A guide to the best side of airplane on landing at different airports
Jun 5, 2011, 4:38 am
#1
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Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: UK
Programs: Mucci, BA, AF
Posts: 10,129
A guide to the best side of airplane on landing at different airports
Hi,
It's a slow day today for me in London, and was thinking:
How about we have a thread summarising the best side of the airplane to be on during approach to BA's (not codeshare) destinations? Of course depending on the winds this changes a lot, but most airports have prevailing winds so more often than not you would be on the good side.
I'll sort these by regions, by BA definition on their route map page.
UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND
ABZ right
BHD
EDI left for city, right for Forth
DUB left
GLA left guaranteed, both OK
INV
IOM
JER
LBA
LCY left
LGW right
LHR right
MAN right
NCL left
SNN
EUROPE
ACE
AGP
ALC
AMS left
ANE
ARN
ATH left
BCN right
BER
BGO
BLQ
BOD
BRI
BRU
BSL
BUD right
CDG
CMF
CPH very variable
CTA
DBV left
DME
DUS
FAO both
FCO left
FRA both
GIB right
GOA right
GOT
GRX
GVA left
HAJ
HAM
HEL
IBZ
INN both
IST right ?
JMK
JTR
KBP both
LCA left for hills, right for sea
LED
LIN
LIS left, right for full city view
LPA
LUX left
LYS
MAD left is better, right is OK
MLA
MRS right
MUC both
MXP both
NAP left
NCE left
OPO right
ORY right
OSL left ?
OTP left for airport, right for city
PFO
PMI right
PRG left, both are fine
PSA right
RTM
SKG
SOF
STR
SVG
SVQ
SZG
TIA
TFS
TLS
TLV left
TRN
TXL
VCE right is better, left is fine
VIE right
VLC
VRN
WAW
ZAG
ZRH left
MIDDLE EAST, CENTRAL & SOUTH ASIA
ALA
AUH
BAH
BEY left
BLR
BOM right
CMB right
DEL left
DMM
DOH left
DXB right
GYD
HYD
JED left
KWI left
MAA
MCT
MLE
RUH right
AFRICA
ABV
ACC
ALG
CAI left for city, right for pyramids
CPT right if you're lucky, or both
EBB right ?
FNA
JNB left
LAD
LOS
LUN
MRU
NBO
RAK left
ROB
TIP left
TUN
NORTH AMERICA
ATL
AUS
BDA both
BOS right
BWI
CUN
DEN both
DFW right
EWR left
IAD right
IAH left
JFK right
LAS right
LAX right
MEX left
MCO
MIA right
ORD right
PHL right
PHX right
SAN left
SEA right for city, left for mountains
SFO left
TPA
YUL
YVR right
YYC left
YYZ left
CARIBBEAN & SOUTH AMERICA
ANU left
BGI left
EZE left for city, right for landscape
GCM
GIG
GND
GRU
KIN
MBJ
NAS
PLS
POS left
PUJ
SKB
TAB left, doesn't matter really though
UVF left
FAR EAST & AUSTRALIA
BKK
HKG left
HND
ICN right
NRT right
PEK
PVG right for city, left for Yangtse river, delta, islands, ships
SIN left
SYD left, exceptionally departure right
It's a slow day today for me in London, and was thinking:
How about we have a thread summarising the best side of the airplane to be on during approach to BA's (not codeshare) destinations? Of course depending on the winds this changes a lot, but most airports have prevailing winds so more often than not you would be on the good side.
I'll sort these by regions, by BA definition on their route map page.
UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND
ABZ right
BHD
EDI left for city, right for Forth
DUB left
GLA left guaranteed, both OK
INV
IOM
JER
LBA
LCY left
LGW right
LHR right
MAN right
NCL left
SNN
EUROPE
ACE
AGP
ALC
AMS left
ANE
ARN
ATH left
BCN right
BER
BGO
BLQ
BOD
BRI
BRU
BSL
BUD right
CDG
CMF
CPH very variable
CTA
DBV left
DME
DUS
FAO both
FCO left
FRA both
GIB right
GOA right
GOT
GRX
GVA left
HAJ
HAM
HEL
IBZ
INN both
IST right ?
JMK
JTR
KBP both
LCA left for hills, right for sea
LED
LIN
LIS left, right for full city view
LPA
LUX left
LYS
MAD left is better, right is OK
MLA
MRS right
MUC both
MXP both
NAP left
NCE left
OPO right
ORY right
OSL left ?
OTP left for airport, right for city
PFO
PMI right
PRG left, both are fine
PSA right
RTM
SKG
SOF
STR
SVG
SVQ
SZG
TIA
TFS
TLS
TLV left
TRN
TXL
VCE right is better, left is fine
VIE right
VLC
VRN
WAW
ZAG
ZRH left
MIDDLE EAST, CENTRAL & SOUTH ASIA
ALA
AUH
BAH
BEY left
BLR
BOM right
CMB right
DEL left
DMM
DOH left
DXB right
GYD
HYD
JED left
KWI left
MAA
MCT
MLE
RUH right
AFRICA
ABV
ACC
ALG
CAI left for city, right for pyramids
CPT right if you're lucky, or both
EBB right ?
