The Strange Logic Behind London's 6 Airports
Plane Curious
27,597 views
Most great aviation cities solved capacity with one airport, maybe two. London ended up with six, scattered across four counties, sharing a name that only some of them can honestly claim. One began life as a bomber base aimed at Germany. Another rose out of abandoned docks. None of them were ever meant to work together.
On paper it looks like the messiest airport system on Earth: 177 million passengers, six runway networks, six different airline ecosystems, and a capacity argument that has never once been settled. But the more closely you look at how each airport actually earns its traffic, the harder it becomes to call it an accident.
This is the story of how London built the busiest city airport system in the world without ever planning it - and why the chaos on the map may be hiding a logic that no single mega-hub could ever replicate.
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20 Comments
Heathrow I’m on the fence about mainly due to the loss of homes and the major disruption the construction will cause to the M25.
Can’t help but think a dedicated high speed train line from Heathrow to either Luton or Gatwick could mean some short haul flights could be moved away from Heathrow and used for widebody long haul instead.
More flights from Southend too it’s got loads of capacity.
They all need to grow and now as it takes so long. Southend is less than an hour by train from central London it’s not that bad at all and a nice little airport to fly from.
2. Government no $$ to build a new, centralized & big airport
Heathrow Express runs non-stop between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals 2/3 and 5. The Elizabeth Line also runs semi-fast services between Heathrow, Hayes and Harlington (interchange for trains to Reading), Central London, Canary Wharf/Abbey Wood and Stratford/Shenfield. The London Underground Piccadilly Line operates services between Heathrow Terminals 2, 3, 4, and 5, Acton Town, Central London and Cockfosters.
Luton Express is operated by East Midlands Railway running non-stop from London St Pancras International to Luton Airport Parkway, with connections to the Dart.
Greater Anglia/Stansted Express run stopping services from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport.
C2C run stopping services from London Fenchurch Street to Southend Airport/Central/Victoria
And well, the so called Gatwick "Express" is an absolute joke.
But then you do have stopping services by Southern, Thameslink and Great Western Railway runs a stopping service from Reading to Gatwick Airport via Redhill.
The Strange Logic Behind London's 6 Airports
Plane Curious
27,597 views
Most great aviation cities solved capacity with one airport, maybe two. London ended up with six, scattered across four counties, sharing a name that only some of them can honestly claim. One began life as a bomber base aimed at Germany. Another rose out of abandoned docks. None of them were ever meant to work together.
On paper it looks like the messiest airport system on Earth: 177 million passengers, six runway networks, six different airline ecosystems, and a capacity argument that has never once been settled. But the more closely you look at how each airport actually earns its traffic, the harder it becomes to call it an accident.
This is the story of how London built the busiest city airport system in the world without ever planning it - and why the chaos on the map may be hiding a logic that no single mega-hub could ever replicate.
Our official social accounts:
👉🏻 Instagram: Instagram: planecuriousnews
👉🏻 TikTok: TikTok: planecuriousnews
👉🏻 Facebook: Facebook: planecurious
Rail station 2 minutes walk from terminal with direct connection into Liverpool Street station