What’s your favourite airport approach?

VFR approach into Cannes

I was part of a judging panel for PrivateFly’s favourite approaches poll. My three suggestions (which I have flown myself) were:

Cannes

When you fly the VFR approach, you fly right over the centre of the town, over a beautiful medieval walled village and then turn south and fly down to the actual runway with a view of the sea ahead. It’s utterly beautiful.

Amsterdam

The VFR approach to Amsterdam is insane. There’s a short-ish GA runway and you approach from the East at low altitude and only turn finals when you are over the midpoint of the runway. But the truly beautiful approach is the ILS for the GA runway that takes your right over the centre of the city. In good weather, the view over the canals is beautiful.

Belfast

Perhaps not as glamorous as Cannes or Amsterdam but my memories of flying into Belfast City at night are very strong. I popped through a cloud layer at about 4,000 feet and the city was lit clearly below me and, after a long flight, it felt very welcoming. I had to go to Belfast to get my Visa for my CPL training so it was a quick overnighter and a great example of how flexible you can be if you have an instrument rating and a well-equipped plane like the Cirrus at your disposal.

So, what are you favourite approaches? Comments below please. Also take a minute to vote at PrivateFly.com on the shortlist we chose.