I share my travel experiences here at OMAAT, including flight reviews and airport lounge reviews. I often get reader questions about the logistics of picture taking, and am asked if I ever run into issues.
In this post, I’d like to step back a bit and look at the big picture — is taking pictures on airplanes and airports allowed, and are there any restrictions? It’s complicated, so let me share my experience.
Taking pictures on airplanes is usually allowed
There are a countless number of airlines in the world, so of course not every airline is going to have the same policy regarding photography onboard aircraft. Very broadly speaking, taking pictures on airplanes is fine, as long as you’re not violating the privacy of others. That’s to say that on a vast majority of airlines, if you’re just photographing the seat, out the window, etc., you shouldn’t have any issues. There are two major caveats.
First of all, it’s common for airlines to have rules against photographing other people without their consent. In other words, you typically can’t just start snapping pictures of strangers. Now, admittedly there’s always a grey area here. Like, if you’re taking a selfie on a plane, odds are that someone else may also appear in the picture, in some form. You’re unlikely to have issues there.
Some airlines aren’t even that strict when it comes to taking pictures of others. For example, Delta allows photography onboard, including pictures of other people and crew, as long as the intent isn’t malicious.
Second of all, there are a very small number of airlines that do have rules against photography. In my experience, Central Asia is probably the region where you’ll most consistently find rules against photography on planes. For example, Turkmenistan Airlines and Uzbekistan Airways are two airlines I know of that prohibit photography onboard their flights.
Personally my approach is to just take pictures and assume it’s allowed, unless I’m told otherwise. However, I’m always very careful to not get other people in the pictures, because it’s common courtesy, as I see it.
Airport photography is a bit trickier in terms of rules
Rules around photography at airports can be a bit more inconsistent, since it often comes down to the laws of a country, rather than it coming down to an airline policy. Furthermore, in many situations, airline policies might actually be stricter than airport policies.
For example, in the United States, you’re basically allowed to take pictures anywhere, even at security checkpoints. You know, we love our freedom in the United States. 😉 You’re even (legally) free to photograph strangers as much as you’d like (not that I’m recommending doing that, but I’m just saying that you can).
Now, in the United States, airlines will typically have stricter rules than airports regarding photography. For example, many airlines prohibit taking pictures of employees or other passengers without their consent. Let’s say you have a bad experience with a gate agent, and you decide you want to record your interaction as evidence (I’m not taking a stance on this, but am just sharing a hypothetical).
That’s absolutely not illegal, but it may violate the airline rules. So you could get kicked off a plane for doing that (by violating the contract of carriage), but you wouldn’t be arrested for that, or anything. However, the airline could call the police on you if they decide they no longer want to transport you, and you therefore have no business being in the terminal anymore.
Meanwhile in other countries, the rules are much less consistent:
- It’s common for airports to ban photography around security checkpoints and immigration checkpoints
- A lot of countries have unenforced laws regarding airport photography — for example, at least going back several years (I’m not sure if it’s still the case), UAE airports technically banned any sort of photography of planes or the airport without permission, but it was rarely enforced
- Countries have differing restrictions when it comes to the right to privacy that people have in public
Much like on airplanes, I generally just take pictures unless I’m told otherwise, or am asked to stop. The exception is at security or immigration, where I don’t mess around.
Misunderstandings & power trips do happen
I think it’s worth emphasizing that even if you’re following the rules, you could still run into issues sometimes when taking pictures. Some airline or airport employees may not know or understand the rules, may be exercising a little too much discretion, or may be on a power trip. All are possible.
For example, in 2018 I wrote about a bizarre Lufthansa flight, where a purser accused me of video recording the crew. She was aggressive about it and even stopped the safety demonstration to confront me. There was only one issue — I wasn’t doing what she was claiming, and I even proved it to her. It was super awkward.
In both Central Asia and Africa, I also seem to have the most issues with inconsistency regarding photo rules. For example, I took two flights in TAAG Angola first class. On the first flight, they had no issues with me taking pictures, and found my interest in the product charming. On the second flight, it was the complete opposite, and the crew was openly hostile and threatening about it.
As another example, when I flew Pakistan International Airlines, the lead flight attendant had no issues with me taking pictures, and we had a nice discussion about it. However, another flight attendant screamed at me to stop taking pictures, but was ultimately overruled. So it shows you the inconsistency with all this.
I think there’s one other important point to acknowledge, as much as I hate to say it. I suspect race, nationality, etc., will also factor into how many issues you’ll have taking pictures. I would imagine that some minorities probably deal with a lot more pushback than others, so that’s at least worth mentioning. This is very much a “your mileage may vary” situation.
My approach to taking pictures at airports & on airplanes
As someone who takes a lot of pictures on airplanes and at airports, let me share my general approach to trying to fly under the radar (no pun intended), and to avoid issues. Perhaps the airplane example is more valuable, since I find the experience to be more consistent.
I don’t volunteer any more information than I have to, and I also try to downplay the reason I’m taking pictures (I don’t want to say “oh, I’m taking pictures because I’m reviewing this flight”).
I think first impressions count, so I’ll always try to be very nice to the flight attendants and smile as I board, so they’re not suspicious in any way. Then I’ll just start taking pictures. In a vast majority of situations, crews don’t even notice, or don’t care.
Sometimes they’ll politely ask about why I’m taking pictures, either to investigate, or just out of curiosity. I usually try to be enthusiastic, and say something like the following:
- “Oh, this is such a beautiful cabin! Is it new?”
- “I’m a huge aviation geek, and this is my first time flying [airline, product, cabin, or whatever]”
- “I just love airplanes, and love to take pictures of my experiences”
I’ll then typically at the end just add “it’s not a problem if I take pictures, right? I’ll make sure that no other people appear in them.” In 99% of situations, that’s the last question I hear regarding pictures.
Lastly, in situations where I do take pictures with people in them (like a “bartender” on the airlines that have that amenity or a flight attendant standing in the aisle), I’ll always ask them beforehand if it’s okay if I take a picture, and emphasize that I want to respect their privacy.
Meanwhile for airports where I’m not sure if photography is allowed (as above, I’m talking mainly about Central Asia airports), it’s pretty easy to still take pictures undercover. iPhones are compact, and you can take pictures in a way where it doesn’t necessarily look like that’s what you’re doing. If you put some AirPods in and talk while taking pictures, it makes it look all the less suspicious.
Worst case scenario, if some security guard with a very big hat comes up to you and demands you delete everything, in my experience they usually haven’t heard of the “recently deleted” folder, so… 😉
Bottom line
I can’t imagine there are many people who take more pictures on airplanes and at airports than I do, so I figured I’d share my experience, since I know some people are unfamiliar with the rules. Ultimately there’s a ton of variability, though usually it’s not a problem to take pictures on airplanes and at airports, as long as you’re doing the best to respect the privacy of others.
What has your experience been with taking pictures on airplanes and at airports? Have you had any bad or strange experiences?