NATO planes spotted in the sky above Luxembourg

Planespotters in Luxembourg had a special object to snap with their cameras on Thursday, when NATO AWACS planes carried out landing and take-off manoeuvres at Findel airport.

Stationed in Geilenkirchen, in west Germany near the Dutch border, the NATO Airborne Warning and Control System planes are registered as Luxembourg aircraft, with LX registration on their tails.

The large radar is the key characteristic of the E-3 Sentry AWACS, manufactured by Boeing, and the noise they make, including a loud whistling sound, might have surprised unsuspecting pedestrians in areas near the airport on Thursday.

The planes usually operate at an altitude of 9,500 metres from where they can survey the airspace in a perimeter of over 400 kilometres.

This is by no means the first time AWACS planes have been spotted over Luxembourg and about two years ago local aviation photographer Felix Reuter, was able to capture them on video (below) landing and taking off and Findel airport.