London has the most airline traffic of any city in the world by a pretty significant margin with over 180 million passengers passing through in 2019. So it makes sense that they also have a huge selection of airports to choose from. In this article I’ll give a brief overview of each airport to answer the question, which is the best London airport? I’ll highlight the pros and cons of each, as well as which one you should choose depending on your circumstances.
Heathrow Airport (LHR)
First we start off with London Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, and by far the busiest and most impressive in the UK. If you’re flying long haul or transferring, chances are you’ll go through Heathrow. With 80 million passengers in 2023, Heathrow is the hub for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. It also hosts the majority of the UK’s long haul flights. So if you want the biggest choice of airlines and destinations, Heathrow is definitely the place to be. On their website they say they serve 214 destinations across a whopping 89 airlines.
Terminals
London Heathrow has 4 different terminals, and they’re not all created equal. First of all there’s Terminal 2, my personal favourite. Originally opened way back in 1955 and completely refurbished in 2014, it’s the home of Star Alliance Airlines. That means if you’re flying the likes of United, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and more you’ll be flying out of this terminal. The building feels airy and spacious, and doesn’t force you to walk through miles of duty free, unlike many airports in the UK.
Right next door is Terminal 3, home to most Oneworld Airlines (and a few more like Delta and Emirates). I say most Oneworld because there are a few exceptions, Like British Airways who are based out of Terminal 5, or Malaysia Airlines who use Terminal 4. I actually haven’t been through here in many years, but it definitely feels a bit dated. It was refurbished in 2007, but not as extensively as Terminal 2. That said, it definitely has the best airport lounges of any terminal in London. Airlines like Emirates, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Delta and Virgin means you’re spoiled for choice.
Terminal 4 is definitely the worst of Heathrow’s Terminal. Firstly, it’s located away from the central area of Terminals 2, 3 and 5. This means less frequent transport links on both the Heathrow Express and Piccadilly lines, plus more limited bus routes. It also feels really dated, with long walks to gates and poor food options. It was built in 1986 and despite renovations in the last 10 years, it still feels old. One positive though is that they have an outdoor terrace
Finally Terminal 5 is the largest airport terminal in the UK and opened in 2008. In fact, it’s the largest freestanding building in the UK. It’s also exclusively used by British Airways, as you can probably tell from the picture below. Though British Airways have reached capacity here, so they also operate some flights from Terminal 3. Terminal 5 is very efficient and modern, with great facilities. I have found though that it gets extremely overcrowded during rush hour. Which makes travelling through Terminal 5 somewhat unpleasant at certain times of day.
Lastly, the airport does have very ambitious expansion plans. With the planned addition of a 3rd runway and extensive modernisation/expansion of terminals 2, 3 and 5. Personally, I’ve very excited about these upgrades as I love a big infrastructure project and would benefit from it as a London resident myself. However, the plans are subject to constant controversies and delays, so we might be waiting a few decades more before anything happens. You can check out the full plans on their website here.
My Experience
If you had to choose one airport, I would say Heathrow is the best London airport. Firstly it’s actually very efficient if you’re starting/ending your journey. I flew to & from here 14 times and don’t think security ever took more than 10 minutes. The passport e-gates also make arrival immigration very efficient if you’re lucky enough to be eligible. And no exit immigration at UK airports means no long immigration queues to deal with when flying out of the UK.
The options here are the best of any UK airport, and it’s one of the world’s global hubs. Many of the destinations and airlines at Heathrow don’t serve any other airport in the UK, so it gives you the best flexibility. The shopping options are also the best of any UK airport, nowhere else has all the luxury goods you can find at Heathrow. It also has by far the widest and best selection of lounges from plenty of different airlines.
The only downsides in my mind are that it can take a while to get to. But with the Piccadilly Line, Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express and loads of bus options, it is probably the easiest airport to reach for many locals. I’ve also heard Heathrow Airport (and most UK airports) are terrible for connecting flights. With slow security/immigration checks and long transfers between terminals. Though luckily I live in London and have never had to transfer here, so I can’t comment on transfers first hand.
Gatwick Airport (LGW)
Gatwick Airport, London’s 2nd Airport, is also pretty huge serving over 40 million passengers a year. Compared to Heathrow, it’s more geared towards low cost and leisure travel. It’s the main hub for easyJet and a secondary hub for British Airways. Though there’s much less people connecting through the airport compared to Heathrow. British Airways for instance operate a lot of their long haul holiday flights to places like Barbados and Jamaica from Gatwick.
