I love EGLC - London City

[Nyquist77]

Where possible i always fly out of London City because it's so quick and easy. Last week I (rather nerdily) decided to time how long it took from walking through the airport doors to sitting comfortably in the departure lounge. That includes checking in (e ticket and hand luggage only) and going through security.



Answer - 6 mins 36 sec

Heathrow eat your heart out. If only i could fly to Berlin, Madrid and Barcelona from City.

[PAPI-74]

Nyquist77,

It is just as relaxing working there too. I really enjoy everything from the small car park, through to the steep approach on runway 10 at night (turning over Big Ben and the London Eye at 2000').
Gets a bit hairy when the wind is it bit gusty though.:eek:

Papi;)

[Chica]

Nyquist77, you can certainly fly to MAD from LCY, with a choice of airlines - BA or AF.

And LH are starting a twice daily service to Berlin in January.

[Nyquist77]

I live 1 min from the London Eye and constantly see the planes on finals to R10 coming over my house. But everytime I actually land at city (6 ocassions now) the plane lands on R28. I love london and I'm desperate to see my house from 2000'.

What are the statistics on runway use at City, are both used equally? does ATC EGLC use 28 more than 10 for noise pollution reasons or some prevaling wind reason? surely 6 out of 6 on R28 is unlucky?

Is there anything i can do to guarantee a 10 landing? bribe the pilot? bribe ATC? get a witch doctor to do an easterly wind dance?

:)

[Nyquist77]

Brilliant about Berlin! i'm booking my seat now!

how did you find out? come to think of it i did know about Madrid but haven't worked there for a while so didn't remember. Cheers :ok:

[PAPI-74]

It is all about wind direction. The main wind is the SW / NW therefore R28 is the main runway. It can change by the hour, so good luck.

I do have my price, however!!!!!

Failing that, treat yourself to a flight in a twin (fixed wing / helicopter) and go for an hour flight at night.

Try Biggin Hill, Stapleford etc......
Between 4 of you, should be a good deal.

[self loader 54]

Yes lots of good luck..... I stopped flying to LCY because of the wind - bad landings are not what I enjoy and don't see why I would intentionally book on routes that incorporate this as an added plus. And anyway the transport once you got down was just so bad it took me even longer to get to SW6 (my then destination). And frankly the queue through passport control was never ever short and my plane from Geneva always parked at the furtherest point so the queue just snaked all the way down the building with all gates joining in before mine.

It's all 6 of one - half a dozen the other.

[PeterI]

I agree entirely, a few weeks ago when I travelled out to dublin I timed it from taxi to lounge as 15 minutes including dealing with hold baggage.
Biggest problem this time was getting there from NW1 where the traffic down Great Eastern St / Commercial St was awful.

I use for all my flights where possible, but since the Eurostar is moving to St Pancras (15 minutes walk from front door) I may start to use the train more.

It is by far the MOST civilised airport I have ever travelled through (Sadly much busier than when I first used it in 1988). When it first opened (and you still need carnets for europe) customs told a friend to go and have a cup of coffee while he went and found the necessary stamps for forms and he'd find my friend when it was all done.

[Avman]

bad landings are not what I enjoy

I think that you'll find they are "positive" or "firm" landings rather than "bad" landings. The short runway does not allow the luxury of kissing it onto the tarmac.

[WHBM]

For arrivals timings are even more impressive. I too have clocked it and have managed to get from aircraft steps to hand on a taxi door in less than 60 seconds ! Yes, you have to be on Gate 1, domestic, no hold baggage, and break into a sprint for the last 5 seconds with one eye on the stopwatch, but it just shows what can be done.

On another occasion I left Belfast City on a turboprop simultaneously with a colleague who was on a BMI A320 to Heathrow. This (presumably) raced ahead, but then after 4 times round the Bovingdon hold and a long drag down to finals (probably overhead LCY on the way !) I bet we were down first. I was out into my car in the car park, and drove home (10 minutes), then called said colleague from the house. He was still walking down the pier at T1.

And I have never had a bad landing into LCY, all credit to the crews. It doesn't seem to suffer much diversion due to wind at all, more problematic is river fog, around this time of year.

