Düsseldorf Airport

Düsseldorf is not a hub like Frankfurt or Munich – and that is exactly what makes the airport interesting to many spotters. Instead of the long-haul waves of a single airline, you see a colorful mix here: Eurowings in large numbers, leisure airlines from half of Europe, feeders for the big network airlines and, as the highlight, the Emirates Airbus A380. The challenge lies elsewhere: there is currently no official visitor area with a view of the apron. If you want to spot successfully in Lohausen, you need to know the runways, the wind and legal locations.

Almost a hundred years of aviation in Lohausen

Düsseldorf was early to the game. As early as 1909, the city built its first airship hangar, and from 1925 scheduled aircraft took off from the Golzheimer Heide. On April 19, 1927, the airport was officially opened. After the Second World War, civilian traffic returned in 1948, and in 1955 Lufthansa started connections to Frankfurt and Munich.

Leisure traffic shaped the postwar decades. In 1961, LTU moved its home base to Düsseldorf, and for a long time the airport was known mainly as a starting point for vacation trips. Later, Air Berlin used Düsseldorf as one of its hubs – until the airline ceased its own flight operations in 2017 after its insolvency.

A deep turning point was April 11, 1996: a fire in Terminal A killed 17 people and injured 88. In the years afterward, the airport was largely redesigned under the “Airport 2000 plus” program. That included the reconstruction of the terminals, the long-distance station and the SkyTrain suspended railway. A memorial room in the terminal now commemorates the victims.

Two runways, close together

On the map, Düsseldorf looks like an airport with a classic parallel runway system. In practice it is different: the main runway 05R/23L and the parallel runway 05L/23R are only about 500 meters apart. That is not enough to operate both independently of each other – unlike in Munich, where the runways are a good two kilometers apart. The main runway is about 3,000 meters long and carries most of the traffic; the northern parallel runway measures about 2,700 meters and is used mainly at peak times or during work on the main runway.

There used to be a third, shorter crosswind runway as well. It is closed and is now used as a taxiway and parking area. The terminals lie south of the runways, the long-distance station east of them on the line between Düsseldorf and Duisburg.

The fastest way to see which runway is currently in use is live in a flight tracker. How to read ADS-B data for this is covered in the article on flight tracking with ADS-B. The meaning of runway designations is explained in the article runway designations at airports.

The Angerlandvergleich: why DUS is capped

Hardly any German airport is as tightly bound to an old agreement as Düsseldorf. In the Angerlandvergleich (Angerland settlement) of 1965, the airport and neighboring municipalities agreed on limits for capacity and night operations. These rules were later confirmed in court and still apply today. Put simply: the airport may not handle an unlimited number of takeoffs and landings per hour, and the second runway is not available without restriction.

In 2015, the airport applied to loosen these limits and be allowed to use both runways more heavily at peak times. The project is controversial in the region; the airport itself publishes the current status of the proceedings. For you as a spotter, the rule mainly means one thing: traffic is spread across the day, and you usually have one runway in view on which almost everything happens.

Runway direction in use: 23 or 05?

Aircraft take off and land into the wind. When it blows from the west or southwest, takeoffs and landings run toward 23 – so aircraft arrive from the northeast, over Ratingen, and depart toward the Rhine. With an easterly wind the picture reverses; then runway direction 05 is in use, with approaches over the Rhine side. Since westerly winds prevail in central Europe, 23 is the more common direction, but that is not a fixed rule.

For choosing a location, this is crucial: approach photos only work at the runway end the aircraft are currently flying toward. If you stand on the Ratingen side with an easterly wind, you mainly see departing aircraft from behind. The basics of how to estimate wind and runway direction in advance are in the article Understanding the runway direction in use at airports; how to read METARs and TAFs for it is explained in Reading METARs and TAFs.

For light, the position of the runways helps: they run from northeast to southwest, and at midday the sun is in the south. From locations south of the runways, you have the sun more behind you during the day; north of them, you shoot into the light around midday – especially clearly in winter, when the sun is low. With the article on the sun position at your photo spot, you can plan this more precisely.

Eurowings and the leisure mix

The face of the airport is Eurowings. The low-cost subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group has its most important base in Düsseldorf and, according to Wikipedia, accounts for the largest share of passengers. A320-family jets therefore dominate the apron, from the A320 and the A320neo to longer variants such as the A321neo. Because many aircraft look the same, the registration is especially important here – more on that in the article Understanding aircraft registrations.

Düsseldorf also lives off leisure traffic. Condor, SunExpress and TUIfly are among the well-known names; in the summer schedule, numerous other charter and vacation airlines join them. Besides Airbus jets, types such as the Boeing 737-800 and the 737 MAX 8 show up here too. Lufthansa itself connects Düsseldorf mainly with its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.

