The metropolitan area of London, United Kingdom is served by six international airports and several smaller airports. Together, they make the busiest airport system in the world by passenger numbers and the second busiest by aircraft movements. In 2011, the six airports handled a total of 133,709,327 passengers. The London airports handle 60% of all the United Kingdom's air traffic. The airports serve a total of 14 domestic destinations and 396 international destinations.
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International airports
City (LCY)
Located in the London Borough of Newham, City Airportmap5 is situated in London's Docklands, and is the closest to central London, which limits its size - the airport has a single runway, which is very short. As a result, no large aircraft are permitted to use the airport, which initially prevented all long-haul flights. However, since 2011, British Airways has operated a flight to New York JFK, via Shannon, using an Airbus A318, which is currently the largest aircraft handled at the airport.
Located only four miles from Canary Wharf, London City Airport is often used by business travellers, with many flights serving destinations across the UK and northern Europe. The airport cannot be expanded due to the docks on either side. It is also the only airport serving London which does not operate at night.
Until the extension of the Docklands Light Railway in 2006, City Airport had poor public transport connections to London.
Heathrow (LHR)
Located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, Heathrowmap1 is by far the largest of London's airports, and considered the international gateway into the United Kingdom. Heathrow has five terminals and two parallel runways. Due to the location in London's western suburbs, Heathrow has been unable to expand (especially since the Cameron ministry scrapped the proposals for a third runway on 12 May 2010), and as a result consistently runs at 99% capacity. This has led to Heathrow being one of the worst rated airports in the world, with lengthy border control queues being a recent problem. The airport is connected to Great Britain's motorway network via the M4 and M25 motorways.
In April 2012, Heathrow announced that for the first time in history it handled 70 million passengers in a calendar year, making it the third busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger numbers, after Atlanta and Beijing. It also comes second behind Dubai International Airport in the list of the busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger numbers, as well as the busiest airport in United Kingdom and the busiest in Europe, again, both in terms of passenger numbers.
Heathrow serves six continents around the world, and is the base for the flag carrier British Airways in Terminal 5. While it also serves short-haul flights, Heathrow is London's long distance hub and is the most popular arrival point for flights from the United States of America, with 13 million passengers. However, because it is operating at capacity, Heathrow has failed to increase service cities in the newly industrialized countries, like China, falling behind European bases like Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Paris.
Gatwick (LGW)
Located in West Sussex, Gatwickmap2 is the second busiest airport in the London metropolitan region, and is the busiest single runway airport in the world. It is currently the second busiest airport in the United Kingdom after Heathrow, and the 10th busiest in Europe. It is the second base for British Airways, serving Europe and the Caribbean. It is also the base for low-cost carriers like Monarch, easyJet, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Flybe.
The airport consists of two terminals, North and South, is connected to the motorway network via the M23, and has its own railway station, with Gatwick Express serving Victoria station in Central London.
Luton (LTN)
Located on the Bedfordshire / Hertfordshire border, Luton Airportmap4 is London's fourth largest airport but the closest to the capital after Heathrow and City airports, it is the fifth busiest in the United Kingdom, and the 42nd busiest in Europe. It is the headquarters of the low cost carriers EasyJet, Thomson and Monarch and is a focus airport for other no-frills airlines.
Stansted (STN)
Located in Essex, Stanstedmap3 is London's third busiest airport, being the fourth busiest in the United Kingdom, behind Manchester Airport, 26th busiest in Europe, and is one of the primary operational bases for Europe's largest low-cost carrier, Ryanair. Stansted destinations are largely in Europe, however in the past it has served destinations further afield, like Kuala Lumpur. It is the home of Harrods Aviation, allowing VIP aircraft to land there, such as Air Force One carrying the President of the United States, Barack Obama, in 2009 and also 2016.
Southend (SEN)
Located in Essex, Southend Airportmap6 expanded commercial air transport operations to destinations in Ireland in 2011, and to Europe in 2012 when easyJet commenced operations using the brand new terminal and railway station. Southend claims it only takes 15 minutes to get through arrivals from plane to train with hand luggage. It was once the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom.
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Other civil airports
A number of other airports also serve the London area.
Open airports
The following are mainly used by general aviation flights.
Closed airports
Airports are listed at their current borough, although the area may have been outside London at the time of construction.
Royal Air Force stations
There were several Royal Air Force stations in London. This list excludes those that are classed as non-flying stations.
Operational
- RAF Northoltmap32, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, also handes civil flights
Non-operational
Station are listed at their current borough, although the area may have been outside London at the time of construction.
Proposed airports
Thames Estuary
Due to London's high capacity, in particular London Heathrow, Boris Johnson, London's former mayor, and Sir Norman Foster have both brought up plans to have a new airport built, either on a man-made island in the Thames Estuary, or on the Isle of Grain in North Kent. Foster's proposed Thames Hub Airport would be very similar to the design of Hong Kong International Airport and Qatar's Hamad International Airport. The plans to have an airport able to handle 110 million passengers a year would require the closure of Heathrow, and probably make the new airport the busiest in the world.
The plans have met with opposition from some people living nearby warning the airport would create a significant increase in bird strikes. Other people and local businesses, recognising the depressed levels of economic activity in North Kent, have been supportive and argue that London needs a new airport in order to be able to compete in the world.
Traffic and Statistics
Passengers Numbers
Busiest routes
In total, there were 30 international destinations from London, and another 3 domestic routes, that handled more than 1 million passengers in 2011:
Heathrow Airport is a major hub for flights across the North Atlantic. In 2011, 11% of all north Atlantic flights originated or terminated at Heathrow, more than Paris and Frankfurt combined, and Heathrow is the European terminus for 11 of the 25 busiest north Atlantic routes.
The busiest long-haul route in the world is between London (Heathrow and Gatwick) and New York (JFK and Newark), with a total of 3,898,460 passengers travelling between the two cities in 2011.
Maps
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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