Location-wise, Gatwick is pretty far from London at 30 miles / 48km from central London. Despite that they do have good direct train connections through either the Gatwick Express, Southern Railway or Thameslink. In fact, you can get direct trains from Gatwick to central London stations like Victoria, London Bridge, Kings Cross St Pancras, Farringdon and more.
Terminals
The airport has two terminals, called the North and South Terminal. The North Terminal tends to house the more premium and long haul airlines like British Airways and Emirates. Meanwhile the South Terminal has more short haul and low cost airlines. But in reality there’s a lot of crossover and the main airline here, easyJet operates from both terminals. That makes it quite confusing knowing what terminal you’re supposed to go to. Especially considering I’ve seen some airlines actually call them terminal 1 or 2 instead of North and South, which confuses things even more. Luckily there’s a monorail running between the two terminals which only takes a few minutes.
Inside both terminals is a bit like stepping back in time 20 years, especially the South Terminal. The North Terminal is a bit more modern and has a better selection of shops and restaurants. Though I’ve only used the South terminal in recent years so most of my comments will be based on that. The both terminals have a few lounges to choose from too, though again the North Terminal has a better offering.
My Experience
I have a bit of a soft spot for Gatwick as it was the main airport we flew from when I was growing up. That being said, I can acknowledge that it is pretty dated and definitely on the budget side. Plus it’s quite far from London unless you happen to live on one of the train lines that have direct service (luckily I do).
But if you’re going on holiday you can definitely find some good deals here compared to Heathrow. And in the UK it’s second only to Heathrow (and maybe comparable to Manchester) when it comes to airlines and destinations and facilities. Lastly, in my experience Gatwick is pretty efficient, with security and bag drop queues often being relatively quick.
Stansted Airport (STN)
Stansted Airport is the 4th Busiest Airport in the UK (after Heathrow, Gatwick & Manchester). Unless you live in East London, Stansted is a bit of a pain to get to. It’s 42 miles / 68 km from central London. There is an express train, but it runs from London Liverpool Street Station which is probably the least central of London’s main train stations. If you were travelling from right in the centre of London it would take about 1h 15m to get there by train.
The airport consists of one large terminal serving about 25 million passengers a year. And the majority of those flights are with Ryanair. Other airlines are almost all low cost carriers, with the notable exception of Emirates who operate a few flights a day here. They also have a surprisingly high number of private jets movements too.
Terminal, Shops, Lounge
Stansted Airport stands as a prime example of what I would call bad, exploitative airport design. The main terminal area is housed under a massive area, but it’s laid out as one long shopping street. To get anywhere near the gates you have to pass first through a huge duty free shop, then past loads more high street shops before you reach a seating area which is nowhere near big enough to fit all the passengers passing through. And you can’t leave the main seating area to go to your gate because they only tell you the gate number a few minutes before boarding to encourage people to shop more. Then when you get to the gate, I’ve found the seating to be really dirty and tatty. It’s just a poorly designed terminal which doesn’t make for a good passenger experience.
My Experience
For the most part I don’t think Stansted is too bad. It’s definitely an airport for budget airlines. So it’s crowded with lots of shops and limited seating. There is also only one lounge and it’s not very good (you can check out my review here if you’re interested). Plus the airport and airline staff are notoriously difficult. But the flights here are usually cheap, especially with Ryanair. Emirates also fly here twice a day, and those flights are usually the cheapest flights Emirates offer to London. All in all, it’s just your typical budget airline airport…
London City Airport (LCY)
London City Airport is relatively small but by far the most central of London’s Airports. It’s located near Greenwich, very close to the main business districts of London, Canary Wharf and the City of London. Thanks to that you get a huge amount of business travellers passing through here and the airport is geared around efficiency. I myself have made a few flights to Luxembourg from here and it’s the kind of airport where you can safely arrive 45 min before departure and not feel rushed.
They’re one of the first airports in the UK to implement new security scanners which don’t require you to take laptops and liquids out of your bag. (More airports are adding these, but for now London City is still the only major one). The only downside is you won’t find any interesting shops or lounges here. And there’s a definite lack of open seating areas making it feel quite overcrowded at rush hour.
