Sydney Airport and Plane Spotters

[Kurt A]

Just in lieu of the recent announcement detailing the closure of the Sydney Airport observation deck and more so specifically in contrast to the backlash displayed in various forums and social media to the announcement itself, I just wanted to write a note of clarification regarding comments raised in general about Airport Spotting locations, Airside Spotting Tours, competitions and Sydney Airport's desire to cater to our aviation enthusiasts etc...

This is not an editorial sticking up or defending Sydney Airport, rather a perspective entertaining both sides of the coin to which I think can be discussed with a mature and educated approach. I personally have my own views on the above topics and a strong desire towards maintaining the positive-to-date relationship between "Plane Spotters" and Sydney Airport of which I've worked hard so far to employ of late on behalf of our forum, hence why I wanted to document the below.

With regards to Airside Tours and competitions; where possible, Sydney Airport has proactively engaged with the aviation community either through us (YSSY Forum) or via social media and through their own communication portals to provide controlled airside access on private tours, via not only as part of a media call or through competitions but also a unique and exclusive Plane Spotting Airside Tour.

Specifically for the Air India 787 event, two Plane Spotter seats were made available on the media bus for this event. Thus a competition was raised to entertain selection. Whilst only a small minority of people could be chosen as winners, the opportunity for anyone to enter and win was however completely open (except by age restriction if I remember correctly) and free to the public. Entry T&Cs were available for the entire public to review and the public even voted for the ten shortlisted photographs which made up that competition. Sometimes competition is a good way to determine who can attend an event as it's an all-fair approach when only a limited number of seats are available. Naturally not everyone can be selected to gain a seat on the bus, but competition can be a fun way to draw interest, engage people, provide interactivity and to allow an even playing ground for selection.

Airside access for six more Plane Spotters was delightfully made available on the Media Bus for the recent inaugural Sichuan Airlines A330 event, and availability was purely provided on a first come, first served basis specifically due to timing. In this instance plane spotters were not required to enter or win a competition to attend. They were however required to adhere to some standard T&C's for attendance, but again, the opportunity to attend was made completely open and available to everyone and the chance exclusively only available to our YSSY Forum.

For events like the two I've just mentioned; naturally, priority for seat availability on an Airside Bus will be given to mainstream media, however where there is capacity, Sydney Airport advise that they will continue to invite Plane Spotters on a media bus where operationally viable. Be it via competition for selection or other means. Whilst the requirements of the carrier will always come first, especially for inaugural arrivals etc, where possible, Sydney Airport do inform that they will endeavour to cater to Aviation Enthusiasts where feasible.

This is a really good thing for us, because keeping in mind, these are examples of Sydney Airport proactively engaging the Plane Spotting community. I never asked for it..... I mean, what an opportunity we have to gain airside access to photograph for special noteworthy events and movements that would normally only be available for media personnel or via commercial agreement upon payment. How cool! We should be grateful for these unique opportunities. To Jim M's point in another thread (and nothing personal to him at all), but yes, for some of the Airside opportunities there has been a competition, but not for all. One might remember back in 2012, in a first for both us and Sydney Airport, we were fortunate enough to host, an exclusive Airside Tour purely for tenured members of this Forum only. Thirty five seats were made available for a 2 1/2 to 3 hour airside bus tour of Sydney Airport which also included outside access for about one hour photographing alongside the runway. Sure, naturally again, there were some required standard T&C's to conform to, but selection and availability was open and posted well in advance to make it fair and transparent for everyone to attend and register interest.

You might be pleased to know that behind the scenes, future activities like the above are already being planned as I continue to hold discussions with Sydney Airport again about how we work together to bring a Spotting Weekend of some form to fruition for 2014 or 2015. Of course, nothing firm will be posted until all internal planning and departmental sign-offs are approved by the Airport, but what great steps forward we are experiencing?! Sydney Airport is keen to meet and discuss plans and consider what we're bringing to the table by way of suggestions and ideas. The fact that such meetings are even occurring directly with various stakeholders within the airport is a huge achievement and not anything we've ever had the benefit or luxury of in the past. And remain positive in the fact that these conversations don't just relate to airside tours etc, the forum for feedback regarding all things spotting at the airport is open and suggestions are being communicated.

