Stansted is London’s best airport – and it’s about to get even better
Imagine you’re on a travel special edition of Family Fortunes. The host asks you to guess which of the London airports was named the favourite of British travellers. Where do you think you’d bet your cash?
If my intuition is correct, I’d wager that you wouldn’t pick Stansted. While it may serve some 30 million passengers a year, London’s third airport hasn’t always enjoyed the most glowing of reputations – a product, perhaps, of its long association with cost-cutting budget airlines.
Yet speak to frequent flyers and you may find that many have a very different take on the situation. Not only is Stansted underrated, they’ll say, but it might just be the best of the London airports.
What’s so good about Stansted? Let’s start with the numbers. Not only is it the holy grail of cheap flights, it’s also highly organised. Look at the official data from the aviation authorities and you’ll see flights from Stansted are reliably more punctual than those departing from Heathrow and Gatwick.
Cancellations, meanwhile, are practically non-existent. Indeed, an independent study of Civil Aviation Authority data found that fewer than 1 in 100 of flights (0.65 per cent, to be exact) from Stansted were cancelled last year. That’s compared to 2 per cent at Heathrow, and a disappointing 4 per cent at London City Airport.
Next up is the brilliant connectivity. Not only does Stansted have a super convenient express train (taking 46 to 56 minutes) to London Liverpool Street, it also boasts a hub of decent rail connections to Birmingham, Cambridge and Norwich. How many airports can top that?
The convenience doesn’t stop there. Unlike its big rivals, Stansted has always been supremely easy to navigate, with most of the gates just a short walk away and all of the retail and hospitality options in one place. You’re more likely to find yourself getting lost in that huge duty free section than you are in the actual terminal.
Then there’s the fun stuff. Like Stansted hosting the busiest Wetherspoon in Britain, serving pre-flight pints and affordable grub to a staggering 6,000 customers a day. Or that, unlike stuffy Heathrow or gloomy Luton, Stansted seems to cater largely to people who are actually going on holiday, rather than business trips or visiting family – something that tends to lift the mood.
Even if you hate the hen parties and Hawaiian shirts, it isn’t difficult to find a quiet space in Stansted, particularly if you wander five or so minutes towards one of the gates. If I get there early, I can always find an isolated bench with plug sockets and within reach of the loos. Where better to finish those pesky last work emails before you jet off?
Whether you’re already a fan of Stansted or not, I have some good news for you. Over the next few years, Essex’s answer to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta is about to get even better, thanks to a £1.1 billion cash injection which will fund a major upgrade to the terminal and wider airport.
Have budget travellers had better news this year? After all, even Stansted evangelists wouldn’t deny that the current set-up can get a little cramped (not least when 100,000 people fly in one day, as they did last summer). But come 2028, when the upgrade is complete, that overcrowding should be a thing of the past.
It isn’t just that the terminal is getting much bigger. Stansted’s owners are also promising a host of new features to keep Heathrow and Gatwick on their toes. The additions will include “next generation security equipment” (no more removing your liquids, I’m guessing) and an on-site solar farm to help bring down emissions.
Investing in Stansted seems to be something of a trend right now. Just last month, Emirates, one of the most glamorous airlines on earth, opened its new state-of-the-art lounge there, with 900 square metres of premium relaxation space, gourmet food options, and even some shower suites.
We’ve certainly come a long way since 2019, when the announcement that Emirates would be flying from Stansted prompted scoffs of derision from some travel snobs. Now Dubai’s flagship carrier is attracting enough high-spending business-class passengers to justify pumping £4 million into a new lounge for them.
British Airways has returned to Stansted too, with routes to Florence, Nice and Ibiza as well as Amsterdam from December. My hope now is that it won’t be long before an airline begins offering transatlantic flights from here, too. The last carrier to do so, Primera Air, may have gone bust, but surely someone will want to fill that obvious gap in the market?
Sure, it might sound like a pipe dream for now, but after the upgrade, it may not seem quite so far fetched. No airport in Britain has a better track record of succeeding against the odds than Stansted – and its best days may very well be yet to come.
