A question with a bit of a twist here. My airline is looking at reviewing our published Minimum Connecting Times for itineraries that involve a transit between Gatwick and Heathrow.

The standard MCT published for connections LGW-LHR vv is 2:30, which as anybody who has ever tried to make this trek will tell you, is patently unrealistic, let alone when one factors in immigration, baggage claim, M25 and pre-flight security. Unfortunately, to change the MCT requires an IATA resolution supported by 2/3 of all carriers serving both airports, and simply put this is not feasible nowadays.

A number of airlines have taken the step of specifying exceptions that range from 3:00 to 4:30. While it might seem tempting to err on the side of caution and pick the higher range, a 4:30 MCT rules out connectivity between the main hub-link flights with our primary interline partner that come in at 4:20/4:40 in winter and 3:00/4:25 in summer. The summer two-way link appears that it will have to be sacrificed but there is a secondary seasonal link with reduced connectivity options that comes in directionally at 4:15 in summer so this is not unworkable.

So, assuming that a 4:00 or 4:15 MCT is specified, is this realistic for pasengers transiting between Gatwick South and Heathrow T4? Keeping in mind that most passengers will be doing this journey with 2 bags each and in most cases will have arrived from an overnight intercontinental longhaul flight.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?