France 24 (news channel) story on plane spotting

[journalist75]

Hello everyone,

My name is Wassim Cornet, I'm a Belgian journalist working for the France 24 news channel in Paris.

I'm currently working on a TV report on plane spotters, and how different airports have different attitudes towards spotters. I've already met with French spotters at CDG, and I'd like to do some filming at Brussels Airport, to showcase the new observation platforms and how it has made the hobby so much easier.

I will be traveling to BRU next Tuesday or Wednesday (18th or 19th Sept., depending on the weather), and I'll be spending a few hours in the morning at the observation platforms. I've already secured an interview with an airport spokesperson, but obviously the most important thing is to make sure that there is a sufficient amount of people at the platforms to talk to and to make the story visually interesting.

What are the chances of finding spotters at BRU on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning? Are any of you planning on being at the airport on one of those days, or do you know anyone who will be there? I would be interested in filming a few spotters doing their hobby, watching planes, taking pictures of them, and asking a few questions such as "tell us a bit more about your hobby", "how have these new platforms changed things for you", or "how important is it for the airport to recognize the spotter community".

France 24 may be a French channel but we also have a channel in English so by all means, we can do the questions in English, too

Feel free to contact me here, on Twitter (@WassimCornet), or via email: [email protected]

Thanks for reading and I hope to meet some of you next week at Brussels Airport!

[Vic Diesel]

What are the chances of finding spotters at BRU on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning?

Rather slim, I'd say: weekday/workday, so unless there is any very special aircraft arriving or departing, there won't be much traffic on both of the spottersplaats. Plus it also depends on the weather, so it is not that easy to guess...

[jan_olieslagers]

France 24 may be a French channel but we also have a channel in English so by all means, we can do the questions in English, too

Allow me to remind you the airport "happens to be" in a Dutch-speaking area - English is just as foreign a language as French. Luckily we have excellent schools round here, so most people are quite good in either language Still it would be polite to interview in local language - as you would find normal in Madrid or in Berlin or in Athens, I should think.

Regarding "when to meet spotters", I think the earlier comments are spot on.

[Acid-drop]

Nice. You turned it into a language mess already.
He's belgian. he knows some people make it difficult, and other will communicate human to human, whatever the protocol used.
Brussels is the capital of europe, remember ? It has more than 179 nationalities.
Its not impossible that all spotters you meet are from everywhere except belgium/flanders.

[jan_olieslagers]

Been there, done that. Heard many languages, mostly the many colourful variants of Southern Dutch aka Flemish.

And Brussels may be what it is - a lovely city, mostly, and getting better and better after decades of decay - but, again, that has little to do with the airport.

Neither is there anything wrong with telling our visitor about the (probably unexpected) intracacies and delicate points of this complicated country.

[Acid-drop]

You could try to meet this guy also
https://www.youtube.com/user/Cargospotter
who is german but likes to make video in LGG (50min from BRU) due to the exotic traffic some days.

[jan_olieslagers]

¿so what? German is at least a Belgian language which English is not...

[sn26567]

Gentlemen, what's the topic again?

[journalist75]

Vic Diesel and acid-drop, thanks for replying! Unfortunately it has to be at BRU as I'm also meeting with a Brussels Airport spokesperson who will tell me more about their platform initiative.

I contacted a few spotters on Instagram, and a few of them said it might be better to go to the platforms on a Wednesday afternoon--with kids out of school, there may be more families or young adults. Any thoughts?


jan_olieslagers, I really appreciate you taking the time to explain to a Brussels native the intricacies of Belgium and the language feud. When I mentioned the possibility of speaking English for our news story, it was precisely because I didn't want to offend anyone who might hear French being used in Vlaams Brabant. Having lived here for 14 years, I know how awful that might be for some people. I could have tried communicating in my (somewhat limited) Dutch, but I didn't really want to go back to Paris and have to explain to my French bosses why I simplified my questions for the simple reason that Brussels Airport is not actually in Brussels, it's in Flanders and English isn't an official language.

