Page 372 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - London

370  SUR VIV AL GUIDE

Arriving by Air

London’s two main airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, are
augmented by smaller facilities at Luton, Stansted and
London City (see pp372–3). Check which airport you will
land at, and plan your journey from there. All the airports
have train or coach links; Heathrow is also connected to
central London by Underground. Because the airports are Access to the Underground from a
so far apart from each other, travelling between them is terminal at Heathrow
best avoided.
Heathrow (LHR)
Heathrow in west London is one
of the world’s busiest airports.
It has five terminals, so it’s
important to know which one
your flight will arrive at or depart
from. Terminals 1, 2 and 3, the
oldest, share an Under ground
station and Heathrow Central
British Airways passenger jet at Heathrow airport rail station; Terminal 4 has its
own Underground station;
Airlines and Fares be booked only through each Terminal 5, which opened in
airline’s own website. Note that 2008, has Under ground and rail
Heathrow and Gatwick have low-cost airlines regularly add stations. A free shuttle bus runs
long-haul connections with extra charges on top of the between the Terminals. Most
every part of the world, on fare – such as one for checking British Airways flights use
scores of airlines. The main US in luggage. Ryanair, for example, Terminal 5; most other long-
airlines offering scheduled charges £15 if you cannot haul airlines use Terminals 3
flights to London include Delta, download and print your own or 4. There are shops and other
United and American Airlines, boarding card, and need one facilities in every terminal.
while from Canada, there are to be issued by ground staff There are several ways into
frequent ser vices with Air at the airport. London from Heathrow. The
Canada. British Airways and fastest rail service is the Heathrow
Virgin Atlantic also fly from Security Express, with trains every
many North American cities. 15 minutes from around 5am
The flight time from New York is Security is tighter than ever at to 11:30pm daily to Padding ton
about 7½ hours; from Los London airports. Allow at least station on the west side of
Angeles, about 10 hours. 2 hours to check in and get central London. Journey time is
The choice of carriers from through security before your about 15 minutes to Terminals
Austra lasia and Asia is enormous departing flight, especially – 2 and 3 (from which you can
too: Qantas, Air New Zealand because of its size – at Heathrow. take the free transfer service
and British Airways may be Allow the same time to catch to Terminal 4) and a further
the obvious first choices, low-cost flights if you are 6 minutes to Terminal 5. Fares
but operators such as checking in a bag, since in the are around £25 single, £39
Singapore Airlines and interests of keeping costs down, return (slightly less if you buy
Emirates offer alternatives. there are not many check-in online). Heathrow Connect
All the main European staff, so lines move slowly. trains run on the same lines but
scheduled airlines, such as British
Airways, Air France, Iberia and
Lufthansa, offer frequent con-
nections, mostly to Heathrow or
Gatwick, but they now carry less
traffic than the low-cost airlines.
Ryanair has budget flights from
across Europe, Ireland and the
UK, mostly into Stan sted, while
easyJet runs almost as extensive
a European and British network
from Stansted, Luton and Gatwick.
Very few airlines now offer
reduced prices for children.
Low-cost flights can normally Heathrow Terminal 5, used exclusively by British Airways

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