England Guides Part I - London Airports - Getting There and Important Information About Airports

England has two major airports catering to the most of the international airlines. They are Heathrow (LHR - London Heathrow), around 25kms from west of London and Gatwick, which is
around 40kms south of London catering to mainly scheduled and carter
flights in UK. Other regional airports of England namely Birmingham,
Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, other airports of London
(Luton and Stansted), Cardiff and many other London airports have now a
very high number of international flights arriving. There are many
charter and scheduled flights originating from London's City Airport to
many European countries.

London Heathrow (LHR) - With one of the best airports in the world having 5 terminals, it can take hours to reach the Central building on foot. It is well connected
by trains from all parts of the London. The Heathrow Express between
Heathrow and Paddington takes 15 mins with a low train fare of £16.5
single and a return fare of £32. District Line, Circle, Bakerloo,
Hammersmith and City Lines connect Paddington with London Underground.
London Underground is the cheapest way from airport to reach the heart
of London costing you £4 oneway only. You have direct coaches from
various nearby cities connecting Heathrow in a Bus. Cabs from all over
London will connect you with Heathrow starting from £40 to £90
depending on your distance.

Gatwich Airport (GTW) - Gatwich is yet another important airport in England for scheduled and charter flights. Which is around 25 miles from the South of London.
Underground trains are not available to Gatwich but bus service and
overground trains are plenty running from Victoria station. Gatwich
Express takes just 15 minutes and other trains including First Capital
from Victoria and Southern Trains to London Bridge Station are very
cheap. A taxi will cost you around £80 from the center of London.

Luton Airport (LTN) - With just one terminal, Luton has more than 6.5 million passengers fly to more than 85 destinations in UK and Europe. Developed in 1999
with a cost of £40m, the terminal has 60 check-in desks and modern
facilities. For international flights, you need to check in 3 hours
prior to departure, for European flights - 2 hours prior and for
domestic flights you need to check in 90 minutes prior to departure.
There are express train services available from Luton Airport Parkway
including bus service, to St Pancras Station, City Thameslink,
Blackfriars and London Bridge, which takes about 25 min. You have
greenline coaches to Victoria station in London as well.

Stansted Airport (STN) - With 22.8 million passengers every year with 41 airlines, Stansted Airport has special facilities for children and disabled people at the
airport. You have special Stansted Express train services between
Liverpool station in London to the airport, which takes about 45
minutes (Stansted Express office number is +44 (0) 845 850 0150). You
will also find non-stop coach service from London to Stansted Airport
run by Terrravision. National Express also has services to Stratford
(East London) and Victoria.

London City Airport (LCY) - The beauty of this airport is the proximity to the London City itself, which is only 10 miles. It has a DLR train station only 50
meters away from the terminal with Jubilee line (at Canning Town), and
Northern Line, Central Line, Circle Line and Waterloo and City Lines
(at Bank). A taxi ride into the city will cost less than £30.