Connecting flights in London Stansted

[s.zavadilova]

Hi,
I have a question regarding connecting flights at London Stansted airport.
Im flying 17thApril (Tuesday) with Ryanair from Brno and arriving to Stansted at 18:15.
Then Im flying from Stansted with Ryanair again to Cork, Ireland at 19:55.

I have only the cabin luggage and online check-in for both flights.

But I have no idea what is the layout of the airport and the distances etc.

Does this connection (1hr40min) look doable to you?

[jackieofalltrades]

Assuming the first flight arrives on time, then that should be plenty of time to make the second flight.

[840]

I've done the connection from an arrival from Graz 65 minutes before a departure to Cork. It's perfectly feasible provided both flights are on time.

What I did do was book the flight for the following morning anyway, knowing that it cost under 20 quid and that I would be charged 10 times that amount if I needed to arrange it when I got to Stansted.

[s.zavadilova]

True,
I will check an option to book also some early morning cheap flight...
however I dont see anything 'really cheap' that I would like to pay extra.

thanks for the comments

[Tableview]

It's not a 'connection' in the generally accepted sense, it's two entirely separate and unrelated flights governed by separate contracts. If you miss the second flight, Ryanair will not give you any support or assistance at all.

As others have said, it should be fine, but if it's not, you're effed!

[wowzz]

Also make sure you sit near the forward door so that you can make a quick exit. I know Ryanair disembark using both fore and aft exits, but in my experience the pax at the front always seem to start disembarking before those at the rear.
Also you will have to pass through passport control and then re-enter air-side via security, so any liquids you may have bought at Brno or on the flight will be confiscated.

[s.zavadilova]

I know the flights are separate flights and ryanair does not take any responsibility for any delays etc.

Only thing I need to know is,
if there is someone with experience from london stansted who can say whether the time is enough (talking in average and not considering big delays etc.)



Thanks for the tip with liquids etc :) i think i wouldnt think about that :))

[s.zavadilova]

I will try to book some cheap morning flight...

to be sure....

but i really dont want to wait sooooo many hours in stansted

[wowzz]

1 hour 40 minutes should be ample, especially as you can walk/run from the Ryanair arrival terminal to Border Control. Even allowing for a 30 minute wait to clear Border Control and another 30 minutes to pass through security you will still have half an hour to spare.
BUT, as has been mentioned before, if your inbound flight is late, you have had it!

[s.zavadilova]

so when I get to Stansted, do I have to get through Customs and then completely 'out' and then back again through Security check and then to gates?

Isnt there a way how to avoid another security check?

[Jack1985]

When you arrive at Customs and Immigration you need to follow the signs for exit through the appropriate channel. Then once your airside at Stansted continue walking South down the Terminal until you see a sign for Departures then proceed through security and go to your gate. Very simple I've done it three times and haven't had a bother with a connection time of 1hrs 40mins also. As has been pointed out however if your flight is delayed and you miss your connection then your on your own as far as Ryanair are concerned. There is no Flight Connections route back into Departures even though the Signs on your arrival would have you believe that.

[840]

It's pretty much the process you describe.

Stansted isn't set up for connections.

As you'll have checked in online, you avoid that part of the hassle and that's it.

Immigration is one part of it, but for security, unless an airport can guarantee that all passengers have started their journey in an EU country, they will have to be rescreened. While there are airports that do this (e.g. Amsterdam or Frankfurt for Schengen passengers), it would probably negatively impact on a Low Cost airport like Stansted because it would have to move from fairly simple passenger flows to a more complex and less efficient setup.

[racedo]

You should be ok BUT the getting in late, immigration and security back in are where it could fall to pieces.

Use the immigration booths if required as even if doesn't recognise your passport correctly you will just get moved onto a desk to deal with booth issues and jump any queue:E

[rareair]

I don't know what's available in your country of residence - but my UK insurance through direct travel insurance would, I believe, cover me for £600 in this circumstance.

It's not a standard clause in the UK and so is worth shopping around for.

Whilst people have said to me £600 isn't enough (in the context of a missed departure in business long haul) it would certainly cover a night in a Stansted hotel and the morning flight over the Irish sea.

[wowzz]

Rareair - the insurance cover is a good idea, but I am sure that in the small print a minimum connection time must be stipulated, otherwisw pax would be trying to make connections with virtually impossible connection times.

