GLOBAL SPOTTING REPORTS
SWEDEN
Stockholm Arlanda – Jul 2019
LANDSIDE
Terminal 3 – Commuter terminal has good views of T2, Some of T4 and Cargo. Most stuff taxied past here except for some stuff on T5 – International, which went the other way for departure.
Terminal 4 / Sky Plaza – Views of some T4 stands and some T5 stands.
Terminal 5 – Café upstairs has views over some gates.
Depending on the runway configuration could depend on the best place to be. If they are using the runway behind the terminals for departure then there are two ways to taxi so you can miss stuff.
There are some hanger areas with a few stored CRJs, 2 Caravelles and an MD80 but they can’t be seen from the terminal area. If you use the runway alongside then a left seat for arrival and right for departure would help.
If you have a car its possible to drive around the perimeter and find various views and explore the hanger areas.
The best spots are probably the viewing areas. Marked as Arlanda Utsiktsplats on google maps. There are two of them either side of the lake. The western one is best. I could see all arrivals and departures from here with great views. It would be possible to walk from the terminal.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
There is a B747 here used as a hotel. Jumbo Stay Hotel. Excellent views of T2 and Cargo and the main taxiway for the runway behind. Everything was departing from this runway and arrivals could be seen in the distance. They have seating on the wing from which provides great views and you don’t have to stay at the hotel to use it. There are refreshments available. Rooms have views albeit blurry 747 windows. Really enjoyed staying here. Nice rooms and facilities with shuttle to the airport.
The Clarion Hotel next to the terminal may provide views but is likely to be very expensive.
I also stayed in the city on the river. A couple of old boats have been turned into hotels. I stayed at Rygerfjord which is a close walk to the tourist areas. If you hire a car there is easy and reasonably priced parking outside the hotel and its easy to get to the airports from here. This is right on the approach path for Bromma and all arrivals can be read off. I’ve never seen them land from the other direction here. They have 3 boats and the second boat had rooms facing this direction. The main boat also has a terrace and bar from which you can view everything. Many arrivals into Arlanda could also be seen but you would need sbs for them.
WHAT TO EXPECT
SAS and Norwegian B737’s account for a lot of the flights. SAS base there G- ATRs here along with several CRJ900s. Otherwise nothing of great interest here. Half a day would get most of whats based . The SAS fleet do gradually rotate between Copenhagen and Oslo so the occasional new ones can be seen.
Stockholm Bromma – Jul 2019
LANDSIDE
None within the terminal. Turn right out of the terminal and walk up the hill for a viewing area and views of the runway.
Best Western hotel a few minutes walk away. Go to floor 6 and look out of the windows for excellent views of most stands and the runway.
If you carry on past the viewing area there is a biz jet centre. There is also another biz centre on the other side and not visible from here. You need to drive around the perimeter to see these. On leaving the airport turn left onto the main highway. It turns into more of a motorway and you need to get of at a junction when it looks like you need to make a left towards some hangers.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
Best Western hotel has fantastic views. The cheap rooms don’t have a view, just a small roof window. If your room dosent have a view there are full size window views over the field from the top floor. They even provide coffee facilities for you.
I stayed in the city on the river. A couple of old boats have been turned into hotels. I stayed at Rygerfjord which is a close walk to the tourist areas. If you hire a car there is easy and reasonably priced parking outside the hotel and its easy to get to the airports from here. This is right on the approach path for Bromma and all arrivals can be read off. I’ve never seen them land from the other direction here. They have 3 boats and the second boat had rooms facing this direction. The main boat also has a terrace and bar from which you can view everything. Many arrivals into Arlanda could also be seen but you would need sbs for them.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Nowhere near as busy as it used to be and apart from a Finnair ATR the only airline is BRA. A morning burst will get most of them.
However best not to go in July as half the country goes on holiday and schedules are halved. Some of their aircraft where parked up elsewhere or chartered to other airlines.
Stockholm Nykoping / Skavsta – Jul 2019
LANDSIDE
Located about an hours drive south west of Stockholm on the same motorway that leads to Gothenburg, Malmo, Copenhagen etc. The price of public transportation in this country is obscene so be advised if you choose to take a cheap Ryanair flight here, it will probably cost you a whole lot more just to get to Stockholm, and then you will have to catch another bus to the other airports for another obscene price.
There is a very nice viewing area here. Go past the Saab hangers and carry on straight ahead towards the
WHAT TO EXPECT
Traffic is very slow here with Ryanair and Wizzair operating a few flights a day. However you may want to pay a visit for two Saabs located in the Flygtechnik hanger. This is a small hanger nearest to the terminal. To see them you need to get to the other side of the Saab hangers opposite and hope the doors are open, so you should probably go on a weekday during working hours. SE-ISA S340 and SE-002 S2000 both in full Saab cls. Note I saw these in 2012 so not sure if they are still here. There was a coastguard DHC8 parked outside and another inside the Saab hanger along with several smaller types. You can see through the windows and get most stuff.
Sweden Other Airports - Jul 2019
Orebro – Maintenance and storage of Saabs and ATPs. If you look at google earth you will find as well as the main terminal and hanger area there are aircraft parked up at either end of the airport. As you approach the airport you need to take a right turn up a dirt track to get views of the northern end. Once at the terminal area you then need to take another dirt road through the forest for a while and then take a right turn to get views of the others. I logged 29 here.
Ljungbyhed – A special visit for former Swedish Air Force Gulfstream SE-064. This now lives inside Flygteknikcenters hanger. The hanger was fenced off and the facility closed but fortunately it could be seen through a large window.
