WhyWaitForever - London - Air Travel

Air Travel

The largest and busiest airport is Heathrow which is situated to the west of London. The second busiest is Gatwick which lies to the south of London on the Brighton Road. Luton lies north of London and Stansted is on the Herts/Essex border to the north-east of London. City Airport is in the East End in Docklands.

The airports are served by taxis, the Tube, mainline trains, buses and coaches. WhyWaitForever - London - Travel has links to travel web sites for travel in and around London.

A favourite for secure airport parking is Purple Parking.

Airports

These links provide information on UK flight arrivals, flight departures, flight timetables, airport parking and more. At times when there are problems resulting in flight delays the airport web sites can become very busy. Teletext is an excellent fast source of detailed travel news and information. WhyWaitForever - London - News contains London and UK news headlines, links to newspapers and links to more information sources.

WhyWaitForever - London - Cars - Parking contains information on parking in London and private parking for the London airports. Private parking can sometimes be as convenient but cost far less.

Low Cost Airlines

After booking it is very important to retain the confirmation reference. Most people print out the confirmation page and the confirmation emails. and appear at the check-in desk at the duly appointed time clutching this paperwork.

Airlines for Long Haul Routes

The NHS provides advice and covers the tricky subject of jet lag. When possible it is perhaps best to choose the latest generation aircraft which should be the quietest and should provide the most room.

It is a good idea to travel in loose clothing. Clothing should be loosen and perhaps shoes should be removed at the start of the flight. Alcohol should be avoided. Sufficient drinks should be taken to avoid any chance of dehydration. Periodically it is good to exercise as much as possible starting with the ankles and working up to the head. Gentle rotations, movements, stretching followed by relaxation can be helpful to many. If in any doubt always consult your own doctor.

For jetlag adjust as early as possible any watches to the time of the destination. Look at the watch frequently and remind yourself that this really is the time. If it is past your normal bed time, put on the blind fold, put in the ear plugs, crash out under the blanket and try to sleep. You can look at your watch (under the blanket) to prove that it really is as late as that ...honest. Ignore all around you especially the smells of food. Cabin staff should ignore you. You don't have strangers wandering around in your bedroom so tell yourself that the people and noise around you is just a dream and they don't exist. On landing get into the open air as quickly as possible. Be aware of your capabilities especially if you are picking up a car since your reaction times can be adversely affected.

Traveling to and from the London airports

The fastest and most reliable mode of transport between the airports and London is the railway and the Tube. All journeys into central London except for the City airport take around a hour.

If road transport such as coaches, taxis or hire cars are used the best time is around an hour and usually much much longer. Even roads such as the Heathrow spur road can have long tail backs stretching miles. It can be very frustrating being in sight of the airport and as the clock ticks away in the traffic queue you miss your flight. In the centre of London on most of most days the average speed drops to around 10 miles per hour which is the same as in the time of horse transport in Victorian times.

WhyWaitForever - London - Travel - Trains contains information on the railway network. Even if your final destination is outside London it is usually easier to come into central London and go out again. Alternatively you could try the challenge of trying to avoid London using infrequent trains on obscure rail routes subject to arbitary cancellation. This is not for the faint hearted.

Charter and Private Flying

There are a number of companies able to charter aircraft, to provide pilot training and to offer sightseeing flying trips. For a group of business travellers a charter can be very cost effective. The world has changed very far from the days of a tiny light aircraft flying from London to Antwerp across the steely North Sea gamely racing to beat the threatening northerly storm. Mind you fairground designers could learn a trick or two from the experience.

The biggest three airports are Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. The Civil Aviation Authority is responsible for civilian aircraft in the UK air space. Listed below are the main public and private airports.

London and South England

London City, Northolt, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Farnborough Hants, Bicester, Biggin Hill and Denham

South Coast England

Manston, Ashford, Lydd, Bognor Regis, Southampton, Bournemouth, Exeter, Plymouth, St Mawgan (Newquay).

East Coast England

Southend, Bentwaters, Norwich, Cambridge, Alconbury, Doncaster Finningley, Humberside, Teeside, Newcastle

Wales, the West and North of England

Swansea, Cardiff, Bristol Fulton, Bristol, Gloucester, Coventry, Birmingham, Hawarden, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds Bradford, Isle of Man

Scotland

Glasgow Prestwick, Glasgow Paisley, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Sunburgh

Flying private planes and helicoptors needs special care in these crowded islands. The Learjet is the civilian aircraft most aspire to owning. There are other planes see Boats and Planes.

Advice and Guidance

A Time Long Ago

My late father was a pilot in the RAF. After being demobbed he never flew again. I don't recall he ever expressed a wish to go back up into what he termed "a flying coffin" again. When we were small after much pleading we got him to agree to take us to the Farnborough Air Show. I vaguely recall the Harriers and both Concorde and Concordski though maybe not on the same show.

My father had an unusual driving habit. The old Jag had a "speed hold" switch which was used when overtaking at speed. There was a button to pull and I think it set the carburetters to give a more powerful fuel mixture. My father would pull this switch and then sometimes he would glaze over and appear to be trying to pull back the steering wheel for extra speed as if it was the stick in a fighter aircraft. We would try and bring him out of it by trying to get him into a conversation. That generation had it tough.

I flew a couple of times in light aircraft and gliders and frankly I just don't have the bottle.