Every year in the late summer, SEA invites a group of local AvGeeks to what it calls “SEA Airport AV Geeks Airfield Day.” And, what a day it was.
There were roughly a dozen of us, and after a safety briefing in the airport’s offices, we were assigned to our escorts and headed out to a couple of vans.
The day started out quite overcast, but by the time we got out on the field in the early afternoon, most of the clouds had lifted and even Mount Rainier (always referred to as simply “the mountain” in these parts) had started to make an appearance to the southeast.
I’ve been lucky enough to get airside at quite a few airports over the years, but SEA remains one of my very favorites, as all three runways are clearly visible, and the mountain views can’t be beat.
What was it like being out there on the edges of an access road between the active runways for several hours? It was bliss. Noisy bliss. Yes, we all had hearing protection. And we all seemed to agree that the smell of jet-A is also quite fine.
AvGeeks traveling to, from, or transiting through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will soon have access to a relatively rare amenity, at least in the Pacific Northwest of the United States: an observation deck.
Currently expected to open to the traveling public in the second quarter of 2026, the expanded concourse will add at least 10 restaurants to the airport’s offerings, several new retail outlets, some fancy new seating, and lots of artwork. The signature artwork for the new spaces is a very large wood sculpture of a stylized tree, which will arch over an interesting stadium-style seating area.
But, back to what’s most exciting for the AvGeek crowd – the Lookout at C, as the airport is calling it. It’s a glassed-in observation area, looking west-southwest from the C concourse toward the main terminal and the airport’s taxiways, some of the gate areas, and SEA’s three runways.
With much fanfare, a turret salute from SEA airport firefighters, and plenty of pastries, SAS Scandinavian Airlines resumed it’s Copenhagen to Seattle service after a sixteen-year hiatus using Airbus A350s on the route. SAS has a long history in Seattle, having inaugurated service to Europe back in 1966, becoming the first carrier to directly serve […]
Every two years, Icelandair hosts the Midatlantic travel trade show in Reykjavik, allowing travel vendors from the regions that the airline serves to gather together and present and promote their offerings to travel buyers, travel journalists, and to network with one another. It’s always a great event, and this avgeek travel reporter always finds plenty […]
Icelandair has, other than their domestic/feeder airline, long had an all-Boeing mainline fleet consisting of 737 MAX-8 and MAX-9, 757-200, 757-300, and 767 jetliners. That all changed on Dec. 10, 2024, when the airline placed an A321LR into service as TF-IAA, named Esia, per their protocol of naming aircraft after Icelandic volcanoes. There’s a lot […]
