Taking photos airside

[five zero by ortac]

Has anyone had problems taking a photo of an aircraft whilst airside and you have the correct id to be there?
I've been told today that my id gives me no previlages to take photos and i've been reported for taking 2 photos of one aircraft!!!!
Is this the latest red-tape to hit us?

[cloudskimmer]

i am currently workin for amec at heathrow t5 building the new taxiways and apron to accomidate the a380 , i have id for airside and the new terminal and we all have been instructed not to take any pictures of any aircraft at all, not sure why but they are very keen , i took some photos of a new completed stands and there were a day where they placed on of virgins a340 on for publisity purposes , the airport security were very keen to inspect what i had taken and scrutonised why

[Mogget]

I assume that this refers to Heathrow ? I don't want some idiot stopping me from filming the airliners at Manchester. That would be ridiculous.

[MAN777]

You only have to look through sites like airliners.net to realise that photography airside at UK airports is widespread, most reasonable people would consider this to be harmless(including myself), however different airports appear more tolerant than others.

I have legitimate reasons to carry a camera airside and I do occasionally take airside photos, but I only do so for my own use. I dont post the images anywhere and if i did so I would probably use an alias. I think where the main problem arises is when anything that is commercialy or security sensitive is photographed and then published, so the easiest way to control it, is to stop it happening. I could make a tidy income from selling images from my access but I dont want to compromise my position. So I hope that things stay the way they are and paranoia does not set in everywhere.

[Dr Illitout]

I'm in the same boat MAN777. I take my camera in every day for my own use and take the same precautions. What will stop this is when there is an incident at the airport and every body with a cameraphone will take pictures of the dead and dying and try to sell them to the gutter press! Already one of the carriers I work on, insist that all mobile phones are left with the security guards at door 1L before getting onboard.

Rgds Dr I

[Mogget]

So we're just talking "airside" here, and not "from outside the boundaries of the airport" ?

[Call Established]

I can never grasp why airports are really hot on this, in some airports you can get the same shot or even better from the outskirts than if you were airside!

[BRISTOLRE]

A lot of UK airports, especially BAA seem to have a policy of photography whilst airside. I dont know why that is. I once produced a camera whilst rampside at Stansted and the handling agent went berserk and said "dont do that" as BAA were likely to come racing out and have words.
Other airports seem generally OK, however I feel it is best to seek permission first for formalised shoots. You are right, nobody is EVER going to stop snapshots - specially in these days of cameraphones etc.

The Friday T5 tours for the public are the best, NO CAMERAS, they are NOT allowed on the bus.

[akerosid]

Unfocused security?

Does this mean they're going to try and ban photography when T5 is finally open? Or is it just that they don't want photos of an unfinished building? It is interesting that they seem specifically interested in stopping photos of aircraft. Heaven knows why; as said above, people will take photos anywhere they can - not because they want to cause trouble, but because they're enthusiasts. You need only go to A.net to see that photos have been taken in places like Iran, North Korea and others. The BAA can devote resources to obstructing photos ... and fail; the bigger picture is that the relationship they have created with aircraft enthusiasts will be damaged.

They could do down the Froggy route and ban photos, as has been done - sorry, attempted - at CDG. Again, a look at A.net/JP.net shows this has failed too.

Oh well, at least civilisation is alive and well at Schiphol ...

[725308]

Always noticed that in BAA airports they have signs in the baggage reclaim halls for no photography.

[akerosid]

I think that's mainly for the Customs area (not that I can see anyone taking photos in the baggage hall - unless they're designing sets for the Generation Game!). It's the same at the security area; I've already interpreted this as "no photography in the security area" (again, understandable), but I notice recently that it reads "no photography beyond this point" in some airports. I still interpret it my way; it just sounds better.

Is there anyone from BAA who could comment on the rules; it really would be helpful if people knew where they stood, from a legal standpoint. If there are rules against photography, we should know where they are applied and why they are in force.