London Airports

[G4G5]

I have been coming to London for years and have never really taken the time to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the local airports. Most of the time my pax want to go to either Luton or Farnburough, so that's where I go. What would be the advantage of one vs the other? Time to downtown?

Every once and a while I get a request for Stanstead, I personally like it the best but from what I remember it's a bit further to downtown. Why would someone request it over two

Heathrow is out of the question, Gatwick is too far and I can't get a G5 into Downtown.

Anyone have any other suggestions Biggin Hill? I have never been there any tips, how long is it to downtown. By downtown I mean the 4 Seasons hotel or Canary Warf. Is Northolt an option?

[WHBM]

Biggin Hill is certainly the closest to Canary Wharf, you can see the office buildings there from points on the field, let alone on approach. Closely tying is Stansted as there is a direct motorway between the two, it's further but the road journey is only about 35-40 minutes. About the same journey time from Biggin, on slower streets.

Luton and especially Farnborough are a long way away from Canary Wharf.

Advice differs for other Greater London destinations. Like many other large metropolitan areas, it depends on where you want to go.

Other option of course is to put the pax across to an operator who has the right types to get into London City ! In fact I wonder why they don't do this themselves unless you're beyond the range.

[Buster the Bear]

Southend to Canary Wharf 39 miles.

Biggin Hill to Canary Wharf 17 miles.

Stansted to Canary Wharf 35 miles.

Luton to Canary Wharf 48 miles.

These are all approximate distances.

http://www.gifs.net/animate/bear3p.gif

[Fried_Chicken]

Other option of course is to put the pax across to an operator who has the right types to get into London City ! In fact I wonder why they don't do this themselves unless you're beyond the range.

Only large bizjet with transatlantic range cleared for LCY is the Falcon 900EX.

As for other airports (London area):

Heathrow - expensive for GA & difficult to obtain slots

Farnborough - not 24H, wrong side of the City for Canary Wharf

Luton - again, the distance to Canary Wharf but is 24H

Northolt - not 24H, can be difficult to obtain slots, active RAF base, expensive & again, on the wrong side of London

Stansted - 24H, direct Motorway links to London

Biggin Hill - not 24H but not that far from Canary Wharf

Gatwick - similar to Heathrow

the only other posibility is Southend, should be able to get a G5 in & out of there easily enough

FC

[tilewood]

Southend is H24. 757s position empty nonstop across the pond.
G5 should be fine.

Also the right side of London and the river for Canary Wharf.
Try www.LondonSouthend Airport.net for more info.

[CAP670]

Whilst Biggin Hill, London City, Farnborough, Northolt, and Southend are all viable options to a greater or lesser degree for Canary Wharf, Luton remains the only H24, Cat. 3b i.e. all-weather ops (incl FAA) approved non-BAA airport serving the London area.

Whilst all airline operations there are 'co-ordinated' it also has the advantage of not having any runway slot restrictions for corporate flights (although this could change by Summer 2006).

Depending on your customers' budgets, you could of course arrange a helicopter transfer from/to Luton to/from London's downtown Battersea Heliport.

:ok:

[panjandrum]

Isn't Luton closed overnight (0000-0530) though from 1 October 2005 to 31 March 2006??

AIP Supplement S21/2005 refers

[LTNman]

AGA : FROM 05/07/22 12:18 TO 06/03/31 23:59 A1609/05
E)SUPPLEMENT S21/2005 CANCELLED, WIP DEFERRED

[panjandrum]

Thanks LTN man, the hazards of working to incomplete information!

[PAXboy]

London's downtown Battersea Heliport. Just a note about the use of the word 'downtown'. For Americans, this would normally mean the financial district. In this case 'City of London + Docklands'.

The Battersea Heliport is in Central London but on the west side of it and would require a cab ride to The City/Docklands of about 10 miles (track miles, that is, rather crows flying in a sober manner!). If one gets into Biggin Hill, then Battersea would take you far to the west of the City and you would have to drive back.

Your clients may prefer the limo ride direct from Biggin Hill/Luton all the way to the destination, rather than transfer to chopper, travelling at a diagonal to their destination and then transferring again into a cab/limo.

--------------------
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

[G4G5]

Thanks for the info, do fuel prices vary greatly among the London corporate airports?