Long Beach Airport is the fifth busiest airport with commercial pax traffic within the Los Angeles region and welcomed 3.6 Mio. passengers in 2019. The airport was until 2006 a plant for Boeing (formerly McDonell Douglas) with assembly lines for types like the DC-10, MD-11, MD90, C-17 and 717. Just a maintenance line for the C-17 survived.

LGB was used to be a focus city for JetBlue before they moved all operations to LAX in November 2020. Southwest is now the biggest player at LGB besides, Delta, American and Hawaiian. The only cargo operator is UPS with flights to Louisville. General Aviation and Business flights are responisble for the vast majority of the movements. Here is based the Catalina Flying Boat, an airline with a couple of Caravans that’s makes cargo flights from here to Catalina Island, you might find them parked near the road on the western part of the hangars (you can zoom on the map and find them).

Written by Tombarelli Federico and Jan Seba. Last Update: January 2021

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
12/30	3.048 m (10.000 ft) Asphalt
08L/26R	1.887 m (6.192 ft) Asphalt
08R/26L	1.194 m (3.918 ft) Asphalt
Terminals
North Concourse	American, Hawaiian
South Concourse	Southwest, Delta
Airport Chart
Spotting Information
Ladder	At both locations a ladder or rooftop of a car is needed. We recommend latter. If you use a ladder for a longer period please call the Long Beach Airport Public Affairs office which can be reached M-F 7:30-4:30 PST at (562) 570-2678.
Car/Public Transport	Absolutely needed.
Restrooms	Nothing directly at the locations but there are plenty of hotels and restaurants around the loctions.
Drinks/Food	Plenty of fast food restaurants are not far from the spots.
Hotels	Both, the Long Beach Marriott and the Holiday Inn Long Beach Airport offering nice views of runway 30 arrivals from their rooms.
Season	Try to avoid the hot summer days.
Runway Usage
12/30	Major runway for all pax, cargo and business jets flights. 90% of the time 30 is active.
08L/26R	Only used by small props.
08R/26L	Only used by small props.

	Spot #1 – Parking Lot – 30 line up and arrivals
WHERE	This location is inside the wide parking lot behind the Vanguard Logistics. It’s extremely easy  to reach, just follow Clark Ave, turn into Airport Plaza Dr and instantly turn left into the parkings between the buildings. Here just reach the fence and choose the better angle you desire.
WHAT	Line-ups are just perfect, sadly the arrivals are quite high. What’s parked to your same side of the airport will taxi on the closer taxiway, the other coming from the West side will taxi on the further but still line-up good in front of you (Cessna/Gulfstream below).
TIME	Sunrise to 9-10am
MISC.	You MUST have a car (better if pick-up style to climb better) or a ladder. In the Maps images you will see an elevated parking; on top of it there is a wall and you still need something to get over it. A lot of employees parked near us and no one cared about what we were doing, anyway keep low profile, clean and be polite, you are in some industries property. Food and restrooms all around you in Clark Ave.
FOCAL LENGTH	A321N = 90mm; Cessna = 300mm; Landing A320 = 120mm

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	Spot #2 – Office Complex – 30 arrivals and departures
WHERE	This location is on the opposite side of #1, at the parking lot of a huge office complex. Access is from the Kilroy Airport Way. Once entered just drive till the perimeter fence at the easternmost corner of the office parking and find your prefered postion along the fence. We recommend to use the rooftop of your car to clear the fence or a ladder. If you plan a longer stay please call Long Beach Airport Public Affairs office wich can be reached M-F 7:30-4:30 PST at (562) 570-2678. Shooting through the mesh will be tricky as the planes moving fast.
WHAT	All arrivals and departures on runway 30 as well as movement on the two taxiways, the closer one mainly with GA traffic.
TIME	From afternoon until sunset all year long.
MISC.	It is a well know location for local spotters and people who just wanna watch the traffic from there. We have no reports about security checks.
FOCAL LENGTH	Arrivals: 763 = 50mm; CRJ = 100mm Taxiway: A320 = 150mm

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