ZGGG/CAN - Guangzhou - Novotel - February 2025

Once cleared into the country we took the shuttle bus to the Novotel where we We booked an Executive Runway View Room, which guaranteed us a room on the 8^th floor (which is the highest). in our case room  5807 which seems counterintuitive for the 8th floor. Odd rooms numbered 5801 through 5821 will give you the view you need. 

They were landing towards us which meant that all arrivals could be seen but none of the departures, between 18:45 and 01:05 I made 78 of 211 individual frames albeit some of these were marginal in the dark and not for the purest. Just a note that FR24 coverage is patchy, and they drop off at about 1000ft so a system is required to ensure you are logging what you actually see and ensuring you see what you actually need.   

We were up dawn which was 06:45 to find that they had switched runway direction and were departing away from us, effectively meaning that I saw all the aircraft I had stayed up to see last night again except in Daylight, this runway configuration remained in place for the remainder of our visit and it meant that the aircraft were coming from behind you but with the patchy ground coverage and the fact that they didn’t appear of FR24 until they were established in the climb  thankfully we had a ADSB receiver which showed aircraft as they accelerated for take off and rotated otherwise it would have been much more complex.  With the exception of time away from the room window for a leisurely breakfast returning just in time to see B-20DM rotate completing my China Southern triples, and a break for afternoon coffee and cake we were spotting until about 23:00. part way through the afternoon whist stood up looking out of the window we noticed that there was a view of Landers on the left rolling out.  During which time I logged 195 unique aircraft that had not been seen the previous evening and made 70 of them. Despite having made 78 the previous evening I was making about 6-10 an hour until around 3PM when it suddenly dropped to about 2-3 an hour at which level it remained for the rest of the day.  

With the alarm set for 06:20  we made our required first wave departures before I left and headed for the airport to catch the China Southern flight back to London. Check in opens three hours before departure, the international terminal is huge, and relatively empty. Airside the  best place to spot from in my opinion is around gate 168 where departures from both runways can be seen climbing out as well as left hand side arrivals as they taxi back towards the terminal, it’s only a few moments’ walk to an area where right had landers can be seen from, in any case most Terminal 1 bound landers on the right taxi past you to get to the terminal. 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ci1WUQ3QYEmh1mYL6

  

Above: A view from room 5803.

Above: Views from 5803.

ZGSZ/SZX - Shenzhen - Hyatt Regency - November 2024

In SZX there are two Hyatt hotels outside the main terminal building.  Both have views, but after a recommendation by a fellow ALST’er we decided to book the Hyatt Regency.  We booked a Runway View room.  The hotel has a curve, so to ensure you have a view of all movements you need to be in rooms ending in odd numbers 01 through to about 15.  We had 909 which was perfect.  The 10^th and 11^th floors are Exec rooms.  From the hotel you have clear views onto runway 16/34 and everything else on the other runway (15/33) can be either seen descending behind the terminal or climbing out.  There is also a small gap that you can see onto the other runway if you time it right.  Plus, near the lifts you can walk out and see the movements in the other direction as well (not that we needed to) as well as some views of Cargo.  We didn't miss any movements during our stay.

To get to the hotel when you go through immigration and customs go straight ahead to the transport hub.  Once in there keep walking and look for door 18.  It’s in the far right corner and you have to take the lift up to level 3. for further clarity Gate 18 is located between gates 16 and 17 but one floor up and not as you would expect after gate 17 Follow signs for Hyatt Regency.  When you get closer, you'll see a picture of a flight deck.  Turn left and keep walking.  Take a lift on the left down to level 1 and you’re there.  We left SZX after a full and productive morning to CAN.  We took a Didi (China’s version of Uber) which I booked via the Alipay App.  The journey took a couple of hours (which was mostly spent catching up on sleep) and cost around £45.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/VpJiXCFqzvKTRnFv8 Note Locations are often incorrect in China

Above: View onto runways 16/34 from room 909.  Below: View onto the gap of runways 15/33.