[journalist75]

sn26567, Thanks for commenting! I'm trying to find the best time (between Tuesday/Wednesday morning/afternoon) to film a story on plane spotters and shine a light on the community. In order for the pictures to be visually interesting, I would ideally need approximately a half dozen people to film and observe. I would also need to ask a few questions to 2 or 3 spotters as well.
Please feel free to pass the message!

[luchtzak]

Please feel free to pass the message!

The message has been passed on! Don't forget to mention our web site

[jan_olieslagers]

* Yes, a Wednesday afternoon would be better for meeting spotters; though mostly dilettants, probably. Weekend would be even better, in my limited experience. As pointed out by Vic, best of all would be to wait for some "very special" visitor aeroplane. At whatever day or hour, that will bring out the die-hards.

* I fully understand it is not easy to explain the complex Belgian situation to Paris managers - no further comments there. But i regret that - like many of (what I perceive to be) your backgrounds - you seem to believe that one foreign language would be less unacceptable than any other - again, in Budapest you talk Hungarian, don't you? Why not simply respect local language in Zaventem and Melsbroek and Steenokkerzeel?

[journalist75]

Thank you very much luchtzak! Very much appreciated

jan_olieslagers, Thanks for your tips. Unfortunately I don't have any weekend travel opportunities coming up soon, and we'd like to air the story in the coming month.
Re: the language discussion, unfortunately it's impossible to send journalists around the world who are fluent in every single local language. I may be Belgian but I've spent half of my life living abroad, which explains my limited Dutch--definitely enough for a conversation (and even more, as I had a couple summer jobs working at Brussels Airport), but I feel like asking my questions in Dutch would decrease my ability to convey what I'm trying to ask. That's why I suggested English, which is often the middle ground, whether it's Zaventem, Melsbroek, Manilla, or Rio de Janeiro

[jan_olieslagers]

Fair enough, dear, and thank you for continued politeness! Good luck - bonne chance - in your endeavours!

[Vic Diesel]

* Yes, a Wednesday afternoon would be better for meeting spotters; though mostly dilettants, probably. Weekend would be even better, in my limited experience. As pointed out by Vic, best of all would be to wait for some "very special" visitor aeroplane. At whatever day or hour, that will bring out the die-hards.

I won't necessarily restrict it to "dilettants" (sounds a bit diminuitive), as also pensioners could have enough time to be out there. But I think we all agree: a workday morning is hardly the time when either of the spottersplaatsis flooded with spotters...

... in Budapest you talk Hungarian, don't you? Why not simply respect local language in Zaventem and Melsbroek and Steenokkerzeel?

Sorry to correct you: no Hungarian would expect a journalist from another country to ask them in Hungarian. Maybe this has to do with the lack of similar languages in Europe, but especially in Budapest and speaking to younger people, no one would take offense in spoken to in English. With older people, you might be more successful speaking German. Expecting an occasional visitor to be fluent in the local language has nothing to do with respect by visitors - with all due respect within this forum, that sounds more like a bit of a chauvinistic approach towards visitors.

I am working in Brussels for some months now and am spotting around BRU quite a few times. I don't speak French or Dutch beyond the most basic sentences of small talk, although I try. Still, almost all spotters I've encountered around the airport were friendly, welcoming and capable of conversing in English. Only one or maybe two of the older guys were rather not talkative, maybe due to their lack of English and thus not having a common language. Let's face it (French-speakers, please don't read the following ), English is pretty much the "lingua franca" of our days. Would I learn Flemish if I'd live in Flemish Brabant for longer? Sure. Would I learn French if living in Wallonie for a couple of years? Hell, yeah. Do I learn either, being on a one-year assignment to Brussels? Nope: helluva workload to finish, living in the EU bubble, unfortunately I lack the time.