jamespi

Hi FT,

Most of my early morning flights are out of LHR, but it looks like I am on BA3291 out of LCY in a week or so (departs 08:20). What are the queues like at LCY ~7:30 (I have Silver so can use fast track, but get the impression that half of folks flying out of LCY probably do too). Is arriving at 7:30 cutting it too fine?

denhaagflyer

There is no fast-track at LCY (would be more crowded than the regular line). Typical wait in the morning is 5 to 10 minutes, 15 minutes if you are really really really unlucky (such as secondary inspection). Arriving 7:30 will give you plenty of time after security. I would not arrive earlier, as there is no lounge and the waiting area can get crowded (gates are typically announced only 30 min or so before departure)

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk jamespi, and welcome to the BA forum. It's great to see you here, and I very much hope you can continue to participate.

There isn't fast track at LCY, since as you rightly point out, many, many users of LCY have status on the various frequent flyer programmes out there. My worst ever security there was 18 minutes, and that was fluke-ishly long, most of my timings are in the 5 to 10 minute area, and you need to be at the gate 15 minutes before departure, formally it's 10 minutes cut-off. So assuming you are HBO (hand baggage only) then a 7:30 arrival into Silvertown is fine, indeed yo don't want to be there too early since there isn't a lot to do airside. So HBO I would arrive no sooner than that and you'd have a good 15 minutes contingency. If you are checking in bags, then I wouldn't leave it any later.

It's always a good idea to put the destination as well as timings into your questions, it makes it easier for us to visualise what you are doing. I haven't managed to memorise the entire schedule (yet) and I doubt many other FTers have either! This is the Hamburg flight that leaves at 08:20.

jamespi

Thanks both for the quick responses - haven't flown from LCY before so this is really useful. Looks like I don't need to rush too much then, LCY isn't the easiest when you live an hour out of London. I am travelling HBO (to Hamburg - would have been Bremen but that route has been curtailed).

Misco60

The new seating areas and eating places along the corridor to the gates have significantly reduced the overcrowding in the main departure area (which had got completely out of control). I frequently take the 08:20 departure to Berlin and never have a problem finding a seat in or near the new Pret a Manger at gate 4.

hcuk94

Indeed, I rarely struggle to find plenty of space now, even in the peak.