GLOBAL SPOTTING REPORTS
MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpar – March 2020
LANDSIDE
Known as KLIA and KLIA 2, its effectively like 2 airports with the majority of the Air Asia traffic using the new runway on the far side of their terminal.
There is a viewing area in the main terminal which allows views of the runway to the left and the central runway. Some stands on the satellite terminal can be seen. Movements can be seen on the Air Asia terminal but the distance and quality of the glass make them very difficult to read. If your happy to use SBS then you would be fine. The sides of the terminal and departures ramp allow some stands to be seen.
There is a train link to terminal 2 costing 2 ringit. Views are very poor from landside. Some stands can be seen to each side of the terminal but thats it. The terminal is effectively a shopping mall and has a supermarket for food and drink.
AIRSIDE
Main Terminal – From the satellite terminal windows allow all gates to be seen although it requires some walking. Its probably best to find a spot in the central area where most movements can be seen.
Air Asia Terminal – The bridge to the satellite terminal allows excellent views of a lot of the stands. Its possible to see some stands on terminal 1 and movements on the central runway. Its possible to read some stuff with a good pair of optics. Once inside the satellite terminal there are no views from the food and shopping area but its possible to walk back to the bridge. The gates are to either side of this area and require going through security so you can’t come back once you have gone through and therefore have no access to the bridge once at the gates. If you are flying from stands at the main part of the terminal you can still access the bridge and then come back and go through security for your gates.
HOTELS
Terminal 1 - Sama Sama hotel is connected to the main terminal aprox 10 mins walk from the viewing area. Not the cheapest but very convenient. Apparently some rooms have views of the approach if landing in that direction but not really needed with the viewing area.
Terminal 2 – Tune Hotel is connected via a walkway. Again there are views out to either side which would give you a view of arrivals or departures on 1 runway. There is a bar / restaurant and also a minimarket open 24/7.
WHAT TO EXPECT
A full day here is more than enough to get whats based although you may want to book a flight on Air Asia to see their stuff unless your happy with SBS. Very little other movements than Air Asia and Malaysian. Air Asia have a big departure rush between 615 to 8am but they should all return. Some are based elsewhere like Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bharu so don’t expect to see all of them.
Tip – Malaysian Institute of Aviation Training is about 20km away near the town of Dengkil.
They have a hanger and ramp area with several aircraft. I don’t know if its possible to arrange a visit. You are meant to stop and report to security but there is nothing to stop you driving onto the ramp, which I did as I only saw the small sign saying no visitors past this point as I drove past it. This fortunately gave me views of aircraft on the ramp but the hanger was closed. No one seemed to care I was there if they even saw me. I just took a couple of photos and turned around.
9M-MGG F50, a Handley Page J31 and an Unknown B737 200 reported to be PK-OCF or OCG are on the ramp. Inside the hangers I believe is an ex B727 fuselage of TWA and a couple of BAe 125s.
Kuala Lumpar Subang – March 2020
LANDSIDE
Worth the effort especially now Firefly and Malindo base there ATR’s there. You will need a car to make best use though. Its possible to get there by public transport but you won’t be able to get to the maintenance area or biz jets without a car, or get views of some of the parked aircraft. Driving is very easy, just take directions from google with you. It takes 45 mins to an hour. The airport is signposted most of the way from the main airport. By public transport, I believe there is a direct bus now. The terminal has a viewing area that allows you to see some of the stands and partial view of the runway. ATR’s start departing from around 630am and its possible to get some of them in the dark.
Turn right out of the terminal and take a walk up the road. You will find a grass verge, keep walking along this and you may get some views of a few parked aircraft.
To get views from the other side of the airport on the western side, you need to drive northbound along the dual carriageway, past the airport and take the next exit. From the exit follow the road around past the threshold of the runway. Its also possible to park up by the side of the runway here. Once on the other side turn left onto the main road which runs abeam the airport. Theres not many views but a couple of the small lanes lead down to the perimeter fence allowing some stuff parked outside the hangars to be read off. These are workplaces though and security asked me to leave one spot. I also explored driving around the south west part of the perimeter where one of the biz jet FBOs are located. No views whatsoever unfortunately.
From the terminal area, the maintenance area and one of the bizjet hangars are on the other side of the dual carriageway, on the eastern side and a mile down the road. From the terminal keep left and you can make a u turn onto the other side of the dual carriageway. There is no access into the maintenance area unless you can talk your way past security. Take your next available left and left again. Follow this around and you will come to the bizjet hangar.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
U3 Hotel is located just to the north of the airport not far from the perimeter road. Basic cheap hotel but did the job with a decent breakfast. My room had no windows but its possible that a room with windows would have views of the approach.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Firefly and Malindo ATR’s are based. Expect to see most of the fleet. There are several hangars in various places with aircraft either stored or on maintenance. There is also an FBO with several based biz. The lack of views from the perimeter makes this place frustrating as you know several things will be unreadable.
Kota Kinabalu – Sep 2011
LANDSIDE
No views from within the terminals. Air Asia have there own separate terminal on the opposite side of the field from the main terminal. The best place is near the beach and you need a car. If you were leaving the Air Asia terminal take a left at the main road and then left again following for the Police Air wing. Keep driving until you get views of the main terminal, you can park here by the side of the road.
AIRSIDE
The main terminal has limited views airside.
HOTELS
If you want a good place to stay then the Shangrila Rasa Ria resort 40 mins away is excellent but expensive. There is another Shangrila much closer to the airport but haven’t been there. No hotels at the airport itself.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Mas wings ATR’s are based here, along with a few Air Asia’s. 6 out of 10 ATR’s at the time could be seen each morning before the first departure at 645am. The remaining 4 can be seen at somepoint during the day and its worth trying to figure out which times they will be in by looking through the timetables on Flightstats. 3 other ATR’s start the day at Kuching. The next morning saw 4 repeats and 2 new ATR’s so they can be tricky to see all of them unless you spend the whole day or figure out what times the others come in.
