Stansted: London’s most misunderstood airport?
If you ask a private jet customer to name the two closest airports to Central London, they would normally correctly name London City Airport & RAF Northolt.
The next London private jet airports most often mentioned are Biggin Hill, Farnborough and Luton.
London Stansted Airport is probably the least likely to be mentioned. But in fact the PrivateFly team often favour Stansted over London Luton Airport – London’s busiest private jet airport – which it is comparable to in many ways. Here’s why.
Why take a private jet flight from Stansted?
- Driving time & airport access
- Choice of high quality FBOs
- Ease of slots and less delays
- Better for winter operations
Stansted is closer to both Central London and Canary Wharf than Luton. The map above shows distances and average driving times from Central London (Charing Cross) – and shows that Stansted is usually slightly a shorter drive away than Luton. The same logic applies to Canary Wharf:
Driving time from Canary Wharf to Stansted is 45 mins (35 miles)
Driving time form Canary Wharf to Luton is 60 mins (37 miles)
Stansted and Luton have the same Latitude (distance north). However The M11 motorway to Stansted is much less prone to delays than the M1 motorway to Luton. So driving times are usually slightly shorter.
Choice of high quality FBOs
London Stansted offers a greater choice of FBOs (private jet terminals) than the three at Luton. There are four operating FBOs: Inflite; Harrods Aviation; Universal Aviation UK; and Fayair.
We find the quality of service at these to be equal to the FBOs offered at Luton.
Ease of slots and less delays
As the recent Government research into airport capacity in the South East of England showed, Stansted has more spare runway slot capacity than Luton.
For private jet customers, this spare runway capacity means:
a) Stansted slots for private jet flights are nearly always available at short notice
b) Stansted private jet flights have less air traffic slot delays than Luton
Stansted is well equipped for winter operations
With private jets frequently requiring de-icing in winter, Stansted is a much better option than Luton in the winter months.
With less private jets based at Stansted there is much more hangar space available. Putting your private jet in a heated hangar negates the requirement for expensive de-icing before flight.
If de-icing is required, each of the Stansted FBOs have their own de-icing rigs.
Read more about de-icing a private jet
So next time you are flying by private jet from London, ask the PrivateFly team for quotes from Stansted. Contact us or call +4 1747 642 777 (24 hours).