Landside, airside, security restricted area: airport zones explained

You are standing on the deck, the A350 is taxiing to its position not a hundred meters in front of you – and yet an invisible line separates you from it, drawn more sharply in law than almost any other boundary in everyday life. Every airport is divided into landside, airside and the security restricted area, and each zone has its own access rules. If you know the terms, you understand why security staff sometimes ask questions, why an apron tour needs an ID check and where you can stand quite relaxed as a spotter.

The short answer: three zones, three sets of rules

Legally, an airport consists of three basic zones that are nested inside each other:

• Landside: everything that does not belong to airside. Forecourt, parking garages, train station, check-in halls, shops before screening, public paths around the grounds – and in many cases the observation deck as well.
• Airside: the movement areas of aircraft, that is runways, taxiways and apron, plus adjoining areas and buildings to which access is restricted.
• Security restricted area: the part of airside in which not only is access restricted, but further aviation security standards also apply – such as the screening of persons, baggage and vehicles.

These definitions appear almost word for word in Article 3 of EU Regulation (EC) No 300/2008, the basic law of European aviation security. The German Luftsicherheitsgesetz (LuftSiG, Aviation Security Act) adopts the terms and attaches prohibitions, duties and sanctions to them. For you as a spotter that means: On landside, mainly the operator’s house rules and the general rules for public areas apply; on airside, without authorization there is simply a ban on entry.

Landside: the public part with house rules

Landside is the part of the airport you can enter without a ticket and without screening. That does not mean no rules apply there, though. Terminals, parking garages and decks belong to the airport operator, who exercises its house rules there (its right to set rules on its premises). It can set rules for staying there, for example on the use of tripods, on photography in certain areas or on opening hours, and it can remove people from the grounds. How far that reaches and what it means for photography is described in detail in the article The airport operator’s house rules.

What is exciting for spotters is the edge of landside: public roads, farm tracks and hills outside the fence. There the airport’s rules do not apply but the general rules for public paths – or those of the respective landowner. Classic spotting points such as the Munich visitors’ hill (Besucherhügel) are expressly built for visitors, while other places along roads or fields are merely tolerated. Whether you may stand there therefore does not depend on aviation security law but on who owns the area and what is signposted on site. An overview is given by the basics article Is plane spotting legal?.

The observation deck as a special case

Observation decks are many spotters’ favorite place because they lie so close to the apron. Even so, in many cases they are located landside: You look over a parapet or a fence onto airside but do not enter it. Some airports still check bags at the entrance to the deck or charge admission. As a rule this is based on the operator’s terms of use; exactly how the check is designed at a given airport is stated in its visitor information. At the Hamburg observation deck or the Düsseldorf observation deck, each has its own terms of use. Read them before your first visit, especially regarding tripods, ladders and drones.

Airside: everything behind fence and gate

Airside begins where access is restricted. In practice, fences, gates, barriers and building edges mark this boundary. A terminal is therefore usually split in two: The check-in hall is landside, the gates behind screening are airside. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1998 requires that the boundaries between the zones be clearly defined so that it is clear to everyone which rules apply where.

Airside includes:

• runways and taxiways with their protective strips,
• the apron with the parking positions, jet bridges and remote stands (more in the article Gates, jet bridges and remote stands),
• maintenance areas, hangars and service roads, as long as they lie behind the access boundary,
• the waiting areas at the gates in the terminal after security screening.

Under Section 8 LuftSiG, the airport operator is obliged to secure airside against unauthorized access. How that works technically – fences, detection systems, cameras and patrols – is explained in the article How airport fences are secured.

The security restricted area: airside with additional controls

The security restricted area is a subset of airside. Here access is not only restricted, but further security standards also apply: Persons and carried items are screened, vehicles checked, IDs must be worn visibly. At large commercial airports such as Frankfurt Airport or Munich Airport, practically all of airside falls into this category. At smaller airfields, for example in general aviation areas, there can be airside areas that are fenced off but are not a security restricted area.

The EU rules know even finer gradations within the security restricted area:

• Critical parts of the security restricted area: areas where screened departing passengers or screened checked baggage are located. Anyone who wants to get in here is screened – employees too.
• Demarcated areas: areas separated by their own access control from security restricted areas or other demarcated areas, for which their own rules can apply.

For you as a spotter, these subtleties are mainly an explanation of why even employees with an ID cannot get everywhere and why apron tours drive precisely defined routes.

Zone	Examples	Who may enter?	What applies?
Landside	forecourt, check-in, parking garage, many observation decks	basically anyone	operator’s house rules, notice signs, general law
Airside	runways, taxiways, apron, hangars	only authorized persons	access ban without authorization under Section 10 LuftSiG
Security restricted area	gates, apron at large airports, baggage systems	authorized persons after screening	screening of persons and objects, ID requirement
Critical parts	areas with screened passengers and baggage	authorized persons, always screened	strictest level of control

Who may go airside – and how?

The boundary to airside is not an absolute obstacle but a controlled lock. There are only a few legal ways through.

