Flyvergrillen at Copenhagen Airport

Updated: October 2026 – If you ask in Copenhagen about the best place to spot, you almost always get the same answer: Flyvergrillen. At the end of Amager Landevej in Kastrup, a grill bar has stood right at the airport fence since 1972. From the terrace you look at runway 04L/22R and the taxiway in front of it, without a ladder, without admission and with a burger in your hand.

This page explains for which runway configuration the spot works, when the light is right, how to get there without a car and where to move when traffic runs over the other parallel runway.

From kiosk to scene meeting point

The history of Flyvergrillen is closely tied to the airport. In April 1972, a small kiosk opened at the end of Amager Landevej. The fact that the road ends here has to do with the expansion of the runways: Amager Landevej was cut off in the process, and traffic toward Store Magleby runs via Englandsvej through a tunnel under the airport.

Danish reference works describe that the airport was initially against the kiosk for security reasons. It stayed anyway – and because aircraft fans stood there for hours, the offering grew over time into a proper grill bar. In Danish you therefore also hear the name Lufthavnsgrillen. When high-profile visitors flew in, such as Air Force One during the visits of US presidents in 2005 and 2009, the grill was where spotters and TV crews gathered.

Today, by the consistent assessment of spotter guides, Flyvergrillen is the most popular location at Copenhagen Airport. That is due to the simple combination: a legal spot, clear view without a ladder, food and a restroom – and one of the two main runways right in front of you.

Kastrup Airport in numbers

Copenhagen Airport lies on the island of Amager, about eight kilometers south of the city center, mostly in the municipality of Tårnby. It is the largest airport in the Nordic countries and one of Europe’s oldest international hubs, opened in 1925. In 2025 it counted just under 32.4 million passengers and well over 256,000 aircraft movements.

What matters for spotters is the runway system: two parallel runways running northeast–southwest, 04L/22R at 3,600 meters and 04R/22L at 3,300 meters, plus the crosswind runway 12/30 at 2,800 meters. Flyvergrillen is on the west side and thus at the longer 04L/22R. Runway 04R/22L lies behind it, closer to the Øresund.

Runway configuration: what you see at the grill

Copenhagen usually uses the two parallel runways with a clear division of roles. According to spotter guides: with operations on 22, 22L is the main landing runway and 22R the main takeoff runway. With operations on 04, this reverses; then most aircraft land on 04L and takeoffs are predominantly from 04R.

For Flyvergrillen this means: in both cases you have traffic in front of you, just a different kind each time. With 22, departing aircraft start their roll on the runway right in front of you. The fence is high at this spot, and in some shots it hides part of the landing gear – find a place on the platform with a clear line. With 04, landings come in on 04L and then taxi along the taxiway very close to the fence. Those are the moments for frame-filling pictures with a short focal length.

Configuration	What you see at Flyvergrillen	Light	Recommendation
Operations on 22	Takeoffs on 22R right in front of you, landings on 22L far away	good from midday	Grill is the first choice, for landings go to P15/P17
Operations on 04	Landings on 04L, taxi traffic close to the fence, takeoffs from 04R in the distance	good from midday	very rewarding, in the evening keep takeoffs from 04R in view
Crosswind runway 12/30 active	little in front of you	–	rare – move to other spots

According to spotter guides, the crosswind runway 12/30 is used only rarely, for example in certain wind and weather conditions. Landings on 12 you can’t see from the grill at all. How wind and runway direction in use are connected is explained in the guide Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport.

Light and photography

Flyvergrillen is on the west side of the runways. You look east, and the sun moves behind you over the course of the day. In the early morning you shoot into backlight, from late morning it gets better, and the afternoon and early evening are the window you should come for.

You don’t need a ladder. For focal length, a telephoto zoom up to about 300 mm covers most of it. For aircraft on the taxiway on landings on 04L, short to medium focal lengths are enough, and even a standard zoom can do. For takeoffs on 22R you need more telephoto, and for landings on the faraway 22L, trying is really only worthwhile with widebody aircraft.

The biggest problem is heat shimmer. Between you and 04R/22L lie two wide asphalt surfaces over which the air flickers strongly on warm days. Pictures of the distant parallel runway then quickly get soft. During the day, concentrate on nearby traffic and save the distance for the evening, when the air gets calmer – then takeoffs from 04R are worthwhile too.

What you will see in Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a real hub, and you notice that at the fence: lots of Scandinavian traffic, plus a good portion of long-haul and cargo.

