Stansted Airport is considered the 4th largest airport in the United Kingdom and the 3rd busiest airport in London after Heathrow and Gatwick.
Although it has only one runway (Heathrow and Gatwick have two runways), in 2017 more than 25 million passengers used this airport. The airport authority estimates that by 2018 growth will increase which will take Stansted to 27 million passengers thus becoming the primary London airport in terms of speed of growth.
HISTORY: Like many other major European airports, it was created in 1942 to respond to war needs, when the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force used it as a base for their bombers. The latter used the runway, among other things, for the preparation of the Normandy landing operations. The airport came under the British airport authority (BAA) management in 1966.
LOCATION AND CONNECTIVITY: Located in the county of Essex, it is 48 km from the center of the British capital and just 3 km from the small town of Stansted Mountfitchet (Northeast London). The airport is conveniently connected with the central London via a train and the M11 motorway. The extensive distance between Stansted and central London means that ground transport can sometimes be even more expensive than flights to/from the airport! A taxi ride, for example, costs around £ 100.
There is a link between Stansted and Luton Airport via a bus that takes about 75 minutes, stopping in Hatfield en route. Alternatively, there are train connections but with at least 2 transfers or planned changes. The same transport company that offers a bus connection between Stansted Airport and Luton, also offers services from Stansted to Heathrow (minimum journey time of 80 minutes) and from Stansted to Gatwick (minimum trip duration of 160 minutes) . All London inter-airport shuttle services involve an intermediate stop.
WI-FI: the airport offers all passengers 4 hours of free wi-fi. To use it, the user must simply register. This process is only required once, so that wi-fi automatically recognizes registered users. The only requirement is to have a device enabled for wi-fi. The provider is "Virgin." When selecting the wi-fi network, the user must choose '_stanstedairport' and follow instructions.
SECURITY CONTROLS: All passengers must undergo security checks after the check-in process and before entering the boarding area. During busy periods, passport control and baggage X-ray scanning can cause significant delays and waiting times. The latter can be avoided by paying a surcharge of between £5- £7 for a service called "Fast Track", which can be booked on the Stansted Airport official website (www.stanstedairport.com). Most airlines flying from / to Stansted allow passengers to carry a single cabin baggage plus a bag containing all purchases made within the duty free area of the airport. This policy, as well as the size of carry-on baggage, may differ from one airline to another so we suggest consulting with your carrier (for example, Ryanair has set a 10 kg weight limit and a 55 cm x 40cm x 20cm size limit for hand luggage). It is important to remember that passengers departing from British airports can only carry a limited amount of liquids (a maximum of 10, 100 ml containers) in their carry-on luggage, whether this is drinks, perfumes, cosmetics. This restriction also applies to gels and pastes. Containers with liquids must be transported separately, inside a transparent, sealed, airtight bag of a size not exceeding 20cm x 20cm. The only exceptions allowed are medication (if accompanied by relevant prescription), antiallergic foods (only the amount absolutely necessary for the trip), baby milk (0-36 months) or liquids bought in the duty-free zone after passing through the security controls.
FLIGHT DURATION:
Stansted-Dublin: 1h
Stansted-Barcelona: 5h 15mins
Stansted-Rome: 2h 45mins
Stansted-Milan: 2h 20mins
Stansted-Ibiza: 2h 30 mins
Stansted-Palma de Mallorca: 2h 25mins
Stansted-Berlin: 1h 50mins
Stansted-Inssbruck: 1h 50mins
Stansted-Wien: 2h 30mins
Stansted-Kraków: 3h 40mins
Stansted-Warsaw: 2h 20mins
Stansted-Nice: 2h 25mins
Stansted-Marseille: 2h
Stansted-Bordeaux: 45mins
Tickets are valid for all journeys during the 3 hours preceding/following the reservation time.
