Where is London Airport?

When some of us older ones were kids, London Airport meant Heathrow, out in the west near Hillingdon and Hounslow. It was, by the standards that applied back then, a large airport, with landings and take-offs seemingly non-stop throughout most of the day. The UK was primarily represented by two airlines - BEA (British European Airways) and BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation). The former handled the domestic and continental flights, the latter the long-haul routes.

It is even busier now, of course. There are five terminals and counting, and they want to build a third runway and maybe even a fourth. But more significant even than the proliferation of runways and terminals at Heathrow is the number of London airports that seem to have sprung up.

London's second airport was always Gatwick, and what is now known as London Gatwick handled more passenger traffic than Heathrow did back in our days as teenage plane spotters. Then there are Stansted, Luton and Southend - all of them considered London hubs. And that is not to mention London City Airport, a business-focused operation in the heart of the capital exploiting STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) technology to the full.

Today when travelling time is frequently of the essence. When one has all the stress and worry of a business meeting later in the day the thought of spending an hour or more on a sweaty tube before even reaching the airport is often itself beyond endurance.

The alternative is a dedicated luxury chauffeur, a London airport transfer service that will whisk you off to where you want to be whilst you sit and relax, without the worry of when the bus or train is coming and whether you will get a seat on it.

Travelling to and from airports can be every bit as strenuous as the flight itself. You owe it to yourself to minimise that stress as much as you possibly can.