I’ve also made a few videos showing how good the airport is, so check out the below YouTube links if you want to see more…
- Plane spotting on a snowy day at London City Airport: https://youtu.be/GbEH5PuYDX8
- Flight Review of Luxair Business Class from London City to Luxembourg: https://youtu.be/2aPsZOA4gP8
My Experience
I’ve probably passed through here 4 or 5 times in the last year and every experience has been good. Most importantly, it’s probably the most efficient airport I’ve been to in the world. From arrival to clearing security usually only takes 5 minutes or so. And the fact you don’t have to take liquids and laptops out of hand luggage at security is a game changer.
Seating is very limited and there aren’t really any shops besides a few cafes and convenience stores. But the airport is designed for efficiency and serving mostly business travellers so that isn’t much of an issue. The location is also incredible, making for some of the best takeoff and landing views in the world. Just look at the picture below to see what I mean…
And unlike many of London’s other airports, some pretty unique aircraft fly here. All of the aircraft are on the smaller side to be able to land on the short runway. So you’ll mostly see Embraer 190s, ATR 72s, Dash 8s, and even this rare Dornier 328 which I flew on last year. (You can see my full review of that excellent flight here).
Luton Airport (LTN)
Luton airport is just a depressing place that barely deserves to be considered a “London” airport. I try to avoid it as much as possible so haven’t been here since 2019, but from what I’ve heard it’s still the same. Security and immigration queues are long. The single terminal feels like a somewhat rundown shed. It’s overcrowded with limited places to sit. And lastly, it’s just really far from London. Located 30 miles / 47km from central London, it can be reached by a 35 min train from London St Pancras Station. Which isn’t too bad, but the train only runs once every 30 min, much less frequent than other UK airports. Only Stansted Airport is further from the city.
The good news is that only budget short haul airlines like easyJet, Wizzair, TUI etc operate from Luton. So if you avoid those airlines you’ll never have to step foot here. I will say though, they do have some quite exciting expansion plans. And if it ends up looking anything like the 3d renders then it might be worth using.
My Experience
As mentioned above, the few times I’ve been to Luton it’s just been overcrowded with long queues and unfriendly staff. There’s not enough space inside the terminal and limited shopping/food options.
Other Transport Options
There are technically two more “London” airports which I haven’t included here. That is London Southend Airport and London Oxford Airport. Both are tiny: Southend only served 146,000 passengers in 2023 and I couldn’t even find numbers for Oxford. So I don’t think these two are even worth considering unless you live next door.
Last but not least is not even an airport, it’s the Eurostar! Here you can get the train from London St Pancras station to a few European cities including Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. From there you can connect to pretty much any train within Europe. The station being right in central London make it extremely convenient. And it’s by far the most sustainable option. Of course, you’re much more limited with routes compared to most of the above airports. Plus queues for check-in can get really long at rush hour, much longer than any of the airport options. Lastly, it tends to be slightly more expensive than flying the equivalent route, especially compared to Stansted and Luton Airport. But still, I’m a big fan of the Eurostar. And it’s perfect if you’re going to Paris.
The Best London Airport
A few airports on this list are vying for the top spot of Best London Airport, whilst a few more should be avoided at all costs. To help summarise I’ve made this nifty table:
| AIRPORT | BEST FOR | WORST FOR | MY RATING |
| London Heathrow | – Long haul – Choice of airlines – Shops & lounges | – Price | 8.5 |
| London Gatwick | – Leisure Holidays – People who live South of London | – Distance from London | 7.0 |
| London Stansted | – Budget airlines especially Ryanair | – Distance from London | 5.5 |
| London City | – Efficiency – Getting to city centre | – Price – Choice of airlines | 9.0 |
| London Luton | – Nothing – Okay, it’s not bad for budget travel | – Everything | 3.0 |
| Eurostar | – Distance from city centre | – Long queues – Limited routes | 6.0 |
More from me…
Please feel free to check out other related posts I’ve written:
- British Airways Boeing 787 from Hong Kong to London – Avoid Economy Class!
- The Sofitel Luxembourg Review – Chic Business Hotel
- The Plaza Premium Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 2
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- The Platinum Card – You Receive 60,000 Membership Reward points after spending £6,000 in the first 3 months of membership: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/platinum-credit?ref=fREDEGgRA5&XLINK=MYCP