Vadim Stepanov | aviaspotting.com
SPOTTING REPORT
Recently I made a three-week trip to Mexico and Central America visiting eight countries combining business, leisure and, of course, spotting. The spotting part of this tour turned out to be quite eventful and interesting.
The trip started and finished in Cuba, as this country is the most convenient entry and exit point if travelling from Russia. Then I visited Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia as a stopover. During this trip I took 14 flights with 6 airlines and photographed planes in 13 airports.
The airports vary in size – from large hubs like Mexico City and Bogota to small regional ones like Panama City Center, but there is something to photograph in all of them. The level of convenience for spotting also varies, but you can find places to shoot in every airport.
Few words about safety. Central America is considered an unsafe region, and airports are often located in the most non-touristy places. Therefore, the issue of safety is important. In fact, everything turned out much better than expected – I was alone everywhere, armed with expensive photographic equipment and did not meet or feel any danger anywhere. So, as in other places for spotting, in Central America it is enough to be guided by common sense and the usual minimal precautions.
Let’s get back to airports and planes. Here is a list of airports where I photographed with my spotting ratings, which evaluate traffic, variety of airlines and convenience of the spots, backed up by some actual data on the number of flights and airlines. See details in the brief Spotting Guides for each particular airport.
| Airport | Air Traffic | Airline Variety | Spotting Locations |
| Varadero ( VRA) |  |  | |
| Havana Jose Marti (HAV) | |  |  |
| Mexico City (MEX) |  | | |
| Puerto Vallarta (PVR) | | | |
| Merida (MID) | | | |
| Cancun (CUN) | | | |
| Guatemala City La Aurora (GUA) | | | |
| San Salvador (SAL) | | | |
| Managua (MGA) | | | |
| San Jose Juan Santamaria (SJO) | | | |
| Panama City Tocumen (PTY) | | | |
| Panama City Albrook (PAC) | | | |
| Bogota El Dorado (BOG) | | | |
The rating shows that the best places for spotting among these 13 airports are Mexico City, Bogota and San Jose. Do not build high expectations from spotting in Varadero and Managua. However in the Panama City Albrook Airport, although it has minimal traffic and only one airline, there are excellent points for shooting.
Below is a brief description of my experience in each of the airports.
Varadero Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport (VRA)
Cuba’s hub for charter flights with beach tourists from the US, Canada and Russia. Despite some variety of airlines, the number of flights per day is small, and photography is only possible from the airplane window or from the terminal. But in last case, you need to manage to find a point where you can take a photo without overlapping double glazing – the arrivals and departures areas in Varadero are on the same level, and the corridor for arriving passengers runs along the perimeter of the departure hall.
Havana Jose Marti International Airport (HAV)
The main attraction of this airport is the opportunity to see the planes of the Cuban airline Cubana – the Russian Il-96 and Tu-204. It is not easy to see them flying, but many planes are stored at the airport. In addition, about 30 airlines from the USA, Latin America and Russia fly to Havana.
Taking photos from the terminal is about as bad as in Varadero. However, there is an excellent spot for shooting on the perimeter of the airport, but you should not go there without prior notification of the authorities. Spotting in Cuba is not prohibited, but it is not something common either. To access the spot, it is better to ask for help from the local spotting community.
For details, see my report on spotting in Havana.
Mexico City International Airport (MEX)
Mexico main airport is second busiest in Latin America, after Bogota. With around 1000 departures and arrivals per day, shutter clicking every few minutes is guaranteed. However, the monotonous traffic, where the overwhelming majority are Aeromexico planes, can quickly become boring. In addition to the national carrier, there are many other Mexicans – Volaris, Viva Airbus and some others. Plus airlines from the USA, South American countries and some flights from Europe.
There are several great spots around the airport – I can recommend the McDonald’s Bridge spot and especially the La Casa de la Aviacion spotters cafe.
Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR)
The airport of the resort city on the Pacific coast receives flights from all Mexican and most American airlines, as well as some companies from Central America. Traffic is moderately frequent and diverse. There are several good spots at the airport (both landside and airside) and nearby. Near the airport there is an inexpensive Aeropuerto ONE hotel, several rooms of which on the upper floors overlook the airfield.