[farci]

Rareair - the insurance cover is a good idea, but I am sure that in the small print a minimum connection time must be stipulated, otherwisw pax would be trying to make connections with virtually impossible connection times

I agree with all the warnings about connecting at STN. Interestingly Stansted does does have a published minimum connection time according to this website (http://airtravel.about.com/od/airports/a/mincnxdtog.htm):

Domestic to Domestic - 45 minutes
Domestic to International - 45 minutes
International to Domestic - 45 minutes
International to International - 45 minutes

[ConstantFlyer]

Farci is right. The OAG Guide gives 45mins for all Stansted connections and says: "Standard Minimum Connecting Times are administered by IATA and published on their behalf".

I've also successfully connected between flights at Stansted but it is necessary to go 'out' and back 'in' again. It is very sad that airside connections are not possible at many UK airports.

[jabird]

International to International - 45 minutes

That is for a hypothetical through connection between legacy carriers. Totally irrelevant for Ryanair as you are making two separate contracts.

Personally, I think you are allowing far too little time, especially later in the day when it is more likely that delays from earlier on can stack up. Of course, it is possible for both flights to be delayed, in which case you won't have a problem with hand luggage only!

Afaik, no missed connection cover will consider anything less than 3 hours. I briefly looked at this for a three sector trip I've just got back from, but couldn't find any confirmation of what they would actually consider "reasonable".

My total route was BHX-AMS (land) CDG-SXM-NEV and reverse NEV-SXM-BHX.

The shortest "connection" was 6:10-9:50 in CDG. I could have booked on to an earlier flight but didn't want to risk it - and I did have luggage. In the end, I was checked through from SXM to BHX. Apart from BHX to AMS, which was with WW, all the airlines I was with offered some level of through connection - so they may have been sympathetic in the case of a missed connection.

With Ryanair, there is no sympathy, no assistance, officially such connections don't exist as they only do point to point. I'd much rather build in an overnight or an all day buffer - if the first sector is on time, do some sightseeing, if not, you should be ok. If you don't have that much time to spare, then you are far better off with a combined legacy ticket. By the time you have paid two sets of taxes and charges, you might well end up with a cheaper ticket anyway. For example by flying BRQ-STN-ORK & back, you are needlessly subjecting yourself to two sets of UK APD. If you flew on a through ticket - even via LHR (from PRG or VIE), you would not pay UK APD at all.

[Tableview]

My insurance policy has missed departure cover.

For each insured-person this insurance will pay:

...............
3 you the amount shown on your policy schedule compensation on your policy schedule for alternative transport to get you to your
destination:
(a) the car in which you are travelling to your international departure point becomes undrivable due to mechanical failure or
being involved in an accident, or
(b) your public transport is delayed, preventing you from getting to your international departure point in time to check in.
You will need to obtain independent confirmation of the circumstances.

The situation described is not a 'connection' but if you have two consecutive flights and the first is delayed preventing you from getting to the second, it would seem to me to be covered by the clause I've highlighted in red. The first flight is 'public transport' and although I don't think that is what was intended when the policy was written, I think they'd have to cover it.

MCTs only apply to official connections.

[jabird]

TV,

I can still see lots of holes in such a policy.

1) Let's say my routing was EDI-LHR-DEN and I had a puncture on the way to EDI. Well surely that it not an international departure point, as EDI-LHR is a domestic sector?

And just to be picky as my recent trip was similar - if I has BHX-CDG and then CDG-FDF (Martinique) as my routing, the second sector wouldn't be international either.

Or does it just mean any airport offering international flights?

2) There is no cover for the more likely scenario of dense traffic or road closure - so let's say you are setting out from St Andrews and the Forth Bridge is closed. No cover.

I would also expect a clause about allowing "reasonable time" to get to the airport in the first place. My general rule is check in / bag drop / gate (+security) closure + 1 hour.

Also, presumably no cover for passports / docs left behind at home or in the car, as happened to me for my departure from NEV. Fortunately, driver (dad) had only gone 5 minutes and he answered his phone (on second attempt) and promptly returned to airport.

As for b), I still see loopholes.

I would expect the insurer to claim (wrongly) that airlines do not provide public transport, as that term is generally used (wrongly) to refer to mass transport within cities.

Of course, you could point to dictionary or wiki-ref sources pointing out differently, but you still might have an uphill struggle.

Presumably, for the sake of this policy, a taxi counts as a car (taxis are certainly not public transport) - so again I'm not sure if the cover (against a taxi breakdown) is as relevant as a taxi simply failing to show up. This happened to me once, but luckily I had only ordered the taxi to take me to the bus to get to the airport. As the no-show of taxi meant I missed the bus, the taxi took me to the airport without fare - but I really wouldn't want to have been arguing that with the taxi co's lawyers!

