Liverpool – Spotting at the Airport (Viscount Drive)

With two rail journeys under my belt (read about those here and here), my arrival into Liverpool meant it was time for the first of two lots of AvGeekery for the trip, with Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport (LPL/EGPP) being today’s plane spotting location. As with the vast majority of UK airports, Liverpool doesn’t have an ‘official’ spotting area and so my visit was to Viscount Road at the eastern end of the north side of the airport.

Unfortunately, this location is a bit of a pain to get to by public transport from the city centre with it taking around 50 minutes and £6.70 to get to the bus stop closest to Viscount Road. Firstly, I took a train from Lime Street to Liverpool South Parkway, then a bus to the airport terminal and finally another bus from the airport to Viscount Road. On the way back into the city I tried an alternative route via Hunts Cross which was comparable time wise but saved £2 as it only required one bus.

There are a couple of other options for spotting at Liverpool, although I didn’t try these out on this visit. The first is the gardens of Speke Hall, a National Trust (NT) property, at the western end of the airport. With this being NT there is obviously an entry charge unless you’re a member and the hall/gardens are quite a walk from the closest bus stop. A long walk is also required to reach Dungeon Lane on the south-eastern corner of the airport, with access by public transport the same as the Viscount Lane spot but with a longer walk.

Viscount Lane is a very basic spotting location at one of the crash gates at the Hale end of the runway with absolutely zero facilities. There is a corner shop a few minute walk away and the terminal with full facilities is a five minute bus ride. The crash gate is close to the access to the flight school and so there was a reasonable amount of traffic on the lane, however overall it wasn’t the nicest of areas to spot at.

As a medium sized UK regional airport, Liverpool has the usual mix of airlines with EasyJet, Ryanair and Loganair all making appearances during my visit. The airport is also served by Jet2, Wizz and Aer Lingus Regional as well as seasonal flights from Aurigny, Dan Air, Play, and SunExpress. During the hour and a half that I was at the airport, there should have been eight arrivals and seven departures, however various delays limited the number of movements I saw to just five.

In terms of pictures the spot was limited during my visit owing to a combination of the runway in use (09) and the sun being to the south of the airport. If arrivals used the full length of runway 09 then photos of them turning off and taxiing were possible, however as proven by G-EZDN, when an earlier turnoff was used the aircraft weren’t visible. I would imagine that earlier in the morning with the sun to the east would allow good photos if runway 27 was in use as departing aircraft would all taxi past to line up for departure.

The arrivals of G-EZOM and EI-EBO completed the trio of arrivals I was able to see during my visit, with G-LMTA and EI-EMB departing with Liverpudlians heading for early summer breaks. Overall the spot at Viscount Road isn’t great, although would have been better at a different time of day with runway 27 in use. Also, the timings of my visit meant the aircraft I spotted were limited to easyJet, Ryanair and Loganair, so with some better timings, you could get the more interesting visitors of Aurigny, Aer Lingus Regional and Play.

Viewing location                   3*

Charge (free)                       5*

Facilities                          0*

Variety of Traffic                 2*

LPL (Viscount Dr) Overall Score    2.5*