Passengers: boarding pass and security screening

As a passenger, you get through security screening into the security restricted area with a valid boarding pass. There you and your carry-on baggage are checked for prohibited items. Behind screening you are airside – but only in the areas intended for passengers. You enter the apron at most on the prescribed route to the aircraft, for example on a bus ride to a remote stand. What you as a spotter can get through screening in terms of camera and lenses is covered in the guide Camera gear in carry-on baggage. Why you may not photograph directly at the checkpoint is explained in the article Photography at the security checkpoint.

By the way: Border control between the Schengen and non-Schengen areas is something different from aviation security screening. It separates areas within airside by travel destination, not by security level.

Employees: airport ID and background check

Anyone who works at the airport and regularly has to enter the security restricted area needs an airport ID. In Germany, a prerequisite is a background check (Zuverlässigkeitsüberprüfung) by the aviation security authority under Section 7 LuftSiG. It applies, among others, to all persons with more than occasional access to the security restricted area as well as staff of the airport, airlines, air traffic control and service providers with an influence on security. Only after the check is complete can the ID be issued.

Under Section 10 LuftSiG, the ID must be worn openly visible in the security restricted area, must not be passed on and must be returned after expiry. A loss must be reported immediately. In addition, the ID is only valid for the areas that are enabled on it. If you are interested in this working world, you will find insights in the articles Working on the apron and Becoming an aviation security assistant.

Visitors: only escorted

For visitors without their own ID, the EU rules provide for escorted access: An authorized person accompanies you and is responsible for you. That is the framework in which apron tours and airport guided tours take place. You book beforehand, bring an official photo ID, go through screening and stay with the group the whole time. How such tours work in Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Zurich and Vienna is covered in the guide Airport tour and apron bus tour.

What happens in case of unauthorized access?

This is where it gets serious. Section 10(1) LuftSiG expressly prohibits entering airside or the security restricted area without authorization – and likewise helping another person gain this access. The consequences are graduated in the law:

• Administrative offense: Anyone who gains access to airside for themselves or a third party contrary to Section 10 acts unlawfully under Section 18 LuftSiG and commits an administrative offense. The fine can be up to €10,000.
• Criminal offense: If this is done intentionally and impairs the safety of civil air traffic, Section 19 LuftSiG threatens a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine. Even the attempt is punishable.
• Serious case: If the offender carries a prohibited item or wants to enable or conceal another offense, up to five years in prison are possible.

Further consequences can be added: a ban from the premises by the operator, a trespassing complaint, costs for interrupted flight operations and trouble with your employer if you hold an ID yourself. The article Trespassing on airport grounds covers the possible consequences in more detail. The legal bases in context are explained by The Aviation Security Act explained, the European framework by the article on the EU aviation security regulation.

Powers: who may screen you?

Under Section 5 LuftSiG, the aviation security authority has special powers. It may search or check persons who have entered or want to enter the security restricted area, and may stop persons on airside and remove them if they cannot prove their authorization or refuse a check. Within its duties under Section 8 LuftSiG, the airport operator and its service providers control access to the security restricted areas and exercise the house rules on landside.

On landside, so for example at the fence or on the deck, security staff may still approach you. That is not an accusation but routine: Anyone who stands at the fence with a telephoto lens for a long time stands out. How to behave in that case is described in the articles When security staff come and Proper behavior at the airport fence. Whether you have to delete photos on request is clarified in Do I have to delete photos?.

What the zones mean for your spotting

The good news: Almost everything you need as a spotter you find on landside. The zone boundary even gives you orientation about where you can move freely.

A few special cases deserve a mention. Ladders and steps at the fence are not automatically prohibited on landside but can violate the landowner’s rules – and as soon as something protrudes over the fence, it gets tricky. More in the article Ladders, steps and tripods at the airport fence. Drones are a topic of their own with their own rules; the airspace around airports is especially protected, see Drones at the airport. And if you ever notice something suspicious at the fence: Many airports see spotters as additional eyes, as the article Spotters as security partners shows.

A look across the border

Because the basic terms come from an EU regulation, landside, airside and the security restricted area work on the same principle in all EU states. Switzerland, too, follows the European aviation security rules closely through its air transport agreement with the EU. Differences remain, though: in national sanctions, in the toleration of spotters at the fence and in photography bans, which some countries handle much more strictly. Before you spot abroad, a look at the article Spotting abroad is worthwhile. At Hamburg Airport or at viewing terrace B in Zurich you experience the principle in everyday life: close up, but clearly separated.

What to watch out for

• The zone boundary is a hard boundary. On landside the house rules decide the details; on airside there is no leeway without authorization.
• Take signs seriously. Notices about security restricted areas or closed zones mark boundaries that are not always visible as a fence – for example in the terminal or on service roads.
• Do not pass anything over the fence. Objects or help for others can be a violation too.
• Carry ID. Toward a private security service on landside there is generally no obligation to show ID, but during a police check your identity can be established. An ID in your pocket makes every encounter shorter.
• No legal advice. This article gives general orientation. In a specific case, the statutory text, terms of use and instructions on site apply.

Conclusion

Landside, airside and security restricted area sound like bureaucratic jargon but describe a simple logic: The closer you get to the aircraft, the stricter the screening. Landside is open to everyone and follows the operator’s house rules. Airside is taboo without authorization, and the security restricted area additionally requires screening of persons and objects. For spotters that is a clear message – and a good one: The best perspectives lie in front of the fence anyway, and if you ever want to go behind the fence, you book an apron tour.