‘Take off’ to Taipei’s Airport Alley to get VERY close to airplanes landing at Taipei’s Songshan Airport.
Free to visit and one of more unique attractions in Taipei, Airport Alley attracts plane spotters, curious families and locals to witness the spectacle of planes landing just metres away – and wow, is it loud! You can also feel the thrusts of air as large aircraft take off.
From how to track when planes are landing to how to get to Songshan Airport in Taipei (plus a viewing deck at Songshan Airport itself), here is our guide to visiting Airport Alley in Taipei.
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What is Airport Alley in Taipei?
Located on the perimeter of Songshan Airport (Taipei’s second and smaller airport, after Taipei Taoyuan International Airport), Airport Alley is an outdoor viewing area.
Spectators can watch airplanes touch down on the runway and pass just meters above their heads as they land.
Songshan Airport usually has smaller planes landing than Taoyuan Airport and you’ll see various passenger, commercial and cargo planes landing regularly.
On our trip we saw lots of planes land and take off such as EVA Air (Taiwan’s national carrier), Uni Air, China Airlines, ANA, T-Way and Mandarin airlines.
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How to get to Airport Alley by public transport
The best way to visit Airport Alley is by public bus (this will vary greatly depending on where you are coming from) as the nearest bus stop is about 5 minutes walk away.
If you want to visit from Taipei Main Station, jump on the Number 49 bus and alight at the Second Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market bus stop. It is then a 15 minute flat walk to Airplane Alley.
Alternatively, take the MRT to Songshan Airport station and then walk for around 25 to 30 minutes to Lane 180, Binjiang Street.
You can find Airport Alley (also referred to as Songshan Airport – Aircraft Viewing Alley) on Google Maps here >
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Airport Alley opening hours
Airport Alley Taipei is open 24 hours a day (and is free to visit) BUT we’d recommend going in daylight hours as the viewing spot is quite remote along small lanes and roads.
Also, it best to go when flights are actually arriving into Songshan Airport Taipei so typically, flights arrive and depart every day between 6.30am and 7pm.
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How to check Airport Alley / Songshan Airport flight arrival times
The best way to check flight arrival times at Songshan Airport is to check the live / real-time flight tracker on the official Taipei Songshan Airport website or Flight Radar.
We spent about one hour at Airport Alley and in that time, saw about a dozen flights arrive (plus about another 7 or 8 take offs).
Please note only the plane arrivals fly over your head at the Airport Alley viewing area, and the plane departures take off in the opposite direction (but you still get ‘blasted’ by the hot air and winds generated from the airplane engines).
Some flights also arrived early and some late so try to time your visit with lots of planes taking off, in case of any delays.
Taiwanderers Tip – Whilst at Airport Alley, we noticed the Songshan Airport and Flight Radar real time flight trackers didn’t include some of the other flights that arrived and departed like light aircraft and cargo.
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The Airport Alley experience
As the location is quite remote, we weren’t too sure what to expect as we wandered down a seemingly quiet road away from the highway towards the airport.
As we arrived, we saw a small group of people, including families, the occasional tourist (like ourselves) plus several plane spotters complete with long lenses and tripods.
The viewing area is effectively a grass verge that is located just a few meters away from the Songshan Airport perimeter.
Be aware the road below the viewing platform can be quite busy with mopeds, some of whom get distracted easily by the planes taking off – so be careful on the road and if you have kids, make sure they stay on the ‘mound’ away from the road.
As a plane approaches, the crowd quietly murmurs and as the flights approach, the noise is deafening – it genuinely feels like they are literally just above your head.
It is quite the photo opportunity! We also saw lots of kids wearing ear muffs and holding their hands to their ears.
From the Airport Alley observation area, you can also see Taipei 101 on a clear day and the rest of the city from afar.
The viewing area is quite exposed so on rainy or winter days, so we’d recommend you wrap up warm. You can also drive / cycle here and many locals were parked up on a parallel road.
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Our Songshan Airport plane spotting instagram video
Alternative plane viewing spots
There are a couple of alternative viewing spots to watch the planes at Songshan Airport:
Taipei Shende Temple
We discovered this beautiful temple on the outer edges of Songshan Airport quite by chance – it was adorned with lanterns and has several worshippers (we visited it by chance a couple of days before Taiwan Lunar New Year).
Here you can take photos of the planes flying directly over Shende Temple and it is quite the photo opportunity. It is also a bit quieter than Airport Alley itself (in terms of people) – but be careful of the cars and mopeds in the road as they can be quite speedy.
You can find Shende Temple on Google Maps here >
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Taipei Songshan Airport observation deck (currently closed as of January 2025)
Located on the 3rd floor of Songshan Airport between Terminals 1 and 2, Taipei Airport Observation Deck is another place to view planes landing.
However, as of January 2025, it is has been closed for several months for renovations and with no indicator or when it will reopen.
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Other things to know about plane spotting at Airport Alley
- Drone photography and entering the airport perimeter is strictly prohibited
- There are no toilets or facilities at Airport Alley – it is literally just a mound
- Some of the signs in the area warn of grass snakes but the locals didn’t seem to fussed
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Taipei Airport Alley address
Lane 180, Binjiang Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, 10491
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