According to Wikipedia, in 2026 around 67 airlines fly from Düsseldorf to about 165 destinations, most of them in Europe, plus connections to North Africa and the Middle East. Figures like these change with every schedule – treat them as an order of magnitude, not a fixed list.

Long-haul: little, but with a highlight

Düsseldorf cannot match the long-haul traffic of Frankfurt or Munich. Lufthansa closed its long-haul base in Düsseldorf in 2015, and other intercontinental connections have come and gone too. What remains is all the more striking: since July 2015, Emirates has deployed the Airbus A380 on one of its Dubai routes. For it, the airport built a parking stand with three passenger boarding bridges at Terminal C – the only one of its kind in Düsseldorf.

The very first A380 ever, by the way, landed in Düsseldorf as early as November 12, 2006. Today the Emirates superjumbo is the most reliable widebody subject at the airport. Other Gulf and Turkey connections also serve the airport, including Etihad Airways and Turkish Airlines. Which types they are currently using is best checked shortly beforehand.

Three terminals under one roof

The three terminals A, B and C are attached to a shared central building with the Airport Arkaden. The allocation follows, roughly, the alliances and whether a flight goes within or outside the Schengen area.

Allocations can change. For you as a spotter, though, the terminal plays a smaller role than at other airports anyway, because there is currently no public viewpoint in the building.

Spotting in Düsseldorf: the honest picture

Many older guides recommend the observation deck at Terminal B. According to consistent reports from spotter portals, however, it has been closed since the COVID pandemic, and the airport’s website does not currently list it as a visitor attraction. So check dus.com before every visit to see whether anything has changed. What is known about the location is collected on the page for the Düsseldorf observation deck.

That does not mean you cannot spot in Düsseldorf. Around the airport grounds there are public paths, field edges and bridges from which you see approaches or departures, depending on the runway direction in use. With runway direction 23, approaches are over the Ratingen side; with 05, on the side toward the Rhine and Lohausen. Many of these spots offer only short windows of view through trees or over the fence, and some spotters therefore work with a small ladder – keeping their distance from the fence.

Locations change more often in Düsseldorf than elsewhere: paths are rebuilt, vegetation grows over, barriers are added. That is exactly why community info is valuable. In the Planetrack spot map, you find spots with directions, best light, ratings and community photos – and see what other spotters posted most recently.

Getting there without a car

For connections, Düsseldorf plays in the top league. The S-Bahn stops beneath the terminal and connects the airport with Düsseldorf’s main station and toward Cologne. A little way off lies the Düsseldorf Flughafen long-distance station, served since 2000 by ICE, IC and regional trains. The SkyTrain shuttles between the long-distance station and the terminals, a suspended railway that is itself a popular photo subject.

By car, you reach the airport via the A 44, which has its own interchange. For outside locations at the fence, the car is often more convenient, because some spots are away from the stations. Park only where it is expressly allowed – farm tracks and farmers’ access roads are off limits.

Quiet hours and daily rhythm

For night operations too, the Angerlandvergleich sets the framework. Scheduled departures are not permitted between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Scheduled landings are allowed until 11 p.m. in limited numbers, after that only in exceptional cases. During the day, slots regulate how many movements per hour are possible.

For your planning, this means: in the morning, operations start with a wave of departures by the based aircraft, and in the evening many of them return. In summer, leisure traffic brings additional peaks, especially on weekends and at the start of school vacations in North Rhine-Westphalia. If you are planning night shots with long exposures, you still have landings until about 11 p.m. – tips are in the article Photographing aircraft at night.

Düsseldorf compared

In North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf is number one; Cologne Bonn Airport is only an hour away and rounds out the picture with strong cargo traffic – there is also an observation deck there. If you are looking for long-haul in great density, head to Frankfurt Airport or to Munich. And Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is easy to reach from Düsseldorf and offers a completely different experience with its spotting positions.

The article The best spotting spots in Germany gives an overview of more places. For your first trip, Plane spotting for beginners and the gear checklist also help.

Conclusion

Düsseldorf Airport is an airport of variety, not of size: Eurowings in masses, leisure airlines from all over Europe, feeders for the big hubs and, with the Emirates A380, a reliable highlight. Two closely spaced runways and the rules of the Angerlandvergleich ensure that traffic mostly concentrates on one runway – good for planning.

What is missing is an official viewpoint. If you accept that, keep an eye on runway direction and light and respect fences and private property, you still find enough subjects around Lohausen for a full spotting day.