Plane spotting at Heathrow: all spots, runway alternation and light

You are standing at Myrtle Avenue, the camera is ready – and above you the sky is empty, while on the other side of the airport widebody jets touch down every minute. At Heathrow that happens quickly if you don’t know the rotation schedule. Europe’s busiest airport has only two runways, and their roles change on a fixed timetable. Plane spotting at Heathrow therefore mostly means: know beforehand which runway is landing right now, and then stand at the right runway end. This guide explains the runway alternation, shows you the spots at all four runway ends and tells you when the light cooperates.

Plane spotting at Heathrow: the short answer

London Heathrow Airport (IATA LHR, ICAO EGLL) lies about 23 kilometers west of central London and is the home hub of British Airways. All traffic runs over two parallel east–west runways: the north runway 09L/27R at 3,902 meters and the south runway 09R/27L at 3,660 meters. Because both are in operation almost all the time, but with separate tasks, a fixed plan decides where aircraft land and where they take off.

For you, that means: with the wind forecast and the rotation schedule, you know the evening before at which runway end you will get landings at what time. There is no observation deck, but there are some of the most impressive approach spots in Europe – above all the meadow at Myrtle Avenue.

Runway alternation: how the rotation schedule works

Heathrow lies in the middle of densely populated west London. So that residents under the approach paths don’t get noise all day, the airport distributes the landings in a fixed rhythm. This procedure is called runway alternation, and it is the most important factor for your planning.

Westerly operations: swap at 3 p.m.

Aircraft land into the wind. In London it blows from the west for much of the year, so aircraft come in from the east over the city and land on 27L or 27R. According to Heathrow, the alternation begins at 6 a.m.: one runway takes the landings, the other the takeoffs. At 3 p.m. they swap roles, and that applies until the last departure of the day.

On top of that comes a weekly rhythm. The pattern from one week’s afternoon becomes the pattern for the morning in the following week. If 27L lands until 3 p.m. this week, next week it is the landing runway only from 3 p.m. Heathrow publishes the plan for the whole year on its own website – a look at it is part of every Heathrow plan.

The exceptions you should know

Between 6 and 7 a.m., the busiest arrival hour, both runways may be used for landings. So if you are on site early, you get approaches on both sides. If arrival traffic later backs up so much that delays of 20 minutes or more threaten, air traffic control can place up to six landings per hour on the departure runway after 7 a.m. Heathrow calls this procedure TEAM.

The plan can also deviate: during maintenance work on a runway, in strong southwest wind that makes the approach to the north runway difficult, or when air traffic control decides for safety reasons, for example in poor visibility. So the rule is: read the plan, but cross-check briefly on site.

Easterly operations: everything on 09L

When the wind turns east, aircraft land coming from the west heading east. Then the swap at 3 p.m. does not happen. The reason is the former Cranford Agreement, which prohibited takeoffs from the north runway toward the east. The agreement has been repealed, but before swapping can also happen with an east wind, Heathrow still has to complete changes to the infrastructure. Until then, aircraft land on 09L and take off from 09R with easterly operations.

British government policy also favors takeoffs toward the west – with light winds, westerly operations are therefore the rule. How to read wind and runway direction in use in general is explained in the guide Understanding runway direction in use at airports. You read the current wind at EGLL in the METAR – how that works is covered in Reading METAR and TAF.

Weather situation	Landings	Takeoffs	Best spot for landings
West wind, south runway landing	27L	27R	Myrtle Avenue, Hatton Cross
West wind, north runway landing	27R	27L	North side: viewing shelter, hotels on Bath Road
East wind	09L	09R	Stanwell Moor Road in the west
6 to 7 a.m. with west wind	27L and 27R	depending on the situation	both sides possible

The spots at all four runway ends

Myrtle Avenue: the classic at 27L

Myrtle Avenue is a quiet residential street in the Hatton district at the southeast corner of the airport. At its end, a meadow opens up directly under the final approach to 27L. The aircraft cross the A30 shortly before and touch down a few seconds later. You shoot them from below, at an angle from the front or – a few meters to the side – in profile. A telephoto zoom up to 200 mm covers almost everything; for an A380 directly above you, a standard zoom is often enough.

Because you stand south of the approach line, you have the sun at your back or to the side during the day. According to spotter guides, the light works all day in winter and in summer from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are no restrooms or kiosk at the spot, and parking is scarce in the residential area. Getting there is best by Piccadilly line to Hatton Cross and a walk of about seven to ten minutes along the A30.

Hatton Cross: base camp with its own vantage points

For many, Hatton Cross is just the Tube station on the way to Myrtle Avenue. Around the junction, though, there are vantage points of their own under the approach to 27L, such as the sidewalks right at the junction on Great South-West Road (A30). The catch: these vantage points lie north of the approach line. According to spotter guides, you only have good light there from May to August in the early morning and evening, when the sun is in the northeast or northwest. In winter, you are better off walking the few extra minutes to Myrtle Avenue. The big advantage of Hatton Cross: station, bus station and supplies are right next door.

North side: viewing shelter and hotels at 27R

If the north runway is landing in the current week, you move to the north side. There, a covered viewing shelter on Northern Perimeter Road (Newall Road, near the building of the former Aviation Academy) and several hotels on Bath Road with rooms facing the airfield are known. According to spotter guides, the shelter was set up as a replacement for a former terrace. It has a parking lot and a roof, but photographically it is not perfect – and if you park on the double yellow lines, you risk a fine.

