Spotting spots at Liège Airport

Updated: October 2026 – If you want to see freighters in Belgium, sooner or later you end up in Liège. The airport in Grâce-Hollogne, a good nine kilometers west of the city, is almost entirely geared toward cargo. Instead of holiday jets, jumbo freighters, 777Fs and whole rows of converted 737s roll over the runway here, around the clock.

There is no observation deck. Instead, hills, meadows and roadsides around the fence let you get close to the main runway. This page shows you which vantage points suit which runway direction and time of day, which airlines you can expect and how to handle night operations.

A cargo airport of European standing

Liège Airport has a long history as the Bierset military airfield. The air force used the site until 2011, while the civilian side grew in parallel. The decisive boost came in 1996 with the contract with express carrier TNT, which built its European air cargo hub here. TNT Airways, founded in 1999, went to ASL in 2016 when FedEx took over TNT Express, and today is called ASL Airlines Belgium; the airline belongs to ASL Aviation Holdings.

In 2018, Cainiao, the logistics arm of the Alibaba Group, chose Liège as its European location. Since then, e-commerce cargo from China has played a big role. According to the airport, more than 1.35 billion online-shopping parcels went through Liège in 2025, and the cargo volume rose 14 percent to about 1.32 million tons. By the end of September 2026, according to airport figures, it was already more than one million tons.

Passenger traffic, by contrast, is a footnote. The terminal is small, and TUI fly Belgium ended its leisure flights from Liège in early 2026; new offerings from other airlines have only been announced sporadically according to reports. For you as a spotter that is more of an advantage: almost every movement is a freighter.

Runways and runway direction

Liège has two parallel runways. The main runway 04R/22L is about 3,690 meters long and was extended in 2010 for heavy freighters. Next to it is 04L/22R at 2,340 meters, which according to spotter reports is used mainly by small aircraft. For you, therefore, almost only one question counts: whether flights go northeast (04) or southwest (22).

Older guides still talk about runways 05/23. The runways have carried the new numbers since July 2018. Why runway numbers change is explained in the article Runway designations at the airport. If you find a description with 05R or 23L, it is therefore at least a few years old – and many spots have changed since then.

Runway direction	Where you stand	Light	What you get
Landing and takeoff 22L	Hill and knoll at the GAT	Morning	Landings, line-ups, apron
Landing and takeoff 22L	Hill and dirt track near Bierset	late afternoon	Landings at the threshold, heavy takeoffs
Landing and takeoff 04R	Meadow on the Rue de l’Aéroport	Morning	Takeoffs, landings, taxi traffic close to the fence
Landing 04R	Roundabout Avenue Théodule Gonda, Rue du Bihet	Morning or summer evening	Low-altitude approaches

Which direction is used is decided mainly by the wind. Westerly weather patterns are common in Belgium, so you should expect operations on 22 – but you can’t rely on it. How to estimate the direction before you set off is explained in the guide Understanding runway direction at the airport.

The vantage points at a glance

Southeast side: terminal, hotel and cargo aprons

The southeast side has the terminal, the airport hotel and the big cargo aprons. Here you look northwest onto the runway, and in the morning the sun is behind you.

The best-known spot is the meadow on the Rue de l’Aéroport in the southwest of the grounds. Here you see takeoffs and landings on 04R as well as aircraft taxiing to the aprons after landing on 22L. There are a few photo openings in the fence, but you still need a ladder for a clear view. According to a spotter guide, about 40 to 45 millimeters of focal length is enough for a 747 or a 777 – that is how close you get to the widebody freighters here.

Farther northeast, reachable from the Park Inn via the Rue de l’Aéroport, are the hill and knoll at the General Aviation Terminal. From there you watch landings on 22L, line-ups and at times the apron. At the hill you need a ladder. According to an April 2026 update, the former vantage point at the airport parking lot is closed off.

Right at the cargo apron along the Rue de l’Aéroport are the parked freighters. A double fence makes photography difficult, and spotter guides name a ladder with at least seven steps here. For registrations and liveries, it is still a must-stop.

Northwest side: Bierset

On the other side of the runway lies the village of Bierset. Here you stand in the late afternoon with the sun at your back – in summer until sunset.

The hill at the 22L threshold delivers landings and line-ups without a ladder. According to an update from spring 2026, the row of trees in front was cut back, so the view is clear again. A bit farther out, at the dirt track on the Rue du Radar, you catch heavy departures from 22L in the climb; for a jumbo freighter you need about 300 millimeters there.

Approach to 04R

For landings on 04R there are two spots southwest of the airport: the roundabout on the Avenue Théodule Gonda with free marked parking spaces nearby and a meadow on the Rue du Bihet. Neither needs a ladder. At the roundabout the sun is good from the morning into the afternoon, at the Rue du Bihet mainly on summer evenings.

What flies in Liège

Liège is a paradise for freighter fans because integrators, cargo divisions of big airlines and charter operators come together here. What exactly shows up on a given day depends on the flight schedule and on ad hoc jobs.