Sweden Other Airports – May 2012
Sweden has a lot of other airports and several are located on the journey from Stockholm to Copenhagen. There is an optional detour via Trollhatten and Gothenburg should you want to visit these. In terms of passenger flights they are all very quiet and generally operate flights only to Stockholm so chances are you won’t need anything, if you see anything at all. The main reason for doing the drive is to see several derelict Saabs along the way. Not to mention all the fighters on poles which appears to be a favourite pastime if your into these.
Take lots of money, slightly less expensive than Norway. Saying that they are becoming very automised on credit cards and you can actually survive without cash. Everything cost so much you cant buy anything with change anyway. When I crossed into Denmark I had no Danish Money. Just used my credit card for everthing.
If your renting a car be sure to find out if your car can take E85, which being a rental car it should. Its only 70% of the price of unleaded.
Norrkoping – Next stop after Stockholm Skavsta. SE-RBE and SE-RDR M80’s are derelict here.
Linkoping – see report
Jonkoping – Nothing here
After Jonkoping you have an option of continuing to Malmo or Gothenburg or turn of towards Trollhatten as I did.
Lidkoping – Diversion on the way to Trollhatten. Nothing here
Trollhatten – NextJet have 3 saabs WFU here. SE-LES is in derelict condition. OH-FAF and SE-KXG appeared stored. The Formosa S340 that was here wasn’t seen, any info? Presumed scrapped.
Gothenburg City / Saeve – Ryanairs airport and amazingly closer to the city than the main airport. The very occasional NextJet S340 is the only other thing in here. Some biz use this airport. You can see in one of the hangers that had a F900 inside and another outside and two citations landed around 8AM.
Gothenburg Ledvetter – see report
Angelholm / Helsingsborg – Situated in Angelholm Golden Air have a few flights a day. Around the back of the airport there is a Saab 2000 fuselage formerly HB-IZY. Not easy to find. Drive around the perimeter looking for an industrial park. Also in here is an air museum but don’t know whats inside. From here explore the hangers till you find it. There is literally nothing else here though.
Halmstad – S2000 SE-003 is on the fire dump along with a caravelle. These are on the other side of the airport from the terminal and you have to drive away from the airport and then back again to find them. Take a map. A Coastguard DHC8 was also operating, unsure whether its based or not?
Linkoping – May 2012
LANDSIDE
Linkoping – The home of SAAB. Not that you will see many. The facility is military now and security is tight. I got stopped after someone reported me for taking a picture of the aircraft on the fire dump. They didn’t mind that but I was strictly advised not to take any pictures in the direction of the airport as I would be arrested. They were testing the fighters at the time. Your allowed to take photo’s of these as long as the airport is not in the background.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
WHAT TO EXPECT
SE-001 S2000 wreck is on the fire dump along with another S2000 metallic fuselage. Any Ideas on this? To get here you need to take the road running past the opposite side of the runway to the terminal. At the end of the road you get 3 options. If you take the road on the right you get a partial view of the Saab facility. 1 Saab 2000 was outside at the time. If you take the middle road you will go past the fire dump.
There is no point driving around to the Saab facility, you won’t see anything.
The junction on the motorway that you use to get to the airport is Jct 113. Parked right in the middle on a pole is S340 SE-ISF painted vey nicely with Linkoping Titles. Several fighters on poles are also situated along this stretch of motorway.
To the west of this airport is a Military airport known as Malmen or Malmslatt. There is a museum here which is signposted and has some interesting exhibits outside. To view the field turn right out of the museum and keep taking right turns when able. You will find a small road running down the side of the runway with a distant view of the ramp. I saw nothing but have heard of Swedish Air Force gulfstreams being seen.
Gothenburg Ledvetter – May 2012
LANDSIDE
The best spot is top of the multistory behind the international part of the terminal. There are views of several stands and the runway.
Otherwise there are views of some gates from within the domestic part of the terminal and down by the side of the domestic terminal.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
The airport hotel is extremely expensive. Within walking distance of the airport but isn’t high enough for views. Its possible you could get movements as they take off above the terminal.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Not very busy. City Airline are based and Amapola had a few F50’s around. Malmo have several flights mostly to Bromma. Otherwise a selection of European flights. Once everything goes out first thing there’s not a lot left to see.
Malmo Sturup – May 2012
LANDSIDE
Views either side of the terminal means you can get everything on stand. From the multistory you can see MD80 OE-LOG which is derelict here. If you want to take a walk towards it there is also an ATP CS-TGN WFU here. There was also a couple of West Air ATP’s parked down here on cargo.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
Sturup Airport hotel is a short walk from the terminal. It looks like some rooms could have views over some of the ramp and runway.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Very Quiet with only 1 or 2 flights per hour. Ryanair and Wizzair fly here along with Malmo Aviation and some charter flights.
If your thinking of taking a car across the bridge between Malmo and Copenhagen you need to weigh up the costs. The bridge is aprox 45 pound each way, yes I’m not joking. If you want to do a one way car rental then they will charge you a fortune to drop it off in Copenhagen which means your alternative is Malmo 30 miles away. If your flying from Copenhagen the same day you are better off dropping the car at Malmo first, getting public transport to CPH and spotting from airside. If your staying in Copenhagen then you will want the car to get to the viewing area and hotel. Or you could get taxis which will probably cost similar to the bridge toll. To get from Malmo airport to CPH you need to take a bus to Malmo first, then a train to CPH. This can take over 2 hours depending on how long you have to wait for a bus. You can always drop the car rental in Malmo centre which should be quicker and cheaper.