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Stansted Airport London - An Independent Travellers Guide

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This article is aimed at the independent traveller contemplatingusing Stansted Airport London. The aim is to provide practicalinformation so best use of the airport can be made with as fewsurprises as possible. Of London's airports, Stansted Airport is furthest from thecentre of London, nearly 40 miles. The airport is dominated bylow cost budget airlines and in particular Ryanair and easyJet,Europe's largest low cost airlines. The overwhelming majority offlights are European or UK domestic flights. The airport alsohas significant charter traffic, particularly for the Britishtravelling on package tours to the sun. The mainintercontinental and state carriers like British Airways,Virgin, American and Singapore Airlines all use London'sHeathrow or Gatwick Airports. The airport is an established airport but was relaunched 15years ago with a brand new terminal and infrastructure,including a direct rail link and motorway to London. At first itwas a white elephant but the emergence of the low cost budgetcarriers has transformed Stansted into one of the fastestgrowing airports in Europe in the last decade. Today, fullcapacity of the main terminal is within sight and a new terminaland further out a second runway is planned. There are no surprises with the terminal itself, all thestandard facilities are in place including choice of foreignexchange, pharmacies, news stands etc. There is a good range ofeating opportunities ranging from fast food and pub food throughto sit down restaurants. In common with all airports run by BAA,the owner, there is a lot of luxury shopping outlets. Butremember, the vast majority of flights from Stansted are withinthe EEC and do not qualify for duty free status. It normally takes around 30 minutes from touch down to exitingcustoms with most flights if you have luggage. There is anairport information desk immediately outside customs and a deskfor AirportCarz who have a monopoly on taxi services at theairport. Taking a taxi to London is only used by a very smallminority of passengers because of the distance and expense. If your destination is London, the quickest option is to takethe Stansted Express train. The train station is underneath theterminal so you just descend to the platforms by escalators orlifts. The Stansted Express takes 45 minutes to London'sLiverpool Street Station and runs about every 15 minutes duringthe day. Last trains are around midnight. The fares on theStansted Express are expensive, well over $US40 for a singlereturn fare. The Liverpool Street terminus is also not veryconvenient for most travellers, being sited in the middle of thefinancial district of London, 3-5 miles from most of the mostpopular hotel accommodation. The train stops at an intermediatestop called Tottenham Hale, 10 minutes before Liverpool Street,an interchange with the London Underground (Victoria Line). Manyof the airlines will sell tickets for the Stansted Express, someat a discount, before landing at Stansted Airport. The budget transfer option into London is to take one of fourscheduled coach services run by National Express andTerravision. There is a large, modern coach station in front ofthe terminal, adjacent to the rail station. The cheapest option is the Terravision service to LiverpoolStreet Station, the same route as the Stansted


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Express. Theprice is about half that of the Stansted Express Train. Downsidelike all road based transfers is the London traffic, on a goodday the coach will make it in about an hour. National Expressrun services about every 30 minutes to nearby StratfordUnderground at a similar price. The other route taken by the coaches is Stansted to LondonVictoria. Both have return fares around $US25. The Terravisionservice is non-stop, the National Express service makes stopsthrough central London, many of them close to the major hoteldistricts. The National Express service is a true 24x7 service,the Terravision service only stops for a couple of hours earlymorning. Some of the highest frequencies are around midnightStansted-London and very early morning London-Stansted for thefirst and last flights when the Stansted Express and LondonUnderground have shut down. Because of the sometimes extraordinarily cheap fares of Ryanairand easyJet a lot of transcontinental travellers have found itcheapest to fly into Heathrow and then complete their journey totheir European destination using a low cost airline fromStansted. National Express run shuttle services between Heathrowand Stansted from the coach station at Stansted. There areusually a couple of services an hour, the journey taking around90 minutes (though delays on the motorway are almost routine atrush hours). The fare is not cheap either. The return fare isabout $US50. It is cheaper to use the indirect National Expressservice to Stratford and then catch the London Underground toHeathrow, but less comfortable. If you want to stay over at Stansted Airport before a flightthere are plenty of options available. Like all airport hotelsat London, room rates are normally much cheaper at weekends thanmid-week. If you are transiting from Heathrow or Gatwick whichhave much fiercer competition, you will probably find rates moreexpensive at Stansted, particularly in the budget sector. Immediately adjacent to the terminal is the luxury StanstedRadisson SAS, the only airport hotel where you do not need ahotel transfer vehicle. This is perhaps the most luxurious hoteland at weekends rates can be fairly competitive. The originalluxury hotel at Stansted is the 4 star Hilton Hotel on theairport perimeter. The Hilton Stansted runs its own shuttle busfrom the coach station about every 30 minutes. In the immediatevicinity of the airport is an Express by Holiday Inn and a BestWestern. The consistently cheapest option is the Days Inn on amotorway services area at the entrance to Stansted Airport. Itprovides no airport transfer facility itself though of coursethere are taxis and a local bus service. Apart from the chainsthere are a lot of independent hotels in the vicinity. Thesefeature hotels for all budgets and tastes, ranging from CountryHouse Hotels, to pubs to traditional Bed and Breakfasts. Thecountryside around Stansted is surprisingly unspoilt and thereis opportunity to stay in a traditional market town or coachinginn for example. About the author: For current transfer fares see: Rail andRoad Transfers Between Stansted Airport and Central London. A full range of hotel options with indicative pricing is listedat: London Stansted Airport Hotels Bob Handford is an expert about his city, London and is theowner of the website

Written by: Bob Handford

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