Going to the airport and not getting a flight is strange

[ExtraPineappleExtraHam]

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.

DW and I like doing this - the observation deck at Haneda airport is very pleasant. Watching the planes over a bottle of Sancerre is fantastic.

Op your in-laws may be afraid of actually boarding a plane but love the concept. Perhaps a cheap internal flight would make a good present. As they wouldn't be on the plane long it would be a great introduction to flying. As a child I spent many summer days/evenings watching planes from the viewing roof at Cardiff airport. My sister and I were fascinated, I did not take my 1st flight till I was 19, all trips abroad were by ferry prior to that. As an adult I had one of the best date nights ever with 'my one who got away'. We drove to the airport and spent a couple of hours drinking hot chocolate and discussing the many places we would like to fly to (and planning to one day just turn up at the airport and book on flight last minute to wherever we could get flight to - sadly this never happened). We then went for a drive along the coast, stopped at a pebble beach and found a secluded spot to snuggle and watch the stars. We stayed and watched the sun rise and drove back to his flat for a lazy day in bed. Airports can at some times and for some people be magical places......

There's a viewing area near Tullaramine Airport in Melbourne that has a food/coffee/icecream van there permanently as it's so busy. The dog show grounds are right by it, and we often stop on the way home to have an ice cream and sit and watch the planes for a while and dream about where we want to go next. It's cheap, harmless fun.

Reminds me of an 80's sitcom in Oz called Kath and Kim... the pilots are on strike... so the mum and partner spend their entire week's holiday at the airport shopping! You're right, it's strange ... but harmless.

Apologies Brie it's in Alberta, Canada

I'm a plane spotter so much so I have tickets to go to the RAF airshow at scampton in Lincolnshire in September 😁 nothing more exciting than watching fighter jets fly by at speed 😃😃😃

I see nothing strange about it at all. To me it's no different to people who go to the cinema, or window shop, or go watch a sport - planes are fascinating! We once looked at a house near Gatwick. I watched the planes and imagined that I could have spent a lot of time in the garden, headphones in, watching planes. ✈️

I grew up in a house directly under the flight path to Glasgow airport so I kind of feel like I've seen (and heard) enough planes now!

Once when I was about 15, I'd just got into astronomy and I had bought a pair of binoculars. My dad took them out to have a look at the planes and the magnification was so strong that he instinctively shrunk back and fell on his bum. Sorry dad, but it was funny

Toomuchtooold that is funny haha

It's a common thing. A lot of my Indian friends and family are obsessed by planes and think the airport is a really good day out lol

I'd love to stand and watch planes take off! But only if I could get reasonably close. I'm fascinated by flying but yeah to do this regularly is a bit weird and suggests they have nothing better to do.

Oh I love it and find it so relaxing!! We live under the flight paths (albeit about 10 miles away!) from Luton and Stansted and I love hearing the planes flying overhead. It was lovely to hear them in the late / early hours while breastfeeding when my son was younger. Used to make me feel I wasn't alone 😊x

I used to live in the countryside near an airport, there was absolutely nothing to do in the village so my friends and I often got the bus to the airport, went to KFC or Burger King (very exciting!) and wandered around looking at the shops etc. Then we'd get the bus home again. That was a great night out when I was a teenager!

Manchester Airport has the Runway Visitor park, which has a cafe and you can also book the Concorde and Nimrod tour. There's a play area for the kids and tables for outside seating if you take your own picnic.

I've taken ds a couple of times and he's loved every minute.

We haven't been to the pub which others have mentioned. Two great areas though for plane watching. I quite like it myself especially when Emirates takes off

My hubby and I had our first date at Heathrow! As a kid we used to go and watch the planes. Now that I am often traveling for work I bloody hate airports, but I do love planes. Not strange at all. Each to her own.

Each to there own covers this I would say.

It certainly wouldn't be my idea of a fun afternoon, but think how many fabulously funny MN posts we wouldn't have got to read if everyone thought and behaved the same way

Remember doing this with my now very grown up son while staying with friend near Cardiff airport. He loved it. Also. Before it goes. Beaches by Heraklion airport in Crete. Lie in the sun and planes take off right over you! Germans have now taken over basically everything there. Building new airport away from beaches. I rather enjoyed it!

Not quite the same thing but I live directly under the Heathrow flight path (grr - the A380s wake me up at 4.30am most mornings. But I digress) and I have the Flight radar app which tells me where it's come from. I love it. I often sit in bed watching them on my app. I am a loser

My oh has that app it's actually really interesting even to someone not that bothered. I do get sad thinking about Concorde or the Vulcan though.

Also have the flight radar app. And Ship finder

Loving the flight radar app. It kept me thoroughly entertained this morning on the walk to my Hounslow tube station.

I've just downloaded a flight radar app too. Thanks ExtraPineapple for this thread; it wasn't your intention but I think you've inadvertently spawned more plane spotters.

OMG! Flightradar is seriously addictive. I just watched a plane land at our local airport. Its also fascinating looking at all the transatlantic routes out over Ireland, south of Iceland & over Greenland.

Never been to St Maartens (though that looks amazing) but when we went to Kos one of our favourite things in the evenings was to sit on the beach and watch the planes come in over the sea. It was quite atmospheric watching the lights.

Where we are holidaying this year, we can sit out on the terrace & watch the planes descending to the nearest airport about 45 min away. I'm looking forwards to tracking them on the app.