FNA
JNB left
LAD
LOS
LUN
MRU
NBO
RAK left
ROB
TIP left
TUN
NORTH AMERICA
ATL
AUS
BDA both
BOS right
BWI
CUN
DEN both
DFW right
EWR left
IAD right
IAH left
JFK right
LAS right
LAX right
MEX left
MCO
MIA right
ORD right
PHL right
PHX right
SAN left
SEA right for city, left for mountains
SFO left
TPA
YUL
YVR right
YYC left
YYZ left
CARIBBEAN & SOUTH AMERICA
ANU left
BGI left
EZE left for city, right for landscape
GCM
GIG
GND
GRU
KIN
MBJ
NAS
PLS
POS left
PUJ
SKB
TAB left, doesn't matter really though
UVF left
FAR EAST & AUSTRALIA
BKK
HKG left
HND
ICN right
NRT right
PEK
PVG right for city, left for Yangtse river, delta, islands, ships
SIN left
SYD left, exceptionally departure right
Last edited by BA6501; Oct 23, 2016 at 8:55 pm
Jun 5, 2011, 4:50 am
#3
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Mostly London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Amex and some hotels
Posts: 1,318
Oh great - you start and take the easiest one!
I've enjoyed watching he Olympic Village being built (probably more than I'll enjoy the Olympics themselves).
Flew into SOU the other day - Right hand side on approach gave great views of Portsmouth and the Spinnaker Tower, then on up to Winchester and the Cathedral before turning back to land.
HKG - right. Many times, there is a flight over the Island with views of the Island and Kowloon.
I've enjoyed watching he Olympic Village being built (probably more than I'll enjoy the Olympics themselves).
Flew into SOU the other day - Right hand side on approach gave great views of Portsmouth and the Spinnaker Tower, then on up to Winchester and the Cathedral before turning back to land.
HKG - right. Many times, there is a flight over the Island with views of the Island and Kowloon.
Jun 5, 2011, 4:54 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: UK
Programs: Mucci, BA, AF
Posts: 10,129
Oh great - you start and take the easiest one!
I've enjoyed watching he Olympic Village being built (probably more than I'll enjoy the Olympics themselves).
Flew into SOU the other day - Right hand side on approach gave great views of Portsmouth and the Spinnaker Tower, then on up to Winchester and the Cathedral before turning back to land.
HKG - right. Many times, there is a flight over the Island with views of the Island and Kowloon.
I've enjoyed watching he Olympic Village being built (probably more than I'll enjoy the Olympics themselves).
Flew into SOU the other day - Right hand side on approach gave great views of Portsmouth and the Spinnaker Tower, then on up to Winchester and the Cathedral before turning back to land.
HKG - right. Many times, there is a flight over the Island with views of the Island and Kowloon.
Don't think SOU is a BA mainline airport...
Jun 5, 2011, 4:55 am
#7
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: UK
Programs: MUCCI du gingembre cinquant, CAMRA
Posts: 1,275
ABZ right
BHX right
NSN left
SYD left (I think!)
DUT left... or if you are the slightest bit nervous, somewhere near the centre of the aircraft, away from the windows, with your eyes shut and in the brace position!
BHX right
NSN left
SYD left (I think!)
DUT left... or if you are the slightest bit nervous, somewhere near the centre of the aircraft, away from the windows, with your eyes shut and in the brace position!
Jun 5, 2011, 5:06 am
#10
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Piedmont, Italy; Cheshire, UK
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 389
Doesn't this depend on which runway / from which direction the aircraft is approaching? Eg. When approaching LHR from the east you get a fantastic view of the city sitting on the right; whereas approaching LHR from the west sitting on the left is more interesting as you get a good view of Windsor Castle, Eton etc?
Jun 5, 2011, 5:09 am
#12
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Newbury, UK
Programs: BA Gold, BMI Gold, IC Amb and Plat, HH Diamond
Posts: 43
Doesn't this depend on which runway / from which direction the aircraft is approaching? Eg. When approaching LHR from the east you get a fantastic view of the city sitting on the right; whereas approaching LHR from the west sitting on the left is more interesting as you get a good view of Windsor Castle, Eton etc?
Jun 5, 2011, 5:14 am
#13
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: OSL
Posts: 311
Great topic, one which I sure there are many opinions on.
I'll start with my two.
Have to disagree. On LHR on a westbound approach, a left side seat may give you the view of all the beauties of south London, including Blackheath, London Eye and the river itself.
When flying LHR-HKG I always adhear to the tradition, port out, starboard home. The reason being:
I once did a spectacular tour of HKG, seated on the left side, when the inbound did a approach for eastern headed landing (rwy 21'ish). The aircraft holded over Macau, flew east and passed HKIA at south, then turning left and doing a long circle around Hong Kong Island, above the new territories at low altitude and following the Lantau link in parallell to the runway. All which made the approach seem like a NY helicopter tour. At that time, I made myself the promisse of always being seated at the left when flying to HKIA.
Similar, flying back, at breakfast time there's a great view of southern Sweden, Denmark and the bridge connecting them. This view requires a right side seat.
Of course all this will depend on factors like weather, routing and ATC.
I'll start with my two.
Have to disagree. On LHR on a westbound approach, a left side seat may give you the view of all the beauties of south London, including Blackheath, London Eye and the river itself.
When flying LHR-HKG I always adhear to the tradition, port out, starboard home. The reason being:
I once did a spectacular tour of HKG, seated on the left side, when the inbound did a approach for eastern headed landing (rwy 21'ish). The aircraft holded over Macau, flew east and passed HKIA at south, then turning left and doing a long circle around Hong Kong Island, above the new territories at low altitude and following the Lantau link in parallell to the runway. All which made the approach seem like a NY helicopter tour. At that time, I made myself the promisse of always being seated at the left when flying to HKIA.
Similar, flying back, at breakfast time there's a great view of southern Sweden, Denmark and the bridge connecting them. This view requires a right side seat.
Of course all this will depend on factors like weather, routing and ATC.
Last edited by papabear; Jun 5, 2011 at 7:58 am