Doncaster Sheffield Airport Could Permanently Close

[Jack Grey]

Im flying to Florida next month but Manchester has no direct flights so id rather fly from Manchester and change in Atlanta then go to London for a direct flight 

[Guest busdriver1]

2 hours ago, Zinger549 said:

Stanstead Express goes from Liverpool St which isn't far from the centre of London.

Not for tourists.

[AndrewC]

18 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

Not for tourists.

It's the least convenient of the main terminals for the West End, if that's what you're getting at, but the differences are all pretty negligible when you're talking about a place like London.

 

All the main terminals are on the 'periphery' of central London and it's rare - since London is a big place - that you don't need to (or wouldn't choose to) catch at least one tube train to get to them. Liverpool St is served by Central, Circle, Hammersmith, Metropolitan lines, not to mention the new Elizabeth line. It's hardly as if you're being dropped off in a retail park on the M25.

[Guest busdriver1]

1 hour ago, AndrewC said:

It's the least convenient of the main terminals for the West End, if that's what you're getting at, but the differences are all pretty negligible when you're talking about a place like London.

 

All the main terminals are on the 'periphery' of central London and it's rare - since London is a big place - that you don't need to (or wouldn't choose to) catch at least one tube train to get to them. Liverpool St is served by Central, Circle, Hammersmith, Metropolitan lines, not to mention the new Elizabeth line. It's hardly as if you're being dropped off in a retail park on the M25.

My involvement was in the coaching business and at the time we charged £200 for Heathrow, £280 for Gatwick, £190 for City Airport  and £395 for Stanstead. The reason for the high charge for Stansted was two fold. The road system to get there is as bad as it gets in London (even Gatwick was easier) and, there was a low chance of getting a pick up from there to work the coach on to. We only got asked once to go to Luton Airport in 5 years. We actually tried to get agents to use the train to Stansted but as most of the tourist hotels are in the west end they didnt want groups of 40 - 50 catching a tube then a train. I am sure you can understand the problems of doing that. Journey times for Stansted were longer than Gatwick and less predictable. There were occasions when we had small groups using the Heathrow express from Paddington but that was quite rare. Since there are numerous agencies offering hotel pick ups for small groups and even individuals its only the most determined of passengers that arrive at a London Airport by public transport.

[scottcross]

On 26/09/2022 at 14:57, busdriver1 said:

Use East Midlands, nice easy drive and great choice of flights.   Great airport. Easier to get to than Doncaster as well and no drain on local taxes. WIN WIN

Used Doncaster last monday , 30 mins from getting off the service bus from the station passing through security to getting a pint airside .

On 28/09/2022 at 14:29, Chekhov said:

Gatwick is an absolute ball ache to get to, and Heathrow isn't much better. I don't quite understand why you imply getting to either of those is easier than Stanstead

Gatwick is an easy run if your travelling by train,Just change at St Pancreas. Heathrow ,train to Reading and buses every half hr .

[Chekhov]

6 minutes ago, scottcross said:

Gatwick is an easy run if your travelling by train,Just change at St Pancreas. Heathrow ,train to Reading and buses every half hr .

In theory, but you have to use more than one train company, and, more to the point, they do not sell cheap flexible tickets from Sheff to Gatwick. We had that very problem when we thought we would be flying from Gatwick years ago.  Even the advance fares were pretty expensive, but if you bought an advance ticket and your plane was delayed and you then missed your train they could charge you a full walk up fare which was HORRENDOUSLY expensive.

We didn't bother.

[HeHasRisen]

I see all the Wizz Air flights are moving to LBA as of the 31st October. Least they arent cancelling them, and probably gives LBA a fair bit more in terms of evening departures.

Edited September 30, 2022 by HeHasRisen

[scottcross]

Just now, Chekhov said:

In theory, but you have to use more than one train company, and, more to the point, they do not sell cheap flexible tickets from Sheff to Gatwick. We had that very problem when we thought we would be flying from Gatwick years ago.  Even the advance fares were pretty expensive, but if you bought an advance ticket and your plane was delayed and you then missed your train they could charge you a full walk up fare which was HORRENDOUSLY expensive.

We didn't bother.

I use either Splitticketing or the trainline  with a railcard .used the trainline app for 2 single tickets from Birmingham international yesterday to Sheffield £8.40 each .I tend to use LNER for my travel up north for the football as i get cash back on both the train companys website and Virgin Debit card saving me a further 10%

3 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

I see all the Wizz Air flights are moving to LBA as of the 31st October. Least they arent cