TeeZee

Is there any difference between flying Emirates Y class out of LHR or LGW? I'm going to CGK. flights out of LGW seem to be a bit cheaper.

Flame3601

LGW is usually cheaper due to the tax being lower. Depends what airport you prefer to depart from , especially where you are located in London !

ft101

Sore point for some of us in the UK.

Tax goes to the government and is essentially the same for all departure points at the moment. (There are a few oddities).

Airport charges are what makes the difference and this money doesn't go to the government.

From Amadeus:
UK Passenger Service Charge (UB) – A charge imposed by airlines to cover costs they pay to airports for the passenger to use the airport’s amenities and services. This amount varies from airport to airport.

DYKWIA

I'd do LGW, as there's less chance of ground delays.

thijsseh

Agree, i have doen both and now prefer LGW. Overall a much better experience than the zoo that LHR is.
LGW is a bit less accessible (of course no problem if you qualify for CD), but not really a problem as there are lots of trains. Don't take the Gatwick Express, it's a ripoff.

Will08

Chauffeur drive is better at Gatwick with a dedicated area for pick up and drop off. At Heathrow you have to go to a little seating area and wait for your driver to turn up. The lounge is probably better at Gatwick as well.

DYKWIA

Which is just rubbing the OPs nose in it as he's in Y

akalra1187

Heathrow:

Pros:

- Much closer to Central London in terms of time, don't just look at the distance.
- Better shopping in LHR T3.
- More flights in case of IRROPS.
- Staff at the airport are a bit more geared to business travellers and are a bit more welcoming.
- Heathrow Express 15 mins to Paddington if that is applicable to you.

Cons:

- Queues to take off, and other delays that can be attributed to a busy airport, but you're more likely to get stuck in traffic in South London or the M25 on your way to Gatwick, which could be much worse.
- Terminal can be busier at certain times, i.e. during security.

LGW

Pros:
- Quieter and overall less congested than LHR.
- Less delays in landing/take off
- If its cheaper than LHR for your tickets that's a good enough reason.

Cons:
- Further than LHR from pretty much anywhere other than the Brighton area.
- EK share a terminal with Easyjet at LGW, I that speaks volumes about some of the people you have to deal with when sharing the terminal.
- I've found immigration & other staff to be ruder than at LHR. Less exposure I'd attribute it to.


So yeah, for me LHR is the better choice, but if LGW is cheaper and you don't need to shop at the airport, and you're planning to get to the airport early LGW is good enough.

On the other hand, if you want to get to the airport anything less than 2 hours before departure, want to shop at the airport, more people in the terminal don't bother you, and you value ground staff with a more global outlook LHR might be worth the extra fare to you.

I've flown from both and I live 14 miles from LHR and 43 miles from LGW (ok you can cut it down to 30 miles via South London rather than the M25 but that takes longer). For me its LHR every time, but that's just because its so much closer to me.

Dave Noble

I disagree that Heathrow is closer in time than Gatwick from Central London unless you class Paddington station as being the basis for central London

From Victoria the train journey to Gatwick takes 30 minutes and from London Bridge it is 29 minutes

This is slower than the Heathrow Express from paddington at 15 minutes ( cost GBP25 ) but not faster than the Connect service at 32 minutes ( cost GBP10.30 )


With only 15 minutes in the train journey time, location in Central London can easily offset that saving.

Seriously - that Easyjet uses Gatwick makes it worse?

I would take Gatwick every time over Heathrow - that it is cheaper is a bonus. That was able to fly into LGW was a reason for picking EK on last trip

Uzair

LHR any day.

eternaltransit

I prefer LGW - airport airside options are better. Superior EK lounge if you have access. Equivalent pay lounge options. Better security screening system than LHR T3.

Negative: long walk to gate, immigration.

akalra1187

Well I would argue that trains are not the benchmark of distance that you are claiming them to be.

