Is plane spotting legal? What applies at airports in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

You are standing at the fence with a telephoto lens, a patrol car rolls slowly past – and suddenly you wonder whether this is actually okay. The short answer: plane spotting is allowed. The long answer depends on where you stand, what you photograph and what you do with the pictures. This overview sorts out the most important rules for Germany, Austria and Switzerland so you can stand at your spot with peace of mind.

The short answer in 30 seconds

If you watch aircraft from a public path, a field at the edge of the approach corridor or an official observation deck and photograph them for private purposes, you are within the permitted range in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It gets problematic in four places:

• Private property and house rules: On airport grounds, the operator decides what is allowed.
• Restricted areas: Fences, gates and closed-off areas are not a suggestion but a boundary.
• Military installations: Separate bans and criminal provisions apply to them in all three countries.
• Drones, lasers and ladders: Anything that can disrupt or endanger flight operations is a topic of its own.

House rules: who owns the ground under your feet?

Airports are generally not public places in the legal sense but the business premises of a company. The terminal, parking garages, forecourts and observation decks fall under the operator’s house rules. In an airport usage regulation or house rules, it sets out what is allowed there – and its staff can use these as a basis to ask you to stop doing something or to leave.

An example from practice: Munich Airport clearly separates editorial coverage, which is handled by the press office, from commercial photo and film productions, which are approved through a dedicated service center. Such productions come with conditions, for example that operations must be disturbed as little as possible. For you as a private spotter, this means: souvenir photos and aircraft pictures for your own collection are something different from a commissioned shoot in the terminal.

Outside the fence – on public roads, bike paths and farm tracks – the airport’s house rules do not apply; the general law for public areas does. But be careful: not every meadow next to the runway is public. Fields, company parking lots and commercial properties belong to someone, and if the owner wants you gone, you should respect that.

Restricted areas and fences: this is where it ends

The fence around the apron and the runways is the hardest boundary in plane spotting. Behind it begins the security area, which only authorized persons may enter. Anyone who enters without authorization risks proceedings in Germany for trespassing under § 123 StGB (German Criminal Code) – the law provides for imprisonment of up to one year or a fine. Depending on the case, further consequences can follow, such as a ban from the premises or claims by the operator if operations have to be interrupted because of you.

Things can get tricky even without climbing:

• Objects through or over the fence: Pushing lenses through the mesh, letting tripods stick out over the fence or throwing something onto the grounds – none of it is a good idea.
• Ladders at the fence: Many spotters use small step stools to shoot over the fence. Whether that is tolerated depends on the airport and the location. Where signs or staff prohibit it, the discussion is over.
• Escape routes and access roads: Gates, fire service access roads and maintenance paths must always stay clear – your car included.

Military airfields: the tricky special case

Air bases, military airfields and military areas at civilian airports have their own rules – and in all three countries they are considerably stricter than civilian house rules.

Country	Legal basis (excerpt)	What it means for you
Germany	§ 109g StGB “Sicherheitsgefährdendes Abbilden” (depicting that endangers security)	Depicting military facilities is a criminal offense if it knowingly endangers Germany’s security or the combat effectiveness of the troops. There is a separate paragraph for aerial photographs taken from an aircraft.
Austria	§ 4 Sperrgebietsgesetz 2002 (Restricted Areas Act)	Photographing, filming and drawing a restricted area or a military facility within it is prohibited, except with the permission of the responsible military authority.
Switzerland	Art. 329 StGB and the federal act on the protection of military installations	Anyone who unlawfully depicts military establishments or objects, or publishes such images, can be fined; entering prohibited military premises is also covered.

In practice, this does not mean that every photo of a fighter jet on final approach is forbidden. What matters is whether an area is marked as a military restricted zone and whether there is explicit permission – for example at air shows, open days or in official spectator zones. Signs prohibiting photography are no formality at military sites. And abroad this applies even more: some countries have far less of a sense of humor when it comes to aircraft photography.

Drones at airports: practically always off limits

The idea of filming an A350 on final approach from above is tempting. Legally, though, it is hardly feasible for hobby pilots near airports.