• SAS: SAS uses Copenhagen as its most important hub and shapes the picture with narrowbody jets like the Airbus A320neo and regional traffic. On long-haul, SAS flies to North America and Asia, among others, for example with the Airbus A350-900. Since September 2024, SAS is no longer part of Star Alliance but of SkyTeam.
• Low-cost: Norwegian and Ryanair have bases in Copenhagen, so you often see the Boeing 737-800 and its successors.
• Long-haul from the Middle East and Asia: Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines connect Copenhagen with their hubs. At the end of 2015, Emirates was the first airline with scheduled A380 flights in Scandinavia – which type is flying at the moment is best checked in advance on the flight tracker.
• North America: Besides SAS, Air Canada and, seasonally, Delta Air Lines also fly to Copenhagen.
• Nordic regional traffic: Widerøe and Finnair connect Copenhagen with Norway and Helsinki respectively, plus connections to the Faroe Islands and Greenland. You regularly see turboprops like the ATR 72-600 at the grill.
• Air Greenland: The widebody connection to Greenland is among the scene’s favorite subjects because it stands out with its red paint.
• European feeders: The big network airlines such as Lufthansa, KLM or British Airways also fly their hubs from Copenhagen.
• Cargo: According to the current overview, FedEx Express, Emirates SkyCargo and Ethiopian Cargo, among others, operate in Copenhagen.

Because Copenhagen is the gateway to Scandinavia, a detour across the Øresund or farther north is worthwhile: the hubs in Oslo, Stockholm-Arlanda and Helsinki show you the other sides of Nordic air traffic.

Getting there: car, metro and bus

By car, Flyvergrillen is easiest. You drive Amager Landevej to the end and park right at the grill. On sunny weekends it gets crowded; then don’t park on driveways or in the meadow.

By bus and train, you first get to the airport: Metro line M2 and the Øresundsbanen trains stop at Lufthavnen station at Terminal 3. From there bus 35 runs toward Tømmerup, and the Tømmerup Stationsvej stop is near the grill. The bus doesn’t run at a dense frequency, so look at the journey planner beforehand. Alternatively, walk: spotter guides cite about half an hour on foot from the terminals.

By bicycle you are most flexible. The paths around the airport are flat, and depending on the runway configuration, you can switch between the grill, Tømmerupvej and the north side of the airport.

What a good afternoon at Flyvergrillen looks like

What the country prefixes on the fuselage stand for is explained in the article Aircraft country prefixes, and how a registration is built, you can read at Understanding aircraft registrations.

What else belongs in your camera bag is covered in the Plane spotting gear checklist. Which focal length you need for which distance is explained in the article Lens and focal length for plane spotting. If you are brand new to this, the guide Plane spotting for beginners helps.

Backup spots around Copenhagen Airport

Because the grill mainly covers the western parallel runway, a second spot is worthwhile. At Tømmerupvej near Ullerup, you are close to the southwest end of 04L and stand under the final approach when landing is on 04. You can only park in a few spaces at the edge, and private property is off limits.

On the north side of the airport lie the long-term parking lots P15 and P17 near the final approach to 22L. Here you get the landings you see only from afar at the grill – P17 better in the morning, P15 better in the evening. The free parking shuttle runs from the terminals. There are no restrooms or benches there.

If you want to spot in the morning, look to the southeast side: at Store Magleby, a path leads to the fence of 04R/22L, with a view of line-up and takeoffs from 04R. There you need a small step ladder, and in summer the air shimmers strongly around midday. Some points mentioned earlier have disappeared from the spotter guides because of problems with private property – stick to public paths.

You will find similarly relaxed spots with infrastructure at the fence elsewhere in Europe too: at the Spotterplaats Polderbaan at Schiphol, you have an official spot at a long runway, and at the Affenfelsen in Hamburg a hill with a café – handy if you make a stopover on the way to Denmark. An overview of more destinations is in the article The best spotting spots in Europe.

Rules at the fence

Flyvergrillen lies outside the security area on publicly accessible grounds. To keep it that way, a few simple rules apply – and in Copenhagen you had better take them even more seriously than elsewhere.

In September 2025, the airport had to close for several hours after drone sightings. Shortly afterward, spotters reported police checks near the runways and advice not to stay at the fence after dark. That is no reason to stay away, but a reason to be friendly and transparent.

Consideration also applies toward the grill: it is a private business that has welcomed spotters for decades. If you use the platform for hours, buy something now and then and take your trash with you.

Conclusion

Flyvergrillen is one of the spots every plane spotter in Europe should see once. It combines a legal, raised standing area without a ladder with afternoon light on the airport’s longest runway, taxi traffic close to the fence and a burger in between. If you know the runway configuration and come from midday, you get the complete mix of everyday Scandinavian traffic, long-haul and turboprops here in a relaxed way.

Its limits lie in the airport’s geometry: the eastern parallel runway is far away and shimmers, in the morning you fight backlight, and with operations on the crosswind runway little happens. With Tømmerupvej and the parking lots on the north side of the airport as backup points, Flyvergrillen still becomes a full spotting day.