LIRF/FCO - Rome Fiumicino - Mercure (also Best Western) - November 2024

Mercure Hotel Fiumicino Airport.  Looking at its location I expected it would have a good view of departures off 16R, the usual departures runway, and it did.  There’s a Best Western in the similar area but my points prejudices don’t allow me to stay there!  Rooms ending xx01 to xx19 have the required easterly view. There’s nothing in the way at ground level and departures are sufficiently high that any floor is OK; there are five floors in total.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/GgJTxkgNQJotDMnb8

Getting there is the challenging part….

1. There is a hotel shuttle bus that charges €6 each way and operates between 05:50 (first departure from hotel) to 22:30 (last departure from airport).  These operating hours are quite rubbish for an airport hotel.

2. Taxi mafia – as I arrived late, around 23:15, I tried Uber: €35 it said, which seemed ridiculous for c. 2 miles.  So I got a regular taxi from the terminal front.  €35 the driver said, giving some sob story about late night charges in the area.  So, it would seem there is a definite taxi mafia here that will sting you whatever (and reading more about it, it seems Uber only got a licence here under conditions set by the taxi drivers mafia).

3. Walk, it is doable and takes you round the runway threshold/16R climb out, so wouldn’t miss anything that you’d see from the hotel.

4. Local bus.  Refusing to pay €6 let alone 35 (and not being particularly enamoured with walking) to get back I went exploring.  To the immediate north of the hotel is a small bus terminus, marked on Google Maps as ‘Capolinea Bus’ but known locally as ‘Foce Micina’. Google does not have any bus information.  Route number 8 leaves this terminus on the hour and half hour between 05:30 and 23:00 except 21:30.  It serves Terminal 3 on the arrivals level on the outer road, at a stop marked ‘Shuttle to Fiumicino City Centre’, and is just before the hotel shuttles. It is only a few minutes to get there from the terminus, and it’s a circular route. Bus fare is €1.50 if bought on the bus and €1.00 if bought from a machine. There are no machines at the airport, and those in Fiumicino town are actually repurposed car park ticket machines and still have the blue ‘P’ on them!

Local bus map: https://www.trotta.it/pdf/mappa_fco_inverno_2023.pdf route 8 is the red one, the numbers are the stops, of which there are only six on the entire route!

Departure times: 05:30 - 06:00 - 06:30 - 07:00 - 07:30 - 08:00 - 08:30 - 09:00 - 09:30 - 10:00 - 10:30 - 11:00 - 11:30 - 12:00 - 12:30 - 13:00 - 13:30 - 14:00 - 14:30 - 15:00 - 15:30 - 16:00 - 16:30 - 17:00 - 17:30 - 18:00 - 6.30pm - 7.00pm - 7.30pm - 8.00pm - 8.30pm - 9.00pm - 10.00pm - 10.30pm - 11.00pm 

https://www.trotta.it/active/linee_invernali_fiumicino.aspx?m=1#undefined19

Terminal 3 map, local bus 8 goes from immediately east of the hotel shuttles 

https://www.adr.it/documents/10157/31899622/Terminal-3-q.ta-2.jpg/27b4daa9-f45e-239d-2fe2-adabb679c075?t=1718360223018

RJAA / NRT - Tokyo Narita - Marroad International Hotel Narita - November 2024

I booked the Marroad International Hotel Narita directly. Initially although they showed Runway view rooms, they could not be booked, but 3 months to the day before the trip they became bookable. I had room 1296 and the view was excellent from the 12th floor. A selection of photos can be found here on Flickr.

In the morning, I actually decided to stay in the room for an extra hour taking pics, rather than going to the T1 deck at opening time. Overnight they had changed to arrive from the North. The room only allowed arrivals and departures on 16R to be seen so eventually I needed to leave. But it should be pointed out the breakfast was on the 13th floor and from there it was possible to see both runways. So, you could also probably enjoy a few beers in the evening up there in the bar/restaurant.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/rfGAtf6pTKjvqVeQA

Breakfast room view of 18R threshold.

View of cargo ramp from room.