anyone ever used London City Airport?

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was it a good experience? Am planning on using City instead of Heathrow in July. I have 2 kiddies so hoping it is stress-free!

TIA.

Depends where you're coming from, but can be a bit of a schlep to get there. I've never driven, always got the DLR which is good for me from home.

It's a lovely airport. Small and really easy to use. Nice restaurants etc and you can check in UNBELIEVABLY quickly. Not many shops.

Haven't used it with kids, but I can only imagine it's fine because there's no long, long walks between terminals etc and it's WAY quieter than Heathrow.

Thanks Squeaver, I see it is a 20 min check-in which is v quick. My OH can drop me off very easily from SE London and am hoping it will be a stress-free trip. The shop things doesnt bother me as it's internal (no duty-free) and will prob save me some ££. I suspect I will check in my buggy as the wee one can walk to the plane if its that small an airport - which is fine.

I am curious to try it out.

Gosh yes I love it. I used to live only 15 mins from it so used it all the time. No queues, no long walks, quick security and baggage return. There aren't many shops but there is a Bally!

You walk on the tarmac to the plane.

The only thing with little ones is, there's no real provision for kids - it's an airport for business travellers really. Nice and quick, though.

yup its a great airport, quick check in and flights usually on time.

it's great. there is no waiting at all, and very little walking because it's so small. it's a bit cramped and no special provision for kids, but frankly that's not that necessary i find because a) kids entertain themselves in unfamiliar enviornment and b) unless you're really unlucky and flight's delyed you won't be there long enough to need them!

How old are your kids? There is a flight of stairs down to the boarding gate and then you walk onto the tarmac and up the plane stairs as NQC has said. But someone will usually give you a hand if you have a child in a pushchair. Occasionally you have to get on a bus for a short distance.

It is very small and so much easier than Heathrow, the entire airport would fit into the check-in area of any of Heathrow's terminals many times over. Your dh will be able to drop you off at the door. I love it very much and wish all airports were like it.

I would allow more than 20 mins before the flight if you are travelling at peak time (eg in the evening or morning), also you never know how long it will take to cross the Thames.

Forgot to say that the departure area has nice big windows onto the runway if your kids are interested in airplanes, it keeps DS amused. If your DC like magazines then buy one from the newsagents in the check-in area (Lazytown usually the only one available) or before you go to the airport. Similarly for snacks as what's available there is fairly expensive.

Yes, I agree, it is great and much less stressful than Heathrow (although to be fair Heathrow is actually hell on earth so this is not difficult). But all much quicker to progress through and less distance to walk.

we used it a week ago
so much better than heathrow
might be worth checking their free valet parking as there were no trolleys in the car park when we were there

She won't need to park if her OH is dropping her off TheBlonde. Which reminds me, the car park is jaw-droppingly expensive, so it's better to say a quick good-bye at the kerbside drop-off than to go to the car park. Also the valet parking parks in the business car park, which is even more jaw-droppingly expensive than the normal one, although it is closer to the terminal.

I should read the whole thread

yes i'll get OH to just drop me off kerbside and I will get DD (6) to push trolly suitcase with DS (1.5) in buggy and our hand luggage on buggy/my back.

I saw the car parking is £7 per hour so what I will do for my return trip is phone OH when I take-off and give him landing ETA and he can then drive about the docks until I call him once I have collected luggage on my return trip. City is about a 30 mins drive from where we live.

I am quite excited as previously I took the train (to Edin/Glasgow) so flying will be a change from the norm. BA flights were a bit (£50) more exp to City compared to BMI/BA to Heathrow but the pros outweighed the cons.

I will check in the buggy and either carry DS or he can walk a bit. I am used to being a bag lady on my travels so only 1 piece of handluggage will be a pleasant change.

ps I have lunchtime flights both trips so should be non-rush hour.

it's a lovely airport - far calmer that any other london airport - and I'm not just saying that because a lovely BA lady once checked me in 5 minutes before my flight was scheduled to take off!

You walk on the tarmac, or get loaded onto a little shuttle bus to get from gate to plane - which I guess may be tricky with buggy - but I've always found City staff super helpful, so Im sure they'd work it out

Don't forget to budget for how much petrol it would take for your OH to drive to Heathrow and back for drop off and pick up, that would make a huge dent in the £50 difference between the two airports.

Next time we go to Malaysia to see the in-laws I'm going to try to fly from City and change somewhere like Frankfurt or Amsterdam because everything about Heathrow is such a pain.

Yes Bran and I would also need him to help me wade through Heathrow check-in which would incur car parking as well. Plus my DD is coming back seperately the following week (on BA's solo skyflyer thing) so me picking her up from City will be a doddle.

Your Malaysia tip is a good one. I have a friend in Singapore and would love to see her but I fear I will use BA as I am collecting their airmiles like mad to get some cheap flights for next year.

I fly to Edinburgh every 1-2 weeks for a few days and just love this airport! You can literally just walk through check in / security etc.

I usually fly Air France as they are much cheaper than BA on the LCY-EDI route for last minute flights and also their planes fly half empty, so lots of room. Over the winter, they were flying with less than 10 peole on board a 100 seater most of the time.
Also the staff / crew have always been lovely.