UK

½

A small regional airport that suffers from being in the shadow of Manchester. However, easyJet's opening of a second hub here has given it a new lease of life, and, although it can still be extremely slow, at least something happens. There's also a fair amount of GA and training activity here, as well as a thriving mail and freight flight industry, although most of the movements in connection with this happen, inevitably, at night.
In terms of when to visit, there's really not much in it - there are a few more flights on weekdays, but not really enough to make it worth a special trip then.

Unfortunately, Liverpool is one of those airports where good photos can be hard to come by. For one thing the runway is aligned almost directly E-W, with the airport on the north side, so you're looking into the sun all day. The other major problem is simply the lack of any decent vantage points in general, and even on a cloudy day there's not much to choose from. However:

a) The best place is undoubtedly the slightly raised mound at the end of RWY 27 (via Dungeon Lane), which is actually pretty good as long as there's a westerly wind. You can get reasonable, south side, landing shots from here, even though the planes are a bit high, but a walk along the fence might yield a suitable gap for a better angle, and where you can also get good runway shots. In the morning you can also get nice shots of aircraft turning onto the runway for take-off. This spot is good all day.

G-EZYD EasyJet Boeing 737	G-FPLB Beech 200	G-MAJF British Airways Jetstream 41	G-EZYA EasyJet Boeing 737	D-ICRK BinAir Metro

b) Recent construction work has eliminated just about all possibilities of photos from the terminal itself, although you might be able to get a runway or taxiing shot or two through the the windows if it's not too sunny. A short walk to the left of the terminal (as you exit) will bring you to the Royal Mail centre and a crash gate, from where you have a relatively unobstructed view of most movements as they taxy past, either on arrival or departure. Of course, you're facing the sun again, but it's a good place for night-time shots if anything's parked up in a suitable position.

G-APSA Atlantic Airlines DC-6	G-BPDA Reed Aviation HS-748

c) Your third and final option is at the National Trust property of Speke Hall, at the other end of the airport. If you're not already a member you'll have to pay to get in, but from The Bund (a raised mound between the airport and the gardens) you get the best views of the airport, both the current and the original sites. Photos of aircraft landing on RWY 09 could be almost perfect from here if it wasn't for the sun, and you're also in a good position for any of the GA still at the old airport site as it taxies to the runway (although it's only a matter of time before everything relocates to the new site).
You are a bit far from the runway, however, with landing 737s needing about a 300mm lens, and anything less won't give you many options.

HB-III EasyJet Swiss Boeing 737	'XW293'/(G-BWCS) Jet Provost T5A	G-FLTY Keenair EMB110	EC-HCN Futura Boeing 737	G-BIUV Emerald HS-748

Last visited on 10 September 1999	Top of page

Maps

Click on the icons below to see various maps and images relating to Liverpool airport. Note that these are all external links to other sites, and will open in a new window.

Official CAA Liverpool airport map Courtesy of: NATS Ltd. Note that you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (v4.0 or later) installed in order to view this. Click here to download this from the Adobe site if you need it.		OS street map of the Liverpool airport area Courtesy of: Streetmap.co.uk		General map of the Liverpool area Courtesy of: maps.expedia.com

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