Welcome to September, the month of the return to school, Labor Day weekend and the official start of Fall. While we might be lamenting the exit of summer, there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful too, not least the plentiful opportunities for catching some great airplane action in the extended golden hour periods.

And what plane better to spot than the Queen herself? But with so many Boeing 747s no longer gracing our skies, the opportunities for spotting a 747 have certainly reduced. However, there are still a whole lot around – in fact, according to data from Cirium, there will be 9,681 flights operated by all variants of the Queen during the month of September.

Around the world, 122 airports will see some Boeing 747 action this month, so there’s plenty of opportunity to spot the jumbo. But which airport is best for your regal spotting endeavors? Let’s take a look…

Best airport for most movements

Looking at aircraft movements including both passenger and cargo variants of the 747, the airport with the most flights this September will be Hong Kong. Despite the airport suffering badly from the COVID-related downturn in passenger traffic, it continues to buzz as a cargo hub, seeing a total of 755 flights operated by the Boeing 747 in September.

If you’re lucky enough to be spotting at HKG, you could see arrivals and departures from airlines including Cargolux, Asiana, Polar Air Cargo, Silk Way West, Nippon Cargo and Korean Air. Most of the movements see the use of the 747-400, although Nippon, Silk Way and Korean also bring their 747-8. Cathay, of course, is the biggest operator here, with 258 flights using the 747-8 and 170 with the 747-400.

For our European spotters, Frankfurt remains the best local airport to spot the 747. In total, the airport will see 698 flights with the type in September, with the majority (naturally) operated by Lufthansa. Frankfurt is unusual in that it sees a high number of 747 passenger operations, thanks to Lufthansa’s enduing commitment to the type. It will fly the 747-8 and 747-400 on a total of 595 operations, 175 by the -400.

Frankfurt will also see flights from Korean, Qatar, SF Airlines, Saudia Cargo, Cathay, Air China, Asiana and China Airways. In terms of types, there are a high number of 747-8F scheduled to fly into Frankfurt in September, with Korean and Cathay exclusively using the type.

Incheon is only slightly behind Frankfurt for total number of movements, and has a slightly greater range of liveries attending this month. Total flights, according to schedule data from Cirium, are 696, just two fewer than FRA. Korean and Asiana have the lion’s share of operations, but you can also catch Polar Air Cargo and Silk Way here, neither of which touch down in Frankfurt.

Honorable mentions go to Shanghai, Taipei, Luxemburg and Anchorage, all of which see more than 400 Boeing 747 movements this September.

Best airport for variety

If what you’re after is a variety of airplane liveries and types to pretty up your camera roll, the target airport changes slightly. While Hong Kong and Frankfurt might have the most absolute number of flights, two other airports surpass them when it comes to the variety of airplanes you can spot there.

Top of the tree is Shanghai, where a total of 17 different airplane types will fly in and out across the month. Most frequently spotted is Suparma Airlines with its undefined Boeing 747 flights. This likely means it hasn’t allocated the specific plane type yet. It’s good to know that while it flies the -400F, the -400BDSF and the -400ERF, the most abundant airplane type in its fleet is the historical and somewhat rare 747-300F. In total, Suparma plans 133 flights from PVG this September.

Polar Air Cargo will bring its 747-400 for 66 flights, as well as its 8F for 4, while Air China Cargo will use its -400 60 times. China Cargo and Nippon Cargo will appear 51 times each, China with its -400 and Nippon with the -8F. You could also spot Asiana, Silk Way, Cathay (with both types of 747F) Singapore, ASL, China Airlines, Cargolux, Korean (with both types) and Lufthansa.

Coming a close second is the Dutch airport and cargo superhub of Amsterdam Schiphol. AMS will see 15 different types of 747 in September, with some cool and somewhat rare spots making an appearance. Martinair is the largest operator, with 60 747-400 flights, while Singapore will touch down 26 times with the 747-400 also.

As well as all the usual suspects, Safari Air Express is down to operate 17 flights with its 747-400s, and you’ll also see Saudia Cargo with the same number of operations using its four 747-400s. AMS also sees Nippon, Qatar, Cathay, Silk Way, China Airlines and many more, and is a great chance to see some 747 variety in action.

Honorable mentions here go to Hong Kong, Tokyo Narita, Seoul Incheon, Singapore, Frankfurt and Los Angeles, all of which have 10 or more varieties of 747 visiting this month.

Best for spotting in the USA

Of course, not everyone has the luxury of jetting off to exotic locations to spot cool airplanes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a great show closer to home too. In the US, the top five airports for spotting Boeing 747s are:

• Los Angeles – 248 flights in September with 10 different visitors (9 operators, and Nippon Cargo brings both the 744 and the 748)
• New York JFK – 135 flights with 10 operators
• San Francisco - 107 flights with 5 operators
• Miami – 86 flights with 3 operators
• Chicago – 76 flights with 7 operators

Where’s your favorite place to spot the Boeing 747? Let us know in the comments.