Six commercial airports scattered across four points of the compass, two business-aviation fields, and 180 million passengers a year who discover on landing that "flying to London" can mean six very different journeys. This guide is the map: where each airport actually is, what it is good for, and which one to choose for where you are going.
| LHR | West · 4 terminals worked | £55 |
| LGW | South · both terminals | £75 |
| STN | North-east · Essex corridor | £70 |
| LTN | North · M1 run | £65 |
| LCY | East · Docklands quay | £45 |
| SEN | Far east · estuary field | £95 |
Six commercial airports carry the "London" name and handle over 180 million passengers a year between them. Two more serve private and business aviation. Each one lands you in a different county, at a different distance from the city, with a different journey in front of you. Pick the wrong one and the flight was the cheap part.
Four terminals (there is no Terminal 1 any more; it closed in 2015), 80-plus airlines and the busiest airport in Europe. T4 and T5 sit on opposite sides of the airfield, so "Heathrow" is not enough detail — the terminal is the address. Inside Greater London, 45–75 minutes to the centre by road.
Central London from £55 · Heathrow transfers →In West Sussex, down the M23. North and South terminals joined by a shuttle, and airlines move between them often enough that last year's knowledge misleads. One runway means delays are rarely "a few minutes" — they tend to be nothing, or an hour. Book to the flight number, not the clock.
Central London from £75 · Gatwick transfers →Ryanair's main base, one big terminal, and a clean M11 run that makes it the most predictable drive of the six from north and east London. Closer to Cambridge than to the City. Heavy on early departures, so most of our Stansted work is small-hours pickups on an empty motorway.
Central London from £70 · Stansted transfers →In Bedfordshire, and closer to Milton Keynes than to the West End. Increasingly important for European routes, with its own kerb system that regulars know cold. The M1 from north and central London is direct; the craft is slotting through the drop-off without circling.
Central London from £65 · Luton transfers →A single compact terminal on a Docklands quay, minutes from Canary Wharf and the Square Mile. Built for short-haul business travel: kerb to gate can beat the taxi queue at bigger fields. The trade-off is strict noise rules — no flights overnight and a shutdown for much of the weekend.
Central London from £45 · City Airport transfers →Out on the Essex coast, with a rail link straight into Liverpool Street. Small, calm, queues barely exist. The distance is real — it is the longest standard run on our tariff — but passengers who fly from here rate the serenity as worth every mile.
Central London from £95 · Southend transfers →No scheduled airlines: this is where jets and charters land. For a private flight into London it is often the fastest door-to-door option into Mayfair, the West End or Canary Wharf, with no terminal to cross and a car at the aircraft steps.
Bespoke quote · Biggin Hill transfers →Technically in Hampshire, but a large share of its passengers are heading for London. Executive aviation only, with the M3 as the route in. We run it as a proper long leg with a chauffeur-standard car, timed to the aircraft rather than a schedule.
Bespoke quote · Farnborough transfers →And one in the wings: Manston (MSE), 75 miles east in Kent, is not operating yet but has consent to reopen, with a runway long enough that Concorde once used it. If it comes back, we will cover it on a fixed fare from day one.
The cheapest fare is rarely the cheapest journey once the last 30 miles are added. Match the airport to where you are actually going.
City Airport is 20 minutes from a Docklands boardroom. If your route does not serve it, Heathrow via the A13 and A406 is the next best; Stansted works from the north-east side.
Heathrow is the natural fit for the west and centre. Gatwick is fine but adds the M23 and the M25. Private flights into Biggin Hill reach Mayfair in under an hour off-peak.
Both sit at the top of their motorways with north London in their catchment. Luton for the M1 corridor, Stansted for the M11 side and Essex.
South of the river, Gatwick is closer than Heathrow in real minutes for Croydon, Bromley, Sutton and beyond, and avoids crossing the city entirely.
Heathrow to Southampton is a straight M3 run of about 90 minutes. Gatwick adds the M25. We run both as fixed-fare cruise transfers with luggage capacity for the whole party.
There is no rail link between most London airports. Heathrow to Gatwick by road is 60–90 minutes; Stansted to Heathrow is longer. We track both flights and hold the car if the first one is late.
Terminal confirmed from your flight number, pickup timed backwards from check-in or tracked forward from landing, name board standing where you exit — London's entire airport system run the way it should have always worked. Sixty seconds books any of it.