Going to the airport and not getting a flight is strange

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My in laws and bro in laws regularly go to the airport to watch planes take off and land. I rang them this morning to see if they had any plans that we could tag along with and this was the plan.
I have a friend who does the same but she has two 3 year olds who are obsessed with planes. I get that. I don't get two people in their fifties and two men in their twenties doing it on a sunny Saturday when the airport is 45 mins drive away. Last time they asked me I said 'I think I'd feel sad going there and not actually going on holiday.' This takes me to the strangest part, none of them have ever flown or would ever consider flying, or so they say.
Each to their own I guess.

Its a hobby, I don't see it as strange but then again I love planes.

I thought it was a pretty common thing. We live about 30 minutes from Luton Airport and people park up along the fence to watch the landing and take off. It's always busy there. Some of the blokes have radios and stuff and seem quite serious about it. I used to go with my mum a lot, it's quite relaxing

I love airports, planes etc so totally get why they do this. Can I ask though, where do they watch the planes? At my local (Gatwick) there's no way, as far I know, to watch the planes in the airport itself without going through security :(

You don't go into the airports anymore - you park up near a perimeter fence by the runway.

I'm nearly 40 and would do this in a heartbeat. Planes are bloody amazing!

We have done it a couple of times when dds were little. You used to be able to go up on the roof and watch the planes. Not any more though, so haven't done that for years.
Plus, the parking prices would also put me off.
It is a bit strange I suppose.

When I was little we used to do this all the time! I love about 10 mins from the airport and you always see people lined up in the lay by's. Think it's quite commen!

If we're going abroad on holiday we always take DS to the airport to watch our flight take off a couple of weeks before we go, if that makes sense? He loves it 😊

In Birmingham they used to (And might still have) a large room with floor to ceiling windows specifically for plane watchers. I used to go when the kids were younger, it was interesting.

I don't think it's strange. Well, no stranger than any other hobby I'm not particularly interested in. Stamp collecting, knitting, birdwatching, genealogy. Meh. I don't do any of those things, but I don't think anyone else is strange for doing them.

I think it's really strange .

I work in a care home- its a favourite day trip out to watch the planes!
At Manchester you cant go into the airport now though so it is done at the airport pub at the end of the runway that has a viewing area

My friends used to live a stones throw from Bristol airport so you could sit in thier garden and watch the planes. The kids were toddlers and absolutely loved it

I could do this all day long. I love to watch them take off and land.

40 years ago at Manchester you could watch the planes from the roof of one of the wings that has all the departure gates on it so you could see all the people getting on the plane and watch it fly off - it was so glamorous and exciting that people were jetting to exotic places. That was a standard holiday day out for us as kids, with a picnic, baking in the sun on the concrete roof.

Ee, them were't days....

airports used to have viewing lounges- they have probably got rid of them.

I have a good friend in Germany and her teenage nephew and his best friend got a domestic flight from her home town to Frankfurt so they could visit the viewing gallery at Frankfurt airport - apparently it was far superior to their home airport's gallery. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Sounds perfectly normal to me. Lots of people do it.

NicolasFlamel we used to park at that perimeter fence too 😂 Now we walk across the park too watch because it's always so packed out with cars. Seems like a popular pastime

I thought I was the only one who did this we made a detour on our way back from Cardiff last year to sit outside the perimeter fence at Cardiff airport and watch planes landing and taking off. I'm a bit of a geek for commercial planes plus I love to imagine where the people on board might be going, what they might be doing etc

My grandparents used to take db and I to a small local airport for a treat. I remember the hot chocolate was amazing!

An' it harm none, do what ye will.

The airport pub at Manchester is fantastic

This is a very reassuring thread. We used to go on family holidays to Jersey every year and my dad would insist on spending half the holiday parked outside the airport fence, watching the planes. The rest of us thought this was a distinctly odd thing to do. Finally I see that apparently it's actually normal!

Manchester has a place for it. It's all fenced off near the runways and has a kids play area, cafe, shop and tour.

book.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/ConcordeViewingPark

Just like going to the train station and watching trains but not going on one!!

DS used to love doing that.