• ASL Airlines Belgium: The airport’s home airline and the former TNT Airways. ASL Airlines Belgium flies for FedEx, among others, for e-commerce customers such as Alibaba and for DHL. As of October 2025, the fleet consists mainly of 737-800BCFs, plus some 737-400SFs and a few 747-400Fs and 747-400ERFs.
• FedEx: FedEx Express operates the Euro Hub LGG in Liège. Which widebody freighters come changes with the rotation – candidates include types such as the Boeing 777F or the 767-300F.
• Challenge: The Challenge group has its own hangars in Liège. Challenge Airlines brings mainly Boeing 747 freighters to the fence.
• Cargo divisions of big airlines: Qatar Airways Cargo, Ethiopian Cargo, CMA CGM Air Cargo and Air China Cargo are among the names that show up in Liège.
• Charter and exotics: Companies such as Atlas Air, Air Atlanta Icelandic or Antonov Airlines are listed in the company directory of the cargo site. An Antonov An-124 can never be planned for, but in Liège it is not ruled out either.

Around the Cainiao Liège eHub, various airlines fly in e-commerce cargo from China. You shouldn’t expect a uniform Cainiao livery – this traffic is recognizable more by the routes. How the big parcel carriers organize their networks is covered in the article on the integrators DHL, FedEx and UPS.

If you mix up 747-400Fs, 747-8Fs and converted passenger jumbos, the guide Identifying Boeing 747 variants helps. General freighter features such as missing windows and large cargo doors are explained in Identifying freighters.

Night operations: Liège after sunset

The airport is open around the clock, and according to its own information about 60 flights take off and land each night. Many freighters are scheduled so that goods are transshipped overnight. For classic daylight shots that is a disadvantage, for night photography an opportunity.

Good options are the hills at the GAT and the rooms of the Park Inn, from which, according to a spotter guide, night shots are also possible. Which other hotels in Europe offer a runway view is shown in the article Hotels with a runway view. Lit aprons, light trails on takeoff and taxiing freighters against the floodlit backdrop are typical subjects. A sturdy tripod, fast lenses and patience with exposures matter more here than a long telephoto. How to get a handle on shutter speed, ISO and focus in the dark is explained in Photographing aircraft at night. Which type is blinking over there is revealed by the position lights – more in the article Identifying aircraft at night.

Light and photography

Because the runway runs from southwest to northeast, the side determines the light. On the southeast side with the terminal, hotel and aprons, the sun is behind you from the morning until about early afternoon. On the northwest side near Bierset, it’s the late afternoon’s turn, in summer until sunset. In winter there is little time for the northwest side, so the southeast side is usually the better choice.

With focal lengths you are flexible in Liège. On the Rue de l’Aéroport, short focal lengths are often enough for widebody freighters, at the hills you are usually between 50 and 300 millimeters, and for takeoffs in the climb you need more. Which lens suits which spot is explained in the article on focal length in plane spotting. On warm days, heat shimmer above the long runway softens shots at the far end – then focus on aircraft near you.

The exact sun position for your date is best planned in advance, as described in the guide Planning the sun position at a photo spot.

Getting there: car, bus and train

By car, Liège is easiest. The airport is right on the E42 motorway, and Aachen is about 45 kilometers away as the crow flies. By car you switch quickly between the sides – and you need that here when wind or light change.

By bus and train it also works, but more slowly. From Liège-Guillemins station, TEC bus line 57 runs to the airport and along the Rue de l’Aéroport. Lines 83 and 85 serve the northwest side near Bierset. Bierset-Awans station is also located to the north. Some spots can only be reached from the stops with longer walks.

How a good day in Liège goes

What else belongs in your camera bag is covered in the Plane spotting gear checklist.

Fallback spots and combinations in the region

Liège is in a region where freighters, military and scheduled traffic combine well. Not far away, across the Dutch border, you find Maastricht Aachen Airport with freighters and ad hoc charters on a single runway. A bit farther, on the German border, is the Teveren spotting hill at the NATO airbase Geilenkirchen with the AWACS aircraft. And if you want scheduled and long-haul traffic as well, head to Brussels Airport and the Steenokkerzeel spotting zone; more tips are in the article Plane spotting in Brussels.

Rules at the fence

All spots are outside the security area, but many border private property: truck parking lots, company grounds, hotel areas. Spotter guides report that security and police do ask questions here and also send spotters away. Stay friendly, show what you are doing, and leave when asked.

Think of the residents too: night operations are a point of contention in the region, and spotters who make noise or block paths at night help no one. Take your trash with you and drive quietly.

Verdict

Liège is not a comfortable spot, but one of the most rewarding for freighter fans in central Europe. With a long main runway, widebody freighters in large numbers and operations around the clock, you get subjects that passenger airports hardly offer. The price is ladders, planning and a car or a lot of patience.

If you know the runway direction, stand on the southeast side in the morning and at Bierset in the evening, and keep an eye on the flight schedule, you leave Liège with a full memory card. And if you don’t shy away from the night, you see the airport from its true side.