What London airport?
 

Hi all

I have a few passengers who are going to London for a meeting in the middle of the week. They need to be in the centre of town, picadilly area, sometime before noon.
The aircraft is a small citation.

Looking for recommendations on what airport to use with regards to ease of getting in and out of (with the aircraft), reasonable prices, convenient for the passengers to get to their meeting etc.

Biggin Hill was recommended to me by someone who used to go to London alot, but it was along time ago, not sure if his info is current.

Also, any info on how long it would take from airport to centre of town would be appreciated.

Many thanks

It depends what you mean by 'the centre of town'. I'm not trying to be funny, but to some that would be the City, which is in the East (LCY would be your nearest commercial airport), to others it would be the West End.

Sorry, London is not a city I know very well...
In this case, centre of town would be the picadilly area.

EGKB by far the best option. You have a PM.

Then I guess you'd be looking at Northolt, it was an RAF airport but is now used for civilian traffic, and transfers in by taxi/limo. I am sure someone who knows the GA airports will either confirm this or come up with a better suggestion.

Northolt would probably be your best bet. Certainly the best transfer option time wise. Will be pricey compared to Biggin though.

They will want 24 hours notice though if you do go there.

London
 

I used to regularly take an owner into Northolt but switched to Luton. I found it was cheaper and slots were easier. Most of all the ladies at the FBO used to take the pax straight from the a/c to the train station where they could travel in to london fist class with a train every 10 mins or less much quicker than they could from Northolt. On return the FBO staff were waiting at the station for them and brought them straight back to the a/c. Used to work well.

MM

Thanks everyone who contributed...
Looks like it´s between Biggin, Northolt and Luton....
I´ll have a chat with some FBO´s and look at fees etc before making my decision.

London Southend Airport, EGMC, has a rail link direct to Liverpool Street which takes 40 mins, {Rochford Station}. Or you can get to London by car in about an Hour {being sensible}. The airport handles props and jets up to the size of BBJ {commercially}.

London Southend Airport

c24

You have to be realistic.

North Weald is a pure VFR field with no IFR procedures and no licenced ATC. It has many things going in its favour as a recreational aerodrome but it would have to improve its facililties dramatically if it were ever to compete in the corporate market. (which the owners do not want to happen).

Southend can hardly be called London. It can take BBJ if they are operating empty and they have a good trade in B737 maintenance positioning empty. If they ever get the go ahead to extend the runway it might be more attractive.

The OP is looking for somewhere to operate a Citation so you can look outside of the normal destinations to places like Blackbushe or Cranfield. But in the end if your pax want a top level FBO near London then stick with the old favourites of Farnborough, Biggin Hilll, Luton, Northolt and City.

LCY is a nice option, but highly expensive. Take a look at Biggin Hill?

Vino Collapso,
on a light hearted conversation type, Southend can handle the BBJ,s. I have loaded fuel onto a B727 for a direct flight to Jedda so if the runway can handle a beast like that, A BBJ will be a walk in the park!!
And I used to fly a King Air 200 out of there a few years back. It was a great little place to have one based. Watch this space with Southend, give it a year or so and you wont recognise the place!:ok:

c24

My suggestion of Northolt was based purely on the speed and ease of getting to Piccadilly by road, rather than aviation based considerations.

I assume that people who are flying in on a private jet are not going to take public transport, particularly the tube, which is more like a sewer, to their final destination.

RAF Northolt
 

A small technicality. RAF Northolt IS an active Royal Air Force station.

RAF Northolt - RAF Station homepage

My first Royal Air Force posting and my wife's last.

As quite rightly noted in this thread it takes civilian traffic.

RAF station or not, EGWU handling/slots/PPR is now managed entirely by the Jet Centre.

Go to Luton, deal with Signature, and you will have nothing to worry about.

Transit times to London
 

Being not a pilot myself, but a bit of a transport anorak, and noting Piccadilly being the venue for the meeting, you may want to factor in the transit times, and if you are not already, make sure you have onward transport laid on - particularly if you are coming into Biggin. I am told it is important to get someone who knows the back roads into London from Biggin.

Equally, Luton to Piccadilly is straight forward - apart from the last bit. I am sure the FBO you use will have a deal with a chauffeur drive and I would have thought that is money we spent.

Hope I am not stating the obvious for you professional guys here - in fact it would be interesting to know how involved you would normally get in ensuring a smooth transition from aircraft to final destination.

Cheers

Mark

I get the distinct feeling that there is a lot of biased self interest being expressed in some of these posts....

Has anybody mentioned Farnborough Airport, EGLF? I used it for years. Now admittedly during the wrong time of day, the drive into London can take a rather long time, but no longer than from Luton or Biggen Hill at the same time of day.

Capeton.... You last used the London Underground when - 1947?