Birmingham is an hour and ten minutes from Euston station, not a huge amount of time in the grand scale of things, but from out here in the western part of central London, using only trains, it would take me another 30-40 minutes to get to Euston, and the trains to Birmingham run only every hour, so in a best case scenario we would be waiting at Euston for say 20 mins till the next train. Making Birmingham in fact (using exclusively trains) take circa 2 hours plus. By car I don't think many people would assume Central London to the centre of Birmingham takes less than 2.5 hours.

Central London is also indeed a very west centric term, and don't forget Heathrow is in West London. Kensington/White City/Chelsea/Fulham/Notting Hill etc. etc. are all considered to be Central London, although theoretically West London.

Hop in a black cab from Harrods, between 10am and 3pm most weekdays and unless something drastically goes wrong, you will be at Heathrow in less than 30 minutes I guarantee you.

Say the same, even if you're in Waterloo/Victoria/London Bridge (anywhere in Central London 'closer' to Gatwick), how long do you think you would be reaching Gatwick in by taxi?

Not to forget the area between Earls Court and Hounslow is a city onto itself otherwise known as West London, with big corporate offices (Brentford area), decent roads, and several sizeable commercial centres like Richmond, Kingston, Hammersmith and more on the way. I don't think you can say the same for the swath of South London between the Thames and Gatwick, sure there's Brixton and Croydon even the smallest of western suburbs dwarfs them in economic importance. Yes I know Croydon is big but it isn't exactly thriving.

Victoria vs Paddington, well you can walk to Oxford Street from Paddington and you can walk to Westminster from Victoria, so yes both are equally well located I agree there.

But honestly, have you ever driven from Central London to Gatwick? Is that really a comparison to a quick cruise along the M4?

And yes I've used Easyjet, but I won't say their passengers are all pleasant. I'd use Easyjet again, but if I'm flying long haul EK my expectations would be a tad higher. Why put yourself through that when you don't have to.

Oh and whilst trains can work out for short European hops, I think the luggage entailed with long haul travel usually makes trains impractical, so whilst YMMV I think taxis/chauffeur drive is the more logical choice here. I get it someone might fly in from Dubai to London for two days, take the HEX, stay in W1, be at meetings throughout and take the HEX straight back to Heathrow. I can't really imagine the same traveller doing that through LGW. Like sure hedge funds in Mayfair (who will invariably prefer LHR), but with the City in the state that its in, two days in and out of London through Gatwick (convent perhaps for EC4 not so much W1)? That sounds like 2005 not 2017 to me. Or some people just travel very light, and good for them if they do.

Mr_Ed

Agree, there are swathes of London such as the area around Farrigdon where LGW is a lot more convenient and quicker to reach by train.

Mind you when Crossrail opens all this will likely become moot. Actually it will be interesting to see it EK will be able to maintain its LGW loads post 2020.

akalra1187

Farringdon to LHR via the A501/A40 then A312 will take you about an hour in a car with medium traffic. To drive to Gatwick from Farringdon you either chug along through central London then south London on single lane roads or you head out on the A13 and go quarter round the M25 (56 miles!). The first option will take you two hours unless you get all green lights and the second option will take two hours unless you break speed limits.

And people are going to Farringdon en mass for what exactly? To be hipsters? People live everywhere I realise that, but if we are considering a London airport we might consider proximity to Mayfair or Knightsbridge or even Westminster. Proximity to Farringdon? That's almost like comparing proximity to Nottingham...

I digress, who are these travellers flying long haul that want to take their suitcases on trains?

missingmanager

Some of us have no option. I live in the north and will be flying to Trinidad and Tobago in January. The only realistic option is BA from Gatwick. Unfortunately the only shuttles from our area go to Heathrow so train to Kings Cross, walk across to St Pancras and then Thameslink to Gatwick is the plan. Of course we have to factor in a night at an airport hotel to catch the (morning) flight.

This is why most of my long haul is from Manchester (free chauffeur drive with EK and a better J product) or KLM from Leeds/Bradford. Increasingly BA should call themselves London Airways as their offerings do not suit those of us living in the provinces.