Antwerp International Airport Spotting Guide

Antwerp International Airport Spotting Guide

March 31, 2020 - last modified on November 17, 2023

Antwerp International Airport (ANR EBAW) is a small, but international airport situated in the north of Belgium close to the city of Antwerp. At this moment there are 2 airlines which operate to and from ANR, TUI belgium flying the Embraer E190 and Air Antwerp using the rare Fokker 50. During the 2019 summer months (July, August and September) Antwerp served 101.069 passengers. Although there isn’t much airline variety a lot of bizjets visit the airport everyday. On the homepage of the Antwerp Airport website you can find a pax flight schedule https://www.luchthaven-antwerpen.com/

The nearby Stampe & Vertongen Aviation Museum organize the “Antwerp Stampe Fly In” once a year. More infos at their website.

Written by Wout Goossens and update spot 3 by Robin Bamps. Last Update: November 2020

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
11/29	1.510 m x 45 m
Terminals	One terminal for all flights.
Spotting Information
Ladder	A ladder is needed at spots 2, 3 and 4
Car/Public Transport	A car can be handy but is not needed as Mortsel train station is 10′ walking minutes away and there are plenty of buses serving the airport
Restrooms	Can be found in the Terminal building
Drinks/Food	There are plenty of restaurants and supermarkets in the area
Hotels	Hotels are widely available in the city of Antwerp
Season	Winters are very cold, in summer very hot but spring and autumn has comfortable weather.
Security	There are no problems with police around the airport.
Runway Usage
General Info	29 is the main runway at Antwerp and is used most of the time. 11 is used less and only when the wind is coming from the East

	Spot #1 – The Mushroom – Most runway + close apron/taxiway movements
WHERE	The spot is located in a little park behind the Stampe and verthonge museum. Drive to the airport and park on the official parking. Here you have plenty of parking space. To go to the spot you will have to look for the Stampe and Vertonge museum and follow the path past the museum all the way to the back. Then climb up the little “hill” there in order to be elevated.

WHAT	Runway 11 landings and lineup / Runway 29 landings vacating taxiway, departures on rotation and climbout.

TIME	All year round from midday till sunset.

MISC.	Foods and drinks are available at the ALDI supermarket, 5minutes away, restrooms can be found in the airport terminal. No ladder needed (if you are tall enough) as you are standing on a little mound clearing your view.

FOCAL LENGTH	200mm for a Fokker 50 landing on runway 11 / 250 for climbout on 29

You are suppossed to take the pictures from the below marked “hillrow” (source: Google):

	Spot #2 – Aviation society of Antwerp window – Apron parts
WHERE	This spot is located inside the terminal building. When you enter the terminal go right towards the restrooms. Then you will see a blue door. Go through the blue door and up the stairs. When coming up the stairs you will see a window on your left. From this window you can see part of the apron.

WHAT	Apron movements only.

TIME	From 1300 till 2000.

MISC.	Window can be dirty. As you aren’t in the passengerterminal anymore please be quite and keep a low profile. The Aviation Society of Antwerp vzw was founded in 1972 under the name of Delta Fan Club. The first members were mainly interested in Antwerp airport. Over the years, the interest turned also towards the more national aviation scene. By 1977, a change of name became necessary, but as we did not want to lose our link with Antwerp airport, our base, we chose for Aviation Society of Antwerp. At present, ASA has around 500 members and is the largest society of its kind in Belgium. Anyone who is interested in aviation in general and the Belgian aviation scene in particular, is welcomed as a member. Not only non-flying members, but pilots and plane owners are also to be found among our members. If you have questions or you are looking for information on certain planes, then ASA is the place to be. We have our own ‘clubhouse’ at the Jero Business Center at Antwerp Airport. This is open to our members on Saturday afternoons between 2pm and 6pm. You will find an extensive library with books and magazines. Or, if you rather like to chat, there are always plenty of other aviation enthousiast to talk with over a beer or softdrink. Tel. +32 3 230 27 31.

FOCAL LENGTH	55mm for Chalair beech

	Spot #3 – Indigo parking – General aviation line-up/apron
WHERE	This spot is located on an Indigo car park. Luchthavenlei 10, 2011 Antwerpen. From the terminal take the road to the hangars and at the fork in the road keep right and follow signs to economy parking. It is a paid parking (at least first 15 minutes are FREE) but there are free parking areas near the terminal as you can park outside the barriers at the terminal or in the nearby area – at least for short periods, not hours.

WHAT	When you are lucky you can see some nice biz jets parked on the apron or aircraft taxiing on twy “K” in both directions (only bizjets and light aircraft, max wingspan 29m) note that the lighting is good from late morning till early afternoon, same for parked bizjets on the apron. Also Aircraft taxiing on twy B when rwy 29 is in use (airliners as well, but any airliner exceeding wingspan 29m will backtrack over the rwy) note that lighting is good from lunchtime onwards (same orientation as spot 1).

TIME	In summer from 0900 – 1100 In winter from sunrise – 1100

MISC.	This is an operational car park so please be careful while spotting / driving to not damage other peoples car. Also note a stepladder is mandatory for all shots.

FOCAL LENGTH	Taxiway “K” : PA28 =180mm (crop) Taxiway “B”: F50 = 100mm (crop) GA Apron : HA4T = 190mm (crop)

	Spot #4 – Fenceside – 29 Line-up and Arrivals
WHERE	Near the tunnel on the Krijgsbaan going from Mortsel to Borsbeek. The parking situation directly at this location changes from time to time. Safest place is to leave the car at the south of the tunnel entrance at the sport club marked on the map.

WHAT	Line-up and backtrack movement aswell as landings for runway 29 – as well as vacators after landing on tunway 11.

TIME	Summer: for line-up backtrack from sunrise till midday, landings from early midday till late afternoon; Winter: all day.

MISC.	Ladder is needed for line-up/taxiway photos only. This spot has become quite tricky to park nearby so please be carefull where you leave your car. Closest parking possibilities are “far away” now, so it takes some time to get here.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-200mm 130mm for the Hawker bizzjet

	Spot #5 – Vliegfeldweg – 29 Line-up and Arrivals
WHERE	This spot is just on the other side of the tunnel where it comes out again of the ground. Spot is located southeast of the entrance where Vliegfeldweg ends up in the “turn around u-loop”.

WHAT	Runway 29 arrivals and Line-ups onto runway 29 as well as vacators after landing on tunway 11.

TIME	In summer between Sunrise and early morning and between late evening and sunset.

MISC.	No ladder needed until you are only here for arrivals – you can shoot line-ups with a ladder. This spot has become quite tricky to park so please be carefull where you leave your car – rather just come here for a short time for one/two movements to avoid problems.

FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm 125mm for a Zimex ATR