Keep in mind, none of this even existed two years ago. Never before any personal communication by Anne Walker at Sydney Airport back in January of 2012 had the YSSY Forum or anyone for that matter seen an approved forthcoming application to help organise access on a Media Bus for a commercial event or to co-facilitate the organisation of an Airside Bus Tour purely for Plane Spotters which allowed outside airside photography that was also exclusive to our Forum members. We wouldn't have even dreamed of something like this, especially after the sudden and stale shut down of Airside Tarmac Tours at YSSY many years ago now; and even before that, the removal of photography altogether from their tours. How quickly we forget! So in general, we can't entirely say that Sydney Airport isn't doing anything for Plane Spotters, or that they trying to get rid of us or that they're ignoring us. On some scales, this simply is not true.

It is important to note that we've come leaps and bounds to get where we are today with this type of airside access and relationship with the Airport. I for one am personally very proud of the work and collaboration achieved to be able to offer such opportunities to the wider Plane Spotting Community, and I want to keep helping and supporting the cause so that we can all benefit in the future. I know these aren't a monthly or weekly event, but we must also consider the operation of the airport and what its main purpose is, the planning involved, and general logistics around putting it all together.

I also understand and appreciate that some of the things we've recently benefited from above aren't as tangible long-term and don't directly compare to say the revival of an observation deck, or a purpose built spotting platform at Shep's Mound or similar.... I do get that; but just small steps, one at a time. Things are in motion, we have to start somewhere and these things take time, lots of planning, approval and unfortunately sometimes setbacks. We must respect that. We are very lucky to have people like Anne Walker and Nigel C predominantly on our side lobbying for us internally at Sydney Airport, their passion and drive mostly outside of their direct roles; so we do sincerely appreciate that!

Whilst I agree with some of the recent feedback, suggestions and comments posted here and on other social media sites spoken in response to the closure of the Observation Deck, it was slightly displeasing reading some ill-thought comments of some who even benefited from said activities above. We can generally be very quick to pull the trigger on trashing or forgetting the good work Sydney Airport has recently contributed specifically in collaboration with this forum to generate positive working relationships, to enable things like unique Spotting Tours and Airside Access opportunities and their forthcoming willingness to work together in the future. I'm sure no hurt intended, as in contrast, it's also so positive and promising to hear that some of those suggestions and feedback are being communicated back to the Sydney Airport Customer Experience Team, this is really encouraging to hear, and so we should let it play its course. We don't know what's to come, so let's just wait and see.

Again as mentioned, reading through some of the comments on here and via social media, I do generally tend to agree that things for Plane Spotters at Sydney Airport have been on the downer for years, and can personally relate to most of all the unpleasant experiences of lost access to areas which most of you all raise in common. I've been coming to Sydney Airport and spotting since the mid 90's and it's not hard to have a negative opinion like most when we've all seen over the years the loss of legal access to the Radar Field, 16L Mound and Gate 16 roadway closed to the public for parking, losing complete access to the VOR field beyond the international long term car parking, the closure of parking by locked gate at general Holmes drive for 16R, and the continual deterioration of the mound and many others.... yes I agree, after a while it does get a little disheartening.

In fact I and a few others still posting here were actually some of the late Bruce Shepherd's closest friends, of whom we now call The Mound his hill. We even scattered his ashes over The Mound after his passing, so even for me it is kind of sad that this area in particular has been ignored and may be lost at some stage in the future. But we must remain positive, we must continue to work with those within Sydney Airport who do care for us and who are willing to work with us so we can continue to achieve better things in the future. We need to keep them on our side, and in appreciation we must also be open to change and consider that things will not always fall in our favour.

