Eighteen-year-old Surfers Paradise aviation enthusiast Zach Clark has taken out a $1,000 prize for snapping the best photo at the 2019 Gold Coast Airport plane spotter photography competition.

Twenty spotters as young as 14 years old put their photo-taking skills to the test in an exclusive airside session at Gold Coast Airport recently.

A judging panel from the airport assessed the images taken by the spotters, awarding Zach’s perfectly-timed photo of an AirAsia X aircraft the top prize.

Judges commended Zach’s well-timed snap, which was taken seconds before the A330 – sporting a special UFC livery – touched down on Runway 32.

Mr Clark said he was surprised to have won but plans to use his winnings to upgrade his video equipment.

“I’ve been spotting at Gold Coast Airport since for four years now, so I was thrilled to win the competition,” he said.

“The prize will help me buy new equipment to take high-quality videos.”

Gold Coast Airport General Manager Operations and Service Delivery Brett Curtis said it was hot competition as the city’s best plane spotting photographers vied for top honours.

“The airfield is a fast-paced environment, so the spotters did well to capture the action in a still image,” he said.

“It was great to be able to engage younger spotters in this year’s event, which for the first time was open to children as young as 10 years old.

“Picking a winner was a hard task – we enjoyed seeing the passion and creativity of the spotters come to life in their images.”

Close runners up included images taken by Julie Blamire, Brock Mullens, Liam Humphreys, Ben Long and Thomas McQueen.

Zach has been awarded a $1,000 Camera House voucher.