Getting to the airport is rarely a stress-free experience. For as long as air travel has existed, we’ve all abided by an unwritten rule: arrive two to three hours before your flight. It’s a guideline no one explicitly taught us, but one we all seem to instinctively follow.
Yet, each time I arrive at the airport, I find I have too much time to waste, especially when I have no interest in wandering through the duty-free shops. It's a difficult judgement to make however, especially given the huge queues which have become a feature of air travel in airports such as Birmingham and Manchester post-Covid lockdowns.
London City is an intriguing airport. It is one of the smaller in the UK and it boldly claims that travellers can get from its front doors to their departure gate in just 30 minutes. To me, half an hour sounded ambitious, especially when you consider the number of steps involved: dropping off your bag, going through security, and navigating your way to the gate. To put this promise to the test, I decided to see if I could get to my gate in under 30 minutes.
London City Airport is not as bustling as Heathrow or Gatwick. It also seems to appeal to families less, likely due to its focus on business travel. This immediately worked in my favour; the bag drop process was quick. From the moment I stepped through the glass doors, I was on a steady conveyor belt of airport checkpoints. I stopped only briefly to print a label for my suitcase and even when my tray was flagged for an additional check — thanks to a Polaroid camera — it only added a couple of minutes to my journey. Overall, the process was far smoother than I’d anticipated.
