info about flights/airports etc

[Notnowjo]

Hi all I'm overseas so just hoping anyone has some suggestions or information for me.

I need to get my son back home (UK) from Sweden mid May. Stanstead is the nearest airport but I'm not finding any flights there, Heathrow only seems to have buses to Luton which isn't great for us.

I know the situation may change but can anyone update me with practical info, is he able to arrive at Heathrow, get on the underground then train from Kings cross? Are there any flights to Stanstead? What about London city?

they seem to come and go (so I could find City ones when i looked in April but not now)
thanks

We are in crazy times, so it’s probably a case of seeing what is running a week or so before.

There is usually a National Express coach service running between the 2, but everthing is unpredictable at the moment.

There are many many fewer flights at the moment ( Heathrow is only operating 2 of it's 5 terminals).
If he lands at Heathrow he takes the Piccadilly line underground from Heathrow across London direct to Kings Cross. I assume you are heading up to Cambridgeshire/Suffolk if Stanstead is the closet airport and trains are Kings Cross.
There is also a National Express Bus that heads from Heathrow bus station to Cambridge that maybe an option.

OP if you can share more info I can possibly help - booked travel in my previous job (you’re welcome to PM me if you’d prefer) i.e. date or range of dates, which airport(s) can he fly out of, what’s his final destination.

Otherwise www.kayak.co.uk/ will let you search across airports and dates.

Thanks guys I really appreciate you taking the time to answer

I’ve been using expedia, a month ago it all looked good but now it looks like there are no Stanstead flights but the problem is it isn’t really suggesting any alternatives.

Lonecat yes we’re heading that way, I know how to do it (lived on the Piccadilly line for years) I just don’t know if he can walk up to a ticket booth and buy a ticket/get on a train.

I am assuming if he can do it now things are likely to not get harder....... so he will be able to do it in a month IYSWIM

I will try kayak thanks slothkin

Ah do you mean with covid regs? If so my understanding is it’s fine with face mask etc., just may involve longer times between services. I’m not sure how long it’s been since you were here but if you don’t know already the oyster tap points accept contactless cards now which is a lifesaver for that bit on the Piccadilly Line!

I’d also say you’re far more likely for the flight to go smoothly into LHR because you’ll be booking with an airline with additional capacity - STN is almost exclusively low budget airlines and you’re stuffed if anything goes wrong, it’s not worth it for an important flight. I had a Swedish colleague who would normally use STN but if she absolutely had to be here we’d send her through LHR.

I have just had a lovely memory of booking a flight on a budget airline because it was the most convenient for An Important Person and explaining apologetically that I’d booked every extra for them; they said in future don’t bother with the extras they’re just happy to get where they’re going! Believe me, that was not always the response.

yes due to Covid.

Good point about Heathrow which is a pain for us!

He’ll be fine buying tickets for trains and buses etc

Lonecat yes we’re heading that way, I know how to do it (lived on the Piccadilly line for years) I just don’t know if he can walk up to a ticket booth and buy a ticket/get on a train.
If he has a contactless debit or credit card he can use that on the Underground - no ticket required.

London transport is completely open and operating pretty much as normal. Just need a face mask.

Are you looking up Stansted with the correct spelling?

Good point @Toombumber.

There is no "a" in Stansted @Notnowjo. That said, I have just had a quick look at flight arrivals at Stansted for today and there are hardly any.

Sky scanner is great to view flights worldwide

Ryan air are about to restart, think they are waiting on the government overseas travel rules, if you can hang on 2 weeks you might get a more convenient flight.

@Toombumber

Are you looking up Stansted with the correct spelling?

Ha ha yes for sure it’s auto filled on most websites isn’t it? I have no idea why it’s like that here

@DynamoKev

Lonecat yes we’re heading that way, I know how to do it (lived on the Piccadilly line for years) I just don’t know if he can walk up to a ticket booth and buy a ticket/get on a train. If he has a contactless debit or credit card he can use that on the Underground - no ticket required.

Thankyou I will remind him to let the bank know he’ll be roaming around Europe, and to check that his card isn’t out of date!!!

@Cap89

London transport is completely open and operating pretty much as normal. Just need a face mask.

Thankyou so much this is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to know

@minniemomo

Ryan air are about to restart, think they are waiting on the government overseas travel rules, if you can hang on 2 weeks you might get a more convenient flight.

Thankyou this is super helpful they do a lot of Luton I think?

I havn’t been here for a while I’d completely forgotten how to do quotes!!

OP will your son be an unaccompanied minor when travelling?

All National Express coaches to or from Heathrow seem to go through Hemel Hempstead, could he take one from Heathrow to Hemel and then change to a Stansted one? The Luton bus should stop there. Maybe check the National Express website for travel routes.

Sweden will most likely be on amber travel list (fingers crossed not red!) so he will need to isolate for 10 days on arrival. I think he can still travel by public transport from Heathrow though but then needs to isolate etc. Apologies if he is already aware and I'm just rambling.

@LittleSwede

All National Express coaches to or from Heathrow seem to go through Hemel Hempstead, could he take one from Heathrow to Hemel and then change to a Stansted one? The Luton bus should stop there. Maybe check the National Express website for travel routes.

Sweden will most likely be on amber travel list (fingers crossed not red!) so he will need to isolate for 10 days on arrival. I think he can still travel by public transport from Heathrow though but then needs to isolate etc. Apologies if he is already aware and I'm just rambling.

No everything is helpful thankyou I’ve just been reading the rules. I will delve a bit further into National express routes although i will say part of the attraction is travelling right through, take that away and the train is better and quicker.

The train probably is quicker, and allows for more flexibility.

If he is flying from Stockholm it looks like Ryanair will be flying the Stanstrad route from the 17th May onwards. It's usually Stansted with Ryanair. Easyjet used to fly Luton to Stockholm but stopped in 2019.

I'm Swedish but live in UK

Just looked as I needed to check flights, seems Ryan air restarts in June