Guide to Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI / LEPA)

Palma de Mallorca is the busiest of the "tourist airports" which you immediately notice by its size. A huge airport with two main runways that operate on a Heathrow like system of one arriving and one departing, with the odd aircraft ignoring the system. As the airport is so large and there are two runways, the lack of a spectators area around the airport buildings means that there isn't an area where you can view every possible movement, but at the two I describe below you will see the vast majority of them. Due to the wind direction, the runways used the most are 24L / R. 24L cannot be used for departures so all departures operate from 24R with most arrivals on 24L. During my visit only a handful of aircraft ignored the system by landing on 24R mainly domestic turboprops. When 06L / R are in use its mainly a case of 06L arrivals / 06R departures. Aircraft cannot land on 06R, with again only a handful of departures on 06L. With the airport being very busy with holiday flights most of the movements are charters, although heavies can still be seen as a lot of the charters use their wide bodies on certain flights in the summer. Friday, Saturday and Sunday tend to be the busiest days at Palma whereas certain other days in the week can be very quiet. There is also a big difference in flight numbers between seasons, with the summer peak season obviously seeing a lot more flights than the off-peak winter season. The two photo / viewing points I used are overlooking the two different runways and are facing opposite sides so photography will be possible from one area when it becomes impossible at the other. C'an Pastilla is the closest resort to the airport and there are plenty of hotels in the resort. The loud and popular resorts of Palma Nova and Magaluf are about 30 minutes from the airport while the quiet and nicer Puerto Pollensa and Alcudia are the furthest away, a 1 hour drive required. For those who fancy a bit more luxury, the Marriott Son Antem Golf Resort and Spa at Llucmajor is only a 10 minute drive from the airport and offers 5 star comfort. A hire car is very highly recommended if you fancy using the sites mentioned above, theres very few options without a car.