Merida Rejon (MID)
Around 20-25 departures per day and restricted number of airlines do not allow to consider this airport a good spotting destination. Nothing unusual, except cargo traffic. There are no convenient places for photographing airplanes either, except for large windows in the departure hall.
Cancun International Airport (CUN)
Airport is very busy and has more airlines than any other airport in Mexico / Central America. Lot of regular and charter flights from US, Canada, South America and Europe provide the great variety of colors. The bad thing is that, except for the terminal, there are no good spots for photos. The best that we could find was a spot on the avenue that runs west from the airport. However, the shooting conditions there and viewing angle are far from optimal.
Guatemala City La Aurora International Airport (GUA)
The country’s main airport is located near the city center and is surrounded by picturesque mountains, which makes landings difficult, but provides a good backdrop for photos. The traffic is quite extensive and varied and includes, in addition to Mexican, US and Central American airlines, flights of the Guatemalan carrier TAG Airlines with several Embraers and ATRs. There are a couple of good photo spots in La Aurora. One of them is a Best Western Plus Hotel Stofella, the upper floors of which offer an excellent view of the airfield. Another spot is a specially equipped photo spot (a rarity for Latin America) near the terminal – several holes have been made in the airport’s mesh fence for cameras.
San Salvador International Airport (SAL)
New international airport of El Salvador located far away from the capital of the state, about an hour’s drive. Most of the traffic is handled by Avianca. San Salvador is a hub for local subsidiaries of Avianca and Volaris. In addition, flights from neighboring countries and the United States fly to Salvador. There are no convenient places for planespotting around the airport, but the long corridors of the combined arrival and departure halls with large windows allow you to see everything that happens on the runway and airfield.
Managua Augusto C. Sandino International Airport (MGA)
MGA is the less busy airport among Central American capital cities. In addition to the usual Avianca, Aeromexico and Copa, local specialties include Conviasa flights from Venezuela and rare flights by the local company La Costeña. There are no good spots around the airport, so you can look for an opportunity to take a few shots on the airport access road.
San Jose Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO)
Probably the best airport for spotting in Central America. Quite heavy traffic, a wide variety of airlines and convenient photo spots make SJO a favorite. Of the spots, the best is the road near the DHL warehouses opposite the terminals. It is good to watch both takeoffs and landings. In the terminal you can also shoot through the large windows in the departure hall.
Panama City Tocumen International Airport (PTY)
Statistically, this is the busiest airport in the region. But it is not the best for spotting. More than 90% of the traffic is provided by the local company Copa Airlines. There are few foreign carriers. Good spots for plane pictures can be found on the pedestrian bridges on the highway running along the western perimeter of the airport. However, from there you can only see the traffic of one of the runways. The second is too far. On the plus side, there is active cargo traffic, where the diversity is greater than in the passenger sector.
Panama City International Airport (PAC)
Albrook Marcos A. Gelaber” International Airport is the smallest airport visited on this tour. This cozy airport is located near the center of Panama City and serves only local flights of Air Panama, flying now exotic Fokker 50s. An excellent spotting point is on the first floor of the nearby McDonald’s, from the balcony of which the runway is clearly visible. You can also shoot from the Panama Canal Administration building, past which planes fly a minute before landing.
Bogota El Dorado International Airport (BOG)
The busiest airport in all of Latin America is worth visiting, firstly, because of the landing surrounded by mountain peaks, and secondly, because of the interesting and intense air traffic. Avianca dominates, of course, but many other airlines from North, Central and South America and even Europe fly to Bogota. Several local carriers (SATENA, Click, Wingo, JetSmart Colombia) are also interesting. Since I was in transit in Bogota, I only took photos from the terminal building. But the terminal 1 has great large windows from which you can see all the traffic on northern the runway, both landside and airside. There are also several spotting points around the airport perimeter, but spotting from there is not easy.
Overall, I can summarize that I got great pleasure from spotting, planning the trip and searching for photo spots both on maps and on site. I managed to take pictures in each of the airports – with varying quality and varying degrees of satisfaction, but everywhere. Eight countries, 13 airports, dozens of new airlines, several hundred planes, a lot of impressions and countless photos. Some of which will definitely be published on this website. Stay tuned for updates.
See Also
Blood, Sweat and Tears. Spotting in Havana, Cuba | Spotting Report
Spotting Guides sections of this website for brief guides and spotting maps of all these 13 airports
aviaspotting.com 