London Airport Car Hire

Written by Donna on July 6, 2009

Fly into a London airport, hire a car booked by easyCar and the UK is your oyster!

London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is the largest and biggest airport in the UK and the busiest in the EU, but as long as you know which of the five terminals you are flying into or out of, then it is well sign posted and easy to navigate. Also the world’s fourth busiest airport, Heathrow is situated west of central London which is about 14 miles (22 km) away. At Terminal One the ground floor is for international flight arrivals and the first floor for UK and Ireland flights. Terminal Two’s arrivals hall is on the first floor at the opposite end to the departures area. Arrivals are on the ground floor at Terminal 3 and the same at Terminal 4. The newest terminal, Terminal 5, also has the arrivals area on the ground level. Car hire booked with easyCar could be with any of the big names and driving out of the Heathrow Airport is quite simple but always busy.

The second largest airport in London is Gatwick Airport (LGW) which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1958. There are two terminals, North and South, which are linked by monorail. The airport is actually located outside of Crawley, West Sussex but just 28 miles south of London, immediately off the M23 at junction 9 and a very short distance from junction 7 of the M25. There are many car hire companies at Gatwick bookable through easyCar and driving out of either airport terminal is incredibly easy. This is the main hub location for low cost airline easyJet.

Thirty miles north east of London is Stansted Airport, which is actually located in the English county of Essex. A particularly busy airport for low cost carriers such as Ryanair, easyJet and BMI, many charter flights also fly into Stansted as well as European scheduled flights by 29 airlines. Again airport car hire is easy (desks located in the International Arrivals area) and you access Stansted airport from the M11 and either exit at junction 8a if driving to Stansted from London and the M25, or exit junction 8 if travelling from Cambridge.

The UK’s leading business airport, London City airport is the only airport actually located in the city. Flying to around 30 destinations with 10 airlines across UK and Europe, the airport is just two miles from the site of the 2012 London Olympic Games when connections will be available quickly by Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Check-in times are considerably less at London City Airport than the other “London” airports and queuing is rare.