Not-so-distant Luton Airport

Perhaps I could correct some misperceptions appearing in The Times recently concerning London Luton Airport.

I've just pulled out my map of London and worked out that from the traditional centre of London, Heathrow is 11 miles away, Gatwick 23 miles, Luton Airport 29 miles and Stansted 33 miles distant.

Like the other three, Luton has its own railway station which in its case is linked to the airport by a free shuttle bus service.

Luton Airport is just off the M1 and is to the north of London on the same Bedford-Brighton railway line that Gatwick is to the south. That means a 24-hour service (hourly frequency after midnight - the 1.06 a.m. is probably the most practical for Ryanair arrivals from Malta) with most trains calling at King's Cross, Farringdon, Holborn (City), Blackfriars and London Bridge in central London. The journey time and rail fare (£11.10 single and £22.20) is roughly the same as the over ground service from any of the other airports if you allow for the fact that Paddington (Heathrow Express) is further from the centre of London than the stations served from Luton.

Luton Airport Parkway station also has the benefit of direct trains running north to Bedford, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham and there are London suburban services which call at the villages and local stations between Luton and London then run south of the Thames giving direct rail links between Luton Airport and places like Wimbledon, Sutton and Merton.

Train tickets can be booked in advance at www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk where there is a full timetable.

London Luton Airport is no place of beauty but it has earned its spurs as an efficient, reliable point of arrival and departure in my experience.