[Nyquist77]

Thanks for the tip have just found out that in LH are doing tickets LCY - TEGEL for £80 return. that's inclusive of all taxes and fees. the tickets themselves are only £8

amazing

[10secondsurvey]

"I love EGLC - London City"
Me too. :)

[Middle Seat]

I've been to London twice this year. Once to LCY on NW/KL and the other to LHR on AA.

Hands down. LCY, LCY, LCY! AMS is a much nicer transit airport for me than ORD :yuk: On departure, 5 minutes to get checked in at LCY (even if I had to explain to the check in agent where Seattle was) compared to an hour at LHR this week on AA.

Never AAgain. Next time, LCY. Cost was only about $20 more, but 20 well spent.

[Ray D'Avecta]

Absolutely. LCY is the best!!!

I commute to/from work in amsterdam from there every week, and it is always a hassle free, pleasurable experience.

Everyone smiles and is polite,.....even the security staff!!! :ok:

Definetly the best kept secret in London,......but please lets keep it that way :) ........otherwise it'll become like Heathrow!!!!:eek:

[PAPI-74]

It is getting worse as the months go on. In the evenings we get asked to slow down 40miles out and are vectored for 10-20 min due to aircraft on stand and no where for us to go. Frustrating to have a tailwind and make up a few minutes, only to be asked to head out towards Southend as we are number 7 for landing.
Start ups are also restricted for safety and polution reasons. If there are several aircraft ready for start, ATC will only allow 2 to start at any one time. They just don't have the room to get the landing aircraft off of the runway and allow too many to taxi at once, further, you wouldn't like to walk behind an aircraft everyday at idle (it is very noisy and will make you go partially deaf over the years and the fumes, although very nice, will give you a headche). If you are one of those businessmen who are grumpy at the cabin crew.....remember it is out of our hands, just breathe and be polite....we are all in the same boat.

Can't wait for the new stands and parallel taxiway. Unfortunately, the new owner has paid such a high price for the airport, he wants to increase pax numbers considerably. The problem will come when they are trying to get several flights through passport control. This needs to be addressed sooner then later, or it will spoil LCY's appeal and your 60sec transit. This is also why the pilots like LCY too.

[Captivep]

It's a super little airport. At busy times, though, the departure lounge can get very crowded - not funny when you've flown down on the first flight of the day and can't wait to get back on the plane. Then, of course, your flight is at the furthest gate...

[Doors to Automatic]

Reading this thread I was reminded of a bmi flight I once took from MAN to LHR. Block time was in the region of 90 minutes due to a lengthy hold and a go-around due to a/c in front being slow to vacate. The time from take-off to arrival over Bovingdon was about 15 minutes of the 90!!!

[iggie]

The Berlin flight does not appear to be twice daily. I can find only one flight on a Saturday and a Sunday.

[nebpor]

I too am another London City convert - I take anywhere between 20 and 40 flights a year from Glasgow to London, to my offices in Victoria - I had previously used BA to Heathrow or Gatwick depending on timing mood. I have become increasingly stressed with using either airport and was delighted when BA Cityflyer started offering LCY from GLA again.

It's far, far quicker and convenient for me to take the tube & DLR to City from Victoria than even the Gatwick Express, just because you've no idea what state the hoards will be in at the airport.

LCY is like the golden days of flying again - nice clientelle, pleasant staff and an air of excitement with the stunning views on takeoff & landing.

I hope it manages to grow without ruining that experience :ok:

[Self Loading Freight]

The only way to fly. A funfair ride to the airport, straight through to departure in under ten minutes with staff being nice (isn't that banned these days?), a sporty take-off (esp. in the turboprops - full blast with the brakes on, then ker-bang!), and since my office is on the Jubilee Line there's barely time to break the back of the paper on the way home again. And these days, it costs the same to get to EDI from there as it does to take the train from KX - probably be cheaper once GNER gives way to the next lot.

That's when it's all going well. Once you get a few delays and the bodies start to mount up in the lounge, there's not much room to swing a ciabatta - and is it my imagination, or are the seats edging closer together in there? Hanging around on the tarmac seems to be more common these days, too.

R

[nebpor]

True, the lounge is getting pretty hectic at peak times, but again due to most of the folk being quite "interesting" I don't find it a problem, unlike sitting in Heathrow!