The Best and Worst London Airports

London has four airports which are all situated within different parts of London. Whether you are flying out or a business trip, on holiday or a weekend city break, millions to the airports flock the airports on a quest to leave or arrive in the UK. The four main airports in London are Heathrow, Gatwick, Standsted and London City airport. I have flown from all airports and as travel experiences go they all vary in customer service and efficiency. 

The worst airport in London had to be Gatwick. It was once seen as the main rival to Heathrow in terms of size and the number of flights leaving London. In the last two years I have flown from Gatwick a few times and am horrified at the standard of customer service and lack of organization this airport has. Flying in from Amsterdam last year on an afternoon flight became a nightmare. You have just had a lovely weekend away, and are tired from getting up early and waiting around the departing airport. You arrive at Gatwick, make your way down the passenger way to arrivals only to get their and discover that the plane landed at the wrong gateway. Enter panic and hysteria amongst tired and bewildered passengers. While staff belligerently try to resolve the situation and find out how we get to passport control. We are just kept waiting and waiting. Standing around like lost sleep while no one keeps us informed, and this went on for ages. Annoyance and anger had begun to set in with the other passengers, including myself and my partner. After over an hour of standing around we then were told what was happening, which meant a really long hike around the airport before hitting security and passport control.

This isn’t the only instance of badly control mayhem. Checking in doesn’t fair much better. All the airports now have self check in kiosks which is great but it doesn’t stop the endless queuing for bag drops and even worse security. I remember last year before flying out to Orlando the chaos of having to go through security. Having stood in one of the queues for half an hour, staff then decided to make one queue for every flight going out. This meant that everyone had to move and walk to the end of the queue. By the time we found the end of the queue, we must have walked about a mile. The communication in the airport is dreadful. There is no communication. The staff just mutter, and shout at passengers and that’s about it. Nothing is properly organized and there seems to be one queue form everything. Gatwick is now the airport we always try and avoid.

Heathrow is London’s largest airport and this year it opened a new terminal, terminal 5 which houses all the BA flights. Until recently Heathrow had had a good reputation for organization and efficiency. Although flying from Heathrow is a great deal more pleasurable than flying from Gatwick, it still has its flaws. Endless queuing seems to be a common theme with London airports. People trying to push in, shoving you, rude an abrupt staff and baggage handlers, who must play pass the parcel with our luggage. No point buying designer luggage, by the time you collect it the other end you may as well have saved your money, as your luggage looks like its been dragged through several hedges. On the plus side to Heathrow, the selection of duty free shops and places to eat and drink are is vast. Once you have negotiated the bag drop fiasco and security trauma, the rest of the departure is more relaxed.

The next worst airport just above Gatwick is Standsted Airport. This airport has all the appeal of an aircraft hanger, with terminals. Again you have to queue for everything, the level of customer service is pretty shocking and you have to stand everywhere unless you are lucky enough to find a seat. The airport is no where near the size of the other London Airports and it shows. There isn’t much at the airport, so if you need anything I would suggest bringing it with you.

The best London airport I have experience so far is London City, situated out in East London near the Millennium Dome. This airport caters for business travel and short hall European flights to Zurich, Geneva, Amsterdam, Dublin and Antwerp. Three stops on the DLR (district light railway) from Canning Town and the airport is virtually outside the tram door. Once inside everything is quick and stress free as the self check, bag drop and security takes a few minutes. Best of all if you fly on a bank holiday, it is so quiet you don’t have to queue for anything. Although the airport is the smallest out of the four, it is the best airport. There are enough shops and amenities to keep you occupied and although the prices of food and drink are high (like with any airport), the atmosphere is relaxed and the staff are friendly and helpful. It is a shame they don’t do transatlantic flights but I guess the bigger the airport the more likely problems are to arise.