Spotting at: Euroairport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (BSL/MLH/EAP/LFSB/LSZM)
by Joel Vogt
The "EAP" covers a catchment area that reaches from Southern Germany via the Vosges and the french Alsace region through to the heart of Switzerland. Some of the up to 3 million passengers even originate from Berne or Zurich.
The standard traffic consists of many Air France and easyJet planes. Futhermore there is Swiss Intl. Air Lines, whose precedessor Crossair operated some 20 planes out of Basel. EZY covers about 20 destinations while AF has service to the main french cities of Paris, Lyon and Toulouse and furthermore serves Clermont-Ferrand, Bordeaux and Rennes.
The leisure traffic consists of german Hapag-Lloyd, the homebased MD-90 operator Hello and many smaller operators from Spain, Turkey and Tunisia. They are: Spanair, Iberworld, Tunisair, Onur Air, SunExpress, MNG Airlines and some more. Belair intends to start operations to Egypt, Goa and Puerto Plata by the end of October with Boeing 757-200 equipment. There are also scheduled flights to Turkey (with Turkish Airlines) and Algeria (Aigle Azur and Air Algérie).
Cargo-wise we surely have seen more planes in the past but still there are some "goodies" around. Fedex has an almost daily connection to Paris CDG with A310F and MASkargo flies with B747-200F to their cargo hubs Dubai and Kuala Lumpur and also Hangzhou. Nightly express cargo operations also contain DHL, TNT and UPS (operated by Farnair).
On summer week-ends you can be lucky and see the last Lockheed Super Constellation that flies passengers in action. You can get more infos about that beauty on www.superconstellation.org
Frequencies:
| ATIS | 127.875 |
| Approach | 118.570 // 119.350 |
| Tower | 118.300 |
| Ground/Delivery | 121.600 |
Spotting Points:
1. Belvédère
The Belvedere is THE meeting point of the EAP spotting community. More than 80% of the planes use Rwy 16, so you can see almost all of the traffic from there. The wooden platform is very useful get nice touchdown and taxi photos. If necessary you can also take pictures of the aircraft departing via Rwy 34.
To get there you leave the French motorway A35 at the "Euroairport" exit and follow the signs that say "Blotzheim". After driving through the tunnel where you cross the runway and taxiway Bravo, you pull up on either side and walk up the hill on the right hand side. Parking on the track up there is not allowed!
Typical Belvedere-image |
That's what it looks like: A fantastic view on Rwy16! |
That's what it looks like: A fantastic view on Rwy16! |
2. Rwy 34
It happens that Rwy 34 is in use sometimes. This usually is due to northerly winds of more than 10 Knots. In this situation you drive to Hésingue instead of Blotzheim. But not quite into Hésingue: Right after crossing the centreline of Rwy 34 there is a track that turns away from the main road on the right hand side. Park your car there and you can start right away with spotting.
3. Dirt Road in Blotzheim/ Rue de la Chapelle
At the southern end of Blotzheim there is a track that leads right to the perimeter fence. There you end up in the middle of 16/34 and this is a good position if the winds are changing quite often. A ladder is very useful there as there is a relatively high fence in your way.
4. Morning approaches in Bartenheim
The only place where you can get nicely lit inbounds in the morning is near Bartenheim: Don't use the "Euroairport" exit but one later. Turn left and cross the motorway, turn left into the first track and drive back along the motorway. You'll come across a Motocross area. Don't get impressed by the signs there. Park your car right near the the next motorway crossing. Continue about 200 metres by foot along the motorway, almost until you reach the forest. You can get some more altitude by climbing the small hill close to the motorway. This can get a bit dangerous because of some blackberry bushes.
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