Why is Gatwick such a big pain in the arse to get ro

[Pavementworrier]

And why does British airways put so many of its flights out of there??

Gets right on my wick

Also op, I think the BA flights from Gatwick tend to be to holiday destinations. Rather than EU capitals etc.

I live on the Hampshire/Surrey/Sussex border. It's fine for me to get to. Heathrow is ever so slightly easier and maybe a bit quicker depending on the time of day.

stanstead and Luton would be a right pain for me so we haven't used them since we lived this way.

Yep

For a long time BA Long haul out of Gatwick has been generally aimed at what is termed the leisure market (e.g Carribbean).

That is basically a private jet airport for people
going to Bicester Village and a flying training school. They don’t offer any normal flights.

Really? From my part of SW London it’s bus or train to CJ then train from there to Gatwick. Very easy!

I far prefer to have to get to Gatwick than Heathrow. Our train line goes to Gatwick direct! Heathrow - a few weeks ago, we had to catch the Piccadilly line to our mainline terminus, through the West End at Saturday tea time. (There had been a flight delay)

The Elizabeth line was shut. The Piccadilly line was absolutely packed, with nowhere to put suitcases. We struggled to get off the train through the packed carriage, with suitcases!

I never want to fly into Heathrow ever again!

Our ideal is Luton, also on our train line, but afaik, they don’t seem to do flights to the Middle East?

I live in Sutton (so South London ish) and for all its faults of which there are a few, I think we’re well served in terms of airport connections.

From where I am, and depending on traffic Gatwick is 30/45 mins away.

TfL’s SL7 super loop gets us direct to Heathrow. Costs the price of a regular bus fare- think it was £1.75 when I last used it in March.

Thames link train from Sutton, can be direct to
Luton Airport Parkway

DH wants to move in the next few years. I’m a little reluctant and one of the reasons, is the travel connections that we currently have available

Huh? We flew into Gatwick recently. 30 minutes on Thameslink into London Bridge. Easy and cheap. What’s the whinge?!

I live North of London and can get a direct train to Gatwick.

I do not live anywhere near Croydon.

From up North and flew out of Gatwick and into Heathrow for a trip last year. Both were on a direct train / underground from Euston / Kings Cross so made no difference to our trip.

You aren't wrong OP. It's a terrible journey from both Lands End AND John o'Groats.

What an odd thread, I’m stunned op you think Gatwick is only easy to get to if you live in Croydon, like the rest of the south east round it doesn’t exist, or don’t seem to know that ba’s major up is t5 at Heathrow.

difficulty in getting to any given airport is dependent on where you live.

and no idea why someone is going on about the trains, you ca buy an open return, and at 180 for four return, means it’s 22 quid each way per person.

BA flights from Gatwick have been operated by “BA Euro Flyer” since the pandemic. It is a subsidiary of the BA parent company, mainly to operate in competition with easyJet. BA Euro Flyer crew get paid less than their Heathrow counterparts.

AFAIK that's certainly correct for shorthaul.

The BA Long Haul set up is (or at least was) slghtly different in at least some areas, e.g provision of aircraft and flight crew.

Surely that depends where you live? It’s my airport of choice.

Gatwick connects to multiple stations in London and the bit of the M25 that approaches the M23 is significantly less busy than the bit of the M25 near Heathrow so driving to it is generally easier too.

Any chance of further explanation of your beef OP?

For us it takes 2 hours by train or you have to drive and pay parking charges, we are in the South East. I love travel but the complete cost just to get to and from the airport from where we live is always the cost of a night in a decent hotel for both of us or more if I pay for parking to get us home by car, which means driving an hour and a half straight after usually multiple hours of travel.

I find the timings of the flights hard for us - the 2 hrs to get there rules out the super early ones as no trains get there on time. Some flights only have 2 or 3 options a day.

Its not. 45 minute drive for me

The Elizabeth Line is a game changer for Heathrow. After a week of enduring America's so called public transport, I could have cried with relief when we got off the red eye from JFK at Heathrow and straight on to a clean, modern, fast train that connected smoothly with a 20 min train jouney back to my local station.

BA withdrew many of its routes from LGW post pandemic and have not yet returned in full. You can get there by direct train, even Thameslink from north of London, across from Kent and Reading on GWR or National coaches.

You are right. Sorry, l was thinking short haul. The long haul set up at Gatwick is reduced though and tends to use older aircraft, when compared with Heathrow. Not that there’s much difference in economy.

If they did they would probably have to tarmac the runways.

If you think LGW is inaccessible, try Bristol…

I'm in Bham. It's down the m40, round the m25 (allowing an hour for jams) and down again and bingo! It's a pretty straight run. Or train, taxi or tube and train. I'm perplexed as to what you expect.
I live near Bham airport. But will go from lgw if its cheaper taking into account petrol and parking.

But one or two stops on the train? But the trains don't run all night tbf