One of the Lesser Known Airports. (London City Airport (LCY))

Member Name: tange

Product:	London City Airport (LCY)
Date:	27/04/02 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to get to, Small and clean

Disadvantages: Not as many facilities as larger airports, Short runway; so small planes

Until my husband booked our flights to Berlin over the internet I had never even considered flying from London City Airport. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I had never even HEARD of it! So I was a little nervous when we arrived and didn't know what to expect. We had got an excellent deal so it was a case of going to the airport that had offered the cheapest flight option.

~~~HOW TO GET THERE

The airport is situated only 10 miles (16km's) from the West End of London, six miles (10km's) from the City of London and three miles (5km's) from Canary Wharf. At the front of the terminal you can take an airport shuttle bus to link up with Canning Town, Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street, all on the London Underground network. The London City Airport web-site (www.londoncityairport.com) provides details about how to reach the Airport from each of these tube stations and also about the prices to take the shuttle bus.

The Airport is also accessible by taxi and there are car parking facilities for those who wish to drive there. The prices for long and short term parking can also be found on the web-site, along with details of how to book on-line. We didn't have a car so this didn't apply to us.

We arrived from Chesterfield on the train to St Pancras and got the tube to Liverpool Street Station where we were able to get the bus. It cost us £6.00 each which I at first thought was a little expensive. The friend we were travelling with told us that it would be much more expensive by taxi and impractical to get there any other way. It was quite a distance so it wasn't really as bad a price as I'd first thought.

The shuttle bus is also very convenient because it stopped right outside the Terminal Building. This makes carrying luggage very easy and also meant that I didn't get lost (people who know me will know that this is a real bonus because I was born without the "sense of direction gene"
;). So this made it a very useful service and I would recommend it as the best way to get to and from the airport.

~~~THE AIRPORT

The Airport is currently undergoing some building work, but this didn't affect us and the place was still very clean and easy to navigate! We travelled a couple of weeks ago so there were none of the major security worries that are currently occurring. Despite this I thought that security was pretty good: We were searched, the bags were x-rayed and passports were checked. They even commented that my husband's passport was within a month of its expiry date, so this shows they were quite thorough in looking at them. Usually they aren't even glanced at!

~~~THE FACILITIES

Even though the airport is quite small it still has the facilities that you usually find once you have checked in. These include shops, toilets, telephones, post boxes and places to buy food, as well as the usual information desks, banks etc. The shops and restaurants were more limited than you would find in a larger airport.

The shops were:

Bally (A luxury clothing and accessory retailer)

Caviar House (A shop selling Caviar, vodka, smoked salmon, etc)

Hughes & Hughes Bookshop (A bookshop - obviously!)

Nuance Travel Shopping (A Duty Free outlet selling liquor, perfumes etc).

These shops were mostly out of my price range - there were no Tie Racks or Boots to be found! I think that because it is mainly an airport used by European Business travellers then it wasn't really there to cater for us tourists! I did consider saying that I was on my way to a business meeting with Rick Astley, but I thought they would either laugh or say "Who's Rick Astley?" I still enjoyed looking at the shops and was very impressed with how well maintained the area was.

The food facilities are, again, pretty limited. There are no Burger Kings or pubs here!

>The eating places available are:

Meridian Line Restaurant - This restaurant can seat 110 people and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. There wasn't time for us to sample this place. It looked quite nice, but again didn't cater for people just wanting a reasonably inexpensive snack.

Yeager's Café & Bar - Yeager's can seat 70 and provides simpler refreshments throughout the day. They had hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, salads, snacks and desserts. This was more promising, but still a bit expensive.

Trattoria - This restaurant seats 32 people and serves breakfast and a selection of fresh pasta and seafood. This was a little on the small side, but did serve drinks too. We were a bit upset because they were supposed to serve draft beers, which were cheaper than the bottled ones. When we asked we were told they were not available and were charged £3.00 each for a small bottle of Stella. This is not an airport to get a reasonably priced drink!

Marché Frais Carte - This free standing "market stall" style cart serves salads, baguettes, pastries and other snacks, either to take away or to eat in the departure lounge. This was the only food option that we could afford and also that we had time for. The sandwiches were quite expensive, but probably no more than you would pay in a Motorway Service Station, and there was a good selection.

~~~THE ATMOSPHERE

We spent about 2 hours at the Airport and I was impressed by the comfortable seats and the clear announcements. There were information screens situated in a number of places and, because of the size of the airport, there wasn't far to go to the gates for boarding. There didn't seem to be many passengers and the atmosphere of the place was uncluttered and not at all chaotic. I did feel a little out of place in my casual clothes among the sea of suits. This isn't an airport where you will find loads of holiday makers and Hawaiian s
hirts!

~~~MY VERDICT

I was really glad that I had the chance to fly from this Airport. It was a different experience from our usual flights and I enjoyed seeing another side to air travel. I was a little worried because we had to go in a smaller aircraft than I have been used to. It has a shorter runway and can't cater for the size and number of aircraft that you see at the bigger Airports like Heathrow, Manchester etc. I actually preferred the less busy and less hectic atmosphere and I would recommend it as a starting point for European and Domestic journeys.

It is also a good airport if you are going to Europe to catch connecting flights to places like America. It is a really nice place and we didn't experience any delays at all, although I'm sure other people have had other experiences. I also liked being able to see the runway from the seats in the lounge.

When we were called through for boarding it was very easy to get to our gates and, once through, there was comfortable seating available while waiting to get on the aircraft. The steps up to the plane were a little bit like ladders, but I would think this was the design of the plane and not the fault of the airport. I wouldn't have liked to board if it was raining!

All in all I would recommend a trip from London City Airport, but I would advise travellers to eat before you get there or take some food with you (and wear a suit, or you might feel out of place!).

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