Planning a flight to London? Well, as frequent travellers who’ve spent time and money to travel in taxis, trains or buses already know, London’s two best-known airports are not actually in the English capital.
The Advertising Standards Agency in the UK has cleared an advertisement by London City Airport that claims it is the only airport that is actually in London, which means London Heathrow and London Gatwick are not.
London City Airport is, in the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham. Heathrow is in Twickenham and Gatwick is in West Sussex.
The other two “London” airports, Stansted and Luton, are, according to The Telegraph, in Essex and Bedfordshire respectively.
The designation does not necessarily mean that LCA is the most convenient airport for all travellers. For starters, it only handles smaller aircraft, so its restricted to flights to and from the UK and Europe.
Long-haul passengers will inevitably be flying to Gatwick or, more likely, Heathrow.
And LCA is not necessarily closer in terms of time to the part of London you want to visit. The Heathrow Express train can get you from LHR to Paddington (London W2) in as little as 15 minutes, and the Gatwick Express can get you to Victoria (and nearby Buckingham Palace) in about 30 minutes.
