London Gatwick Airport (LGW / EGKK) Plane Spotting Map & Live Active Runway Predictor

As of Tue 27 Oct, 18:20 local, the METAR/TAF wind vector predicts landing and departure 26L+26R. The METAR wind is 230° at 3 kt. 26L shows +2.6 kt headwind and 1.4 kt crosswind from the left. Closed runways: none listed.

At 08:00 local the sun is at 125° azimuth and 10° elevation. Short final 26L - sunny side scores 93/100, 1234 m from runway 26L, view bearing 287.3°, best as a morning spot with a 150-600mm lens. At 16:00 the sun is at 242° and 6°. Short final 26L - sunny side scores 70/100 on a 287.3° view. Morning and afternoon picks follow that bearing: a view that wants the sun in the east is a morning spot, and a view that wants it in the west is an afternoon spot.

The best time to plane spot at London Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) is the window marked CLEAN FRONT LIGHT for the fence you are using. Morning (07:00-11:00) front light: Short final 26L - sunny side. Afternoon / golden hour (14:00-18:00) front light: no listed spot stays fully front-lit. Midday (11:00-14:00) is HIGH SUN / TOP LIGHT at 0 of 2 spotting locations. Read the Best Time of Day & Lighting Schedule by Spot table for the lens and the hours to avoid harsh backlit contrast.

EGKK spotting locations sun direction: Short final 26L - sunny side (runway 26L) is CLEAN FRONT LIGHT in the morning, SIDE LIGHT at midday, and SIDE LIGHT in the afternoon. Recommended focal length 150-600mm. Crisp fuselage illumination 08:00-11:00 local. No harsh backlit window between 07:00 and 18:00. Short final 26R - sunny side (runway 26R) is SIDE LIGHT in the morning, BACKLIT / GLARE at midday, and BACKLIT / GLARE in the afternoon. Recommended focal length 150-600mm. Best local hours for crisp fuselage illumination: 08:00. Avoid 13:00-17:00 harsh backlit contrast.

Short final 26L - sunny side is 1234 m from the 26L centerline, so the lens is 150-600mm. The bands are fixed from that distance: 70-200mm inside 250 m, 100-400mm from 250 m to 450 m, and 150-600mm beyond 450 m. The aircraft itself is about 573 m from this pin on a 700 m final.

Monitor Tower 124.23 MHz, Ground 121.805 MHz, Approach 126.825 MHz, ATIS 136.525 MHz. Online streams lag by 30 seconds or more. A handheld VHF airband scanner at the fence is the zero-delay way to hear a runway change on Tower 124.23 MHz.

No TAF wind shift in the next 6 hours flips the flow. Wind stays near 230° at 3 kt, so 26L remains the favored arrival. The $3/mo Telegram Runway-Shift Alert pings you when D-ATIS or the METAR wind vector changes the active runway: https://planespottingmap.com/airport/EGKK#runway-alerts