Because you look south from the north side, you shoot into the sun during the day. It gets good there on summer mornings and evenings or on bright, overcast days. Tips for the hotel with a runway view are in the article Hotels with runway views in Europe. How to use backlight creatively instead of being annoyed by it is shown in Backlight in aircraft photography.

Stanwell Moor Road: the spot for easterly operations

Stanwell Moor Road (A3044) runs along the western boundary of the airport. According to spotter guides, it is the best place for landings from the west, especially on 09L, and approaches to 09R can also be observed from here. You hardly have any other views of the airfield from the road, and there is no infrastructure. Take care not to obstruct the heavy traffic. Because you look toward the approaches to the west, the sun is more likely behind you in the morning.

Terminal 4: for passengers only

According to spotter guides, Heathrow’s only official viewing area is in Terminal 4 – but behind security. If you are departing from there anyway, it is worth a look. For a pure spotting day, it is not an option. What to bear in mind when photographing in the terminal is in Photographing in the terminal.

Light at Heathrow: south beats north

Both runways run east–west, and the sun in London is in the south at midday. That gives a simple rule of thumb: on the south side you have the better light during the day, on the north side only at the edges of the day.

Spot	Viewing direction	Good light
Myrtle Avenue	north and east	in summer about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., in winter all day
Hatton Cross, sidewalks at the station	south	May to August, early morning and evening
North side (Newall Road, Bath Road)	south	summer mornings and evenings, overcast days
Stanwell Moor Road	west	mostly in the morning

In summer, the sun in London rises far in the northeast and sets in the northwest. Then the north side and the vantage points at Hatton Cross station also get their low-angle light. In winter the sun stays low in the south all day – ideal for Myrtle Avenue, difficult for everything north of the runways. How to calculate the light window for your spotting day precisely is shown in Planning the sun position at a photo spot. With the sun position planner in Planetrack you see directly on the spot map when the sun is at your back at your spot.

The perfect spotting day at Heathrow

With a west wind, a day at Heathrow can be planned well around the rotation schedule and light. The order depends on which runway lands in the morning in your week.

Widebody aircraft arrive at Heathrow in waves, and many long-haul flights from Asia and North America land in the early morning. Which arrivals are typical when is explained in When long-haul flights land in Europe. For fine-tuning on site, flight tracking via ADS-B helps.

What you get in front of your lens at Heathrow

Heathrow is a global hub, and that is exactly what makes it so special. British Airways shapes the picture with its short-haul and long-haul fleet: from the Airbus A320neo and A321neo through the Boeing 777-200ER and 777-300ER, the 787-9 and 787-10 to the A350-1000 and A380. BA belongs, like Iberia and Aer Lingus, to the International Airlines Group and is a member of oneworld.

Add Virgin Atlantic, which is based here, and long-haul from all over the world: Emirates and Qatar Airways with widebody jets, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Air India from Asia, plus American Airlines, United and Delta from North America. Feeders from Europe, such as Lufthansa, round out the picture. Fleet status and routes change constantly – the types here reflect the situation as of October 2026.

If you want to tell the A380 and 747 apart on approach, Telling the A380 and Boeing 747 apart helps; for the Boeing widebodies, Telling the Boeing 777 and 787 apart. A special guest, by the way, has stood on the airport grounds for years: the former BA Concorde G-BOAB. Where exactly it is parked at the moment and whether you can see it from a public spot changes occasionally. Its story is told in The history of Concorde.

Getting there, weather and gear

The Piccadilly line of the London Underground serves four stations at the airport: Terminals 2 & 3, Terminal 4, Terminal 5 and Hatton Cross at the southeast corner. For the spots at 27L, Hatton Cross is your starting point. The Elizabeth line and the Heathrow Express from Paddington also run to the terminals. You reach the north side and Stanwell Moor Road by bus or car, but parking is scarce in the residential areas. Check lines and times beforehand with Transport for London.

English weather changes quickly. A rain cover for the camera belongs in your bag, and on windy days a look at crosswind landings is worthwhile – how to capture them is shown in Filming crosswind landings. At Myrtle Avenue a telephoto zoom up to 200 mm is enough; on the north side and at Stanwell Moor Road, more focal length helps. More on this in Which focal length for plane spotting?. Why a big telephoto lens sometimes raises questions and how to stay calm is explained in Big telephoto lens, big suspicion.

Heathrow compared

If you come from Germany, you usually know airports with observation decks and hills. Heathrow works differently: no official spot for visitors, but residential streets under the approaches and a rotation schedule that makes planning predictable. Schiphol is similarly rule-driven, where noise protection determines the direction of each runway. If you want to cover London on a long weekend, combine Heathrow with the Gatwick spotting guide. For a rainy day, the Brooklands Museum southwest of London is a good choice, and in the north of England the Runway Visitor Park in Manchester is worthwhile. More destinations are presented in The best spotting locations in Europe.

Conclusion

Plane spotting at Heathrow rewards everyone who reads the rotation schedule. Two runways, a swap at 3 p.m. and a weekly rhythm sound like bureaucracy, but they make every spotting day plannable: west wind and the south runway landing mean Myrtle Avenue, the north runway landing means the north side, an east wind means Stanwell Moor Road. Add a variety of types that hardly any other airport in Europe offers – from the A320neo to the A380, from all continents.