• Germany: Under § 21h of the Air Traffic Regulations (Luftverkehrs-Ordnung), drone operation within 1,000 meters of the boundary of airports is only permitted in the “specific” category. The same applies to a 1,000-meter-wide strip on either side of the runway centerlines, which are extended by 5 kilometers in the approach and departure directions. Around airfields that are not airports, a distance of 1.5 kilometers applies, which may only be undercut with consent (for example from the aviation authority or the airfield operator) or in the “specific” category. You can find the official map for this on the dipul platform.
• Austria: Austria has defined geographical zones around airports and airfields in which drones may only fly under certain conditions. Austro Control shows the zones in the Dronespace app; since the rules were comprehensively revised in 2025, it is worth checking for current information before every flight. Without the clearance required there, the drone stays on the ground.
• Switzerland: Within 5 kilometers of airfields and heliports, a drone over 0.5 kilograms needs prior authorization – depending on the airfield, from the airfield operator or, at larger airports, from the air navigation service provider Skyguide.

Regardless of aviation law: a drone near departing and landing aircraft is a real safety risk. Keep your spotting on the ground – with a good telephoto lens you get better pictures anyway. Which focal lengths are worth it is covered in the equipment checklist for plane spotters.

Laser pointers, flash and lights: no joke

Here is a topic that should have nothing to do with spotting but keeps coming up: laser pointers and powerful lamps aimed at the cockpit. In Germany, such blinding attacks can be prosecuted as dangerous interference with air traffic under § 315 StGB. The law provides for imprisonment from six months up to ten years. Even if you only briefly point your flashlight in the wrong direction while packing: when spotting at night on the approach, light points down, never toward the sky. Flash on aircraft on approach is taboo for the same reason – it does nothing for the photo anyway.

People in the picture: respect personality rights

Aircraft have no personality rights, people do. As soon as crew, ground staff, passengers or other spotters are recognizable in your picture, additional rules apply:

• Germany: Under the Art Copyright Act (Kunsturhebergesetz), images of people may generally only be distributed with consent. There are exceptions, among others when people appear only as incidental elements next to the actual subject. The GDPR applies as well.
• Austria: The protection of likenesses in the Copyright Act protects against the legitimate interests of the person depicted being violated by publication.
• Switzerland: The right to personality in the Civil Code also protects your own image; publication without justification can violate it.

A simple rule is enough in practice: the aircraft is the subject, people are at most a side note. Portraits of pilots in the cockpit window or close-ups of passengers at the gate you publish only with consent – or you make faces unrecognizable.

Checks at the fence: how to stay relaxed

If you spot regularly, sooner or later someone will approach you – the police, the federal police (Bundespolizei), a security guard or airport staff. That is not an accusation but routine: people with long lenses at the security fence simply stand out.

A classic among spotters: many airports offer official visitor areas where plane spotting is explicitly welcome. The visitors’ hill at Munich Airport and the observation deck in Düsseldorf are good examples. Here you are on the legally safe side as long as you follow the respective site rules. At Zurich Airport and Frankfurt Airport, too, it is worth checking out the official visitor offerings.

Flight data, radio and publishing

Noting registrations, tracking flights with flight tracking services and sharing your own photos in the community – all of this is everyday plane spotting and legally unproblematic. How flight tracking services get their position data is explained in the article on flight tracking with ADS-B. Restraint is appropriate when it comes to security procedures, staff in security areas or movements of state and military aircraft: what you make public live can, in individual cases, reveal more than you would like. If you work commercially with your photos, you should also know the respective airport’s conditions for commercial shoots.

Checklist before your next spotting day

Conclusion

Plane spotting is a legal and welcome hobby in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as long as you know the limits. On airport grounds the operator’s house rules apply, behind the fence the restricted area begins, and military installations are a case of their own. Drones and laser pointers have no place at an airport. If you also show consideration for the people in your pictures and stay calm during checks, you have little to fear from the law. If you are just getting started, the beginner’s guide has everything else you need for your first day at the spot.