[jabird]

Also, as a general rule, if making separate bookings, better to do plane + train, rather than two flights imho.

Trains usually run at a higher frequency, so if one is delayed, you can usually get another within an hour or so.

DUB offers direct flights to VIE, BTS and PRG. Would that have been a safer alternative?

[Tableview]

jabird, thinking back about 5 years, I had an early morning flight out of ZRH once and the taxi I'd booked to take me from my flat in Wollishofen to the airport was in an accident with a tram. The police had to be called and I missed my flight as I had to give a witness statement. The new ticket cost me several hundred CHF and rhe insurance (same company) paid up.

[jabird]

jabird, thinking back about 5 years, I had an early morning flight out of ZRH once and the taxi I'd booked to take me from my flat in Wollishofen to the airport was in an accident with a tram. The police had to be called and I missed my flight as I had to give a witness statement. The new ticket cost me several hundred CHF and rhe insurance (same company) paid up.

Well under the terms you gave, the taxi would be defined as a car, and even if it was roadworthy, it would still have been un-driveable as a consequence of the accident until the police investigations were complete.

Just wonder if there were any passengers on the tram who also missed their flights!

People don't leave much room for error in Switzerland as everything usually runs like clockwork, and afaik they time the trams to the 30 seconds!

I have been on a rail replacement bus there once and the late trains are usually the "outsiders" coming in from Italy etc!

I wonder if the insurers have a table for "reasonable" transfer times for say, 10k from the airport? My brother went to Lagos a couple of years ago, and set off for the airport - about 5k away - about 4hrs before check in closed!

[jabird]

I also overslept once staying just south of Zurich. I wasn't going to make the train, so I called hotel reception and asked how long a taxi would take to the airport. I was told about 50 minutes, but only had 45 minutes.

Could they hurry it up a bit?

No chance - doh!

Having said that, I'm sure I could have made it in a car. I once drove across the panhandle of Florida. In the UK driving on the M1 I'd expect to be overtaken several times each minute driving at 80 in the "middle" lane.

On the turnpike, I was cruising at 5mph above the limit (iirc 65), and got overtaken twice in about 6 hours.

[Mikael67]

Obviously there are MANY passengers who actually DO connect to a different flight at Stansted airport, although no carriers at the airport offer formal connections.

I think it would be very reasonable for the airport to offer a transfer option, without unnecessarily going through immigration/customs/security an extra time.

[Fairdealfrank]

I think it would be very reasonable for the airport to offer a transfer option, without unnecessarily going through immigration/customs/security an extra time.


Surprised it's not on offer at STN, bearing in mind that it is the UK's 4th busiest airport and a huge FR base, so there must be many "self-connect" pax.

It also means that pax starting/ending their journeys at STN are unnecessarily inconvenieced by longer queues at security (departing) and border control (arriving).

Access to the departure area via a separate smaller security area would make sense.

[DaveReidUK]

Surprised it's not on offer at STN, bearing in mind that it is the UK's 4th busiest airport and a huge FR base, so there must be many "self-connect" pax.

Fewer than 5% of Stansted passengers are connecting there.

[AerRyan]

How would anyone get them statistics?

[Alsacienne]

Unlikely to get direct transfers if there is hold baggage involved IMHO ...

[davidjohnson6]

How difficult would it be to set up a corridor between the immigration hall and the departures area with a couple of security guards to validate boarding cards with a bar code scanner, and facilitate self-connect transfers at a passenger's own risk, where there is no hold luggage involved ?

[GingerC]

Two questions: Does the UK government insist that all passengers departing a UK airport clear UK security? I rather think it does, in which case only passengers arriving on domestic flights would be eligible for any transfer facility that bypasses security. The brand new LHR T2 has designated domestic arrival gates that feed through a boarding pass check directly into the departure lounge for connecting passengers. There are no such designated gates for EU arrivals though they could have been designed-in.
Secondly, if there were to be segregated gates at Stansted and a special route for connecting passengers, would Ryanair use the facility since it would reduce operational flexibility. Gatwick does have a flight connections system, avoiding the UK border, but most LCCs don't use it on the grounds that their tickets are point to point.

[Mikael67]

Why would it reduce the operational flexibility of a LCC if the airport offers a connect alternative?

It would still all be at the risk of the "self-connect" pax?

[Mikael67]

Is it possible now to self-connect at Stansted without going all the way to landside?