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Ponta Delgada Airport: Difference between revisions
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{{infobox|fullname=Ponta Delgada Airport|location=Azores, Portugal|iata=PDL|icao=LPPD|aptype=Commercial|website=http://www.ana.pt/portal/page/portal/ANA/AEROPORTO_PDELGADA/|mapurl=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=azores&sll=47.100045,-93.251953&sspn=27.957131,59.238281&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=37.740653,-25.695391&spn=0.031697,0.05785&t=k&om=1|mapsource=Google Maps|atctower=|atcground=|atcclearance=|atcapproach=|atcdeparture=|atcatis=|atcunicom=}} | {{infobox|fullname=Ponta Delgada Airport|location=Azores, Portugal|iata=PDL|icao=LPPD|aptype=Commercial|website=http://www.ana.pt/portal/page/portal/ANA/AEROPORTO_PDELGADA/|mapurl=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=azores&sll=47.100045,-93.251953&sspn=27.957131,59.238281&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=37.740653,-25.695391&spn=0.031697,0.05785&t=k&om=1|mapsource=Google Maps|atctower=|atcground=|atcclearance=|atcapproach=|atcdeparture=|atcatis=|atcunicom=}} | ||
With 1.3 million passengers in 2015, the '''João Paulo II Airport''' located in Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel is the busiest airport of the Azores archipelago. Ponta Delgada is not a busy airport, but is very spotter friendly and with good timing and knowledge of the flight schedules, you can certainly spend a great afternoon here. | |||
João Paulo II Airport is a hub for Azores Airlines that operate both wide-bodies and narrow-bodies and represent a vast majority of flights at PDL. They are slowly retiring their fleet of A310s which you can still see here (as of autumn 2016) and replacing them with A330s. Azores Airlines additionally feature a fleet of A320s and its parent company, SATA Air Açores, also a couple of Bombardier Dash 8s. For a long time, TAP Air Portugal was the only other carrier operating flights to the Azores, even with their A330s. However, in the last years they only fly an A320 to Ponta Delgada, presumably as a result of the competition from low-cost carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair that entered the Azorean market in 2015. | |||
==Official Spotting Locations== | ==Official Spotting Locations== | ||
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===Arrivals/Departures and Terminal=== | ===Arrivals/Departures and Terminal=== | ||
There is no jetways in Ponta Delgada so you end up walking between the aircraft and terminal both upon arrival and departure, so that gives you some good views, naturally ([http://www.airliners.net/photo/SATA-International/Airbus-A310-304/2551811 sample photo 5]). Also, from inside the terminal at departures you get a decent view of the apron ([http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1185641/a310-304-cs-tgv-sata-international-rzo-s4-ponta-delgada-pdl-lppd sample photo 6]). | There is no jetways in Ponta Delgada so you end up walking between the aircraft and terminal both upon arrival and departure, so that gives you some good views, naturally ([http://www.airliners.net/photo/SATA-International/Airbus-A310-304/2551811 sample photo 5]). Also, from inside the terminal at departures you get a decent view of the apron ([http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1185641/a310-304-cs-tgv-sata-international-rzo-s4-ponta-delgada-pdl-lppd sample photo 6]). | ||
===Relva Football Field=== | ===Relva Football Field=== | ||
This is probably the best spot at PDL. At the western side of the airport in the village of Relva there is a football field (which I have never seen used) located at the | This is probably the best spot at PDL. At the western side of the airport in the village of Relva there is a football field (which I have never seen used) located at the one-way Travessa do Beco street (or "Tv. do beco"). There is a small free public parking lot right next to it. To get to the spot, you need to walk through the gate from the parking lot to the football field, walk straight for about 200 meters pass the field and a tennis court. You get to a fence directly at the western end of the airport at an elevated spot with excellent views of the apron and the runway ([http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1205528/a320-212-cs-tkj-sata-international-rzo-s4-ponta-delgada-pdl-lppd sample photo 7], [http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1210275/a310-304-cs-tqv-white-airways-wht-wi-ponta-delgada-pdl-lppd sample photo 8], [http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1205296/a320-212-cs-tkj-sata-international-rzo-s4-ponta-delgada-pdl-lppd sample photo 9], [http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1205297/a310-304-cs-tgv-sata-international-rzo-s4-ponta-delgada-pdl-lppd sample photo 10], [http://www.planes.cz/cs/photo/1205530/a310-304-cs-tgv-sata-international-rzo-s4-ponta-delgada-pdl-lppd sample photo 11]). This spot is only good in the afternoon when the sun is behind you. Any lens will get you good photos. | ||
==Locations to Avoid== | ==Locations to Avoid== | ||
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==Regular Traffic== | ==Regular Traffic== | ||
*Azores Airlines - A330, A310, A320 | |||
*SATA Air Acores - ATP | |||
*TAP Air Portugal - A320 | |||
*Easyjet - A319 | |||
*Ryanair - B737 | |||
*Air Berlin - A320 | |||
==Facilities and Transportation== | ==Facilities and Transportation== | ||
Except for the airport facilities, there aren't any around the airport fence. | |||
The best way to get around is of course a car that you can rent at the airport. However, all spots described here are easy to get to on foot if you have time. | |||