Innsbruck - An Aviation Photographer's Paradise

Innsbruck is probably one of the most famous airports in Europe among aviation photographers and aviation enthusiasts in general. The Airport is located in western Austria in the state of Tyrol and surrounded by mountains on all sides. Innsbruck is not famous for its interesting movements but rather the amazing scenery and great photo opportunities. In January of 2023 I finally had the chance to spend a few days in Innsbruck, here is my experience.

How to get ot Innsbruck

The best way to get to Innsbruck is most likely going to be by train, which is how I did it. There's a train from Zürich every two hours which takes you to Innsbruck in less than 3.5 hours. Should you take this connection I strongly recommend making seat reservations due to the trains being overbooked all the time. I did not make a reservation and was very lucky to find a place to sit but there were many fellow travelers sitting in the aisle. There's free wifi onboard which wasn't working unfortunately.
Once you made it to Innsbruck main station it's not hard to get to your hotel or airbnb. The public transport network is great and gets you almost anywhere relieably. I stayed in a tinyhouse near the airport which I could reach by bus and a 3 minute walk.

Where to stay

It does not really matter where exactly you stay since the city is not very big and the airport is just outside the city centre. Also most spots are easy and quick to reach by public transport. The airbnb I stayed at was located in the "Lohbachsiedlung" which is on the north hillside of the airport. The tinyhouse was great and is one of the cheapest options near the airport and I can really recommend staying there. The owners were very friendly and the place was perfectly clean when I arrived. Also there is a busstop about 3 minutes from the house so you can get anywhere comfortably.
To eat I recommend going to the city centre where there are plenty of cheap restaurants with great food from all over the world.

When to visit Innsbruck

Innbruck is not particularly a busy airport. The airport is busiest on weekends during the skiing season, roughly from mid December until the end of February. On Saturdays and Sundays most of the skiing tourists arrive or leave Innsbruck so that's when most of the charter flights operate. The airport gets busy from about 9am on with the last flights leaving at around 8pm.

"The classic Innsbuck spots"

Runway 26 takoffs with mountain background

Arguably the most famous spot in Innsbruck are the runway 26 takeoffs with the mountains in the background. This spot is pretty easy to reach by bus and a quick walk. There is absolutely nothing nearby, you'll be staying in a farmer's field for the time of your stay. The great thing about this spot is that you can easily reposition depending on how heavy an aircraft is in order to get the perfect shot every single time. Note that Airbus A320neo's in general will take off very early and with a steep angle, so position yourself further to the east. Jet2 and TUI 737's will rotate later and more shallow. I mostly positioned myself all the way back at the end of the runway to get the perfect shot.
The perfect focal length here is anything between 150-300mm for commercial aircraft and at least 400mm for private jets or general aviation.

Runway 26 takeoffs face to face

Only a few minutes away from my first spot is another well-known spot, face to face takeoffs from runway 26. The runway in innsbruck is pretty short with its 2000m. Heavy 737's or A321's will lift off after about 1600-1700m enabling us to get very clear shots. You definitely need a big lens to achieve good results, at least 500mm. I'd recommend using a small ladder for this spot, but it works fine without one. Best time to come here is definitely the afternoon since that's when the lighting's most favorable. Come here for Jet2 737's, these are going the be the lowest one's, as well as the Titan A321.

Runway 08 landings cliff background

Between both previous spots is a small concrete building you can climb upon. It's the perfect location to photograph landings on ruwnay 08 when they pass by the famous cliff. 400mm an fullframe for airliners and 500mm for businessjets is perfect for shots in front of the cliff. You can also take heavy 26 departures from this spot, as mentioned before.

"The cargo container"

Located at the taxiway you can get some cool shots of arriving planes taxiing towards the apron. If you bring a big lens you can get nice closeups of the aircraft taxiing towards you. Unfortunately there's not a true face to face angle but the photos still look really nice. More importantly though I'd bring something like a 70-200mm for some wider shots since the taxiway isn't very far from you.
You don't need to bring a ladder to this spot, there's a reporpused cargo container with some tech inside you can climb upon. It is tolerated by the authorities and you should not get into trouble. The container is very tall so it's a good idea to bring something or someone with you to help you climb the roughly 2.5m tall structure.

Runway vacates

Roughly where you'd stand for the runway 26 takeoffs there are some photo holes installed. These holes are located right around where planes landing on runway 26 would ususally vacate the runway. It's definitely worth bringing a big lens here to get some very close shots of vacating aircraft.

Apron visit

I had the huge privilege to be invited to tour the apron at night with a friend I met that day, so big thanks to Paul for making this possible! Around 5pm we made our way to the terminal and went through security. We quickly talked to the shift manager and asked if we were allowed to tour the apron. He was super nice and had no problem with it.
The apron visit was definitely the highlight of my five days in Innsbruck and a great way to end the trip. Saturday evenings are usually the busiest in the week and this evening was no exemption. Loads of Jet2 and TUI 737's and some more cool traffic. I mainly used my Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens since it was the perfect focal length for basically any angle. It also makes sense to bring a longer lens for a change to get some tighter shots or closeups. What I especially love about the Innsbruck apron shots is how clean they look. There is pretty much no distraction in the back- or foreground. Just a clean shot with a nicely illuminated aircraft.