Wellington.

The airport’s website can provide the weather updates and the scheduling of flights.

General Information
Terminal	There is one small terminal handling all operations, but it is only opened during flight operations.
Runway	There has two runways but only 17/35 is asphalted. The other one is a grass strip.

	Fence front/Terminal – Apron + 17/35 Movements
WHERE	To reach the location from the Volcanic Loop Highway, take the ANZAC Memorial Drive. Continue on the drive till you reach the main terminal here and park there (up to 2h it is free). Then you can go to the marked position at the fence front between the car rentals down south or once there are arrivals/departures, the terminal opens – then you can go into the terminal and also shoot the ramp from there.

WHAT	From the fence you can see the nearby apron as well as runway 17/35. The terminal offers more views onto the apron.

TIME	Depends a bit on what to photograph but best time is in the afternoon until sunset.

MISC.	For the fence/gate in the south a small ladder with 1-2 steps would be useful. In the terminal you will shoot thru tinted glass, be aware of that! Everything you need is inside the nearby terminal which only is opened during flight operations though. There are some picnic tables to sit down and relax. The heat haze might be an issue if you want to shoot planes on the runway during sunny days.

FOCAL LENGTH	25-300mm Dash8-300 on runway = 140mm / PC12 from terminal = 25mm

Fence:

Terminal:

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