Of course I can also see firsthand what really frustrates people the most and empathise to common themes that echo thoughts resembling "It 'seems like' Sydney Airport doesn't care, they don't think before they act, and that every decision is money driven, not for community, no interaction, no consultation and no effort to include Plane Spotters into the airport long-term." Most people might think just that, and in all honesty that might very well be the case in the grand scheme of things. I'm not immune to these thoughts and gripes, but in contrast I can appreciate both sides of the coin. We should all try do the same too, and remember that Sydney Airport is now a publicly listed company with around 100,000 investors, comprising super funds with mum and dad investors; and after all, the airport is an operation and has a specific purpose, so naturally not every decision will be made with a Plane Spotter in mind. We really must appreciate that.

And like any other passionate plane spotter or enthusiast I also know too well that that Sydney Airport could be more accommodating and proactive like other airports around the world who actually promote "Plane Spotting", or at least make it more accessible to the public too. Maybe we've just had it so good elsewhere that's why we're so opinionated with our ideas for Sydney!? We all know Zurich for example has high-rise perimeter fences around its airport with professionally framed open holes which purposely allow camera lenses through to take photos without the fence in shot, and they're scattered all around the airport. How cool would those be?! Plane Spotters there also benefit from a massive open air Observation Deck with a kids play area with toy planes and playground, cafe on top of their terminal etc. Coincidently London Heathrow opens a new viewing facility for passengers at Terminal 4 just yesterday, what timing! These are just a few of the many airport examples in Europe alone that show we've been spoilt with opportunities we'd only like to see replicated at our own home airport in Sydney. I do appreciate all of that too.

And furthermore, in my opinion I believe these types of integrations into an airport are actually largely welcomed and make a huge difference to the attitude of people who actually make full use of them, travellers, enthusiasts, staff etc. So of course, when you take them away, it only upsets people. I completely understand this and I do believe certain people at Sydney Airport can actually appreciate this also. But overall, unfortunate as it seems, there is a much bigger picture to consider, we need to keep that in mind and be mature about it; and instead, formulate ways to best work with the airport to achieve things that will hopefully be in the long-term interest for both parties, that work seamlessly with safety and security always in mind, that also encourages both community involvement, engagement and interaction to create similar benefits relating to plane spotting locations and access that some of the longer tenured members of this forum and plane spotters in general will remember having had the luxury of experiencing in the past.

I will continue to drive forward ideas and suggestions on behalf of this forum, the plane spotters and enthusiasts among us and I will continue to remain active and maintain relationships on your behalf. I'll also do my best to encourage Sydney Airport to remain open to feedback and suggestions, but I need collaborative support and enthusiasm from members and others to keep things positive for us to ensure solid cohesion for the future.

I'm really not sure what the future holds for spotting locations at Sydney Airport, and even with the recent approval of the Master Plan I'm not even sure Sydney Airport knows, things are always moving fast, plans are always changing. And fair enough, naturally the airport comes first, so anything spotting related would be secondary. Over the next 20 years it's probably safe to assume that as the airport further develops and as new terminals pop up, roadways get built, taken away etc, we'll notice the same for various spotting locations around the airport. These will most likely come and go over various locations and over various time frames too, we may even benefit from new ones by default, so it would be hard to plan something permanent until everything is set in place. I know it's easy to be discouraged and displeased with certain things, but all I can say is try to remain positive, focus on the good things some of the people at Sydney Airport are trying to do for us and just keep an open mind about other things, as we never know what is around the corner.

Believe me, I too am all for the big ticket items we all hold dear to our hobby as plane spotters, photographers and aviation enthusiasts; those being areas of access to watch planes and movements, being relatively close, without obstruction etc. Of course I'd also love to have framed holes in our perimeter fences for ease of photography too, perfectly positioned spotting decks with bar fridges, telescopes and iPads for radar tracking etc.... but one step at a time.

With anything it needs proper planning, consideration and there's always various stakeholders to appease, this will always be the case. But we must remain proactive and positive.
If we can do this or look like we're trying to do this, maybe, just maybe, we can influence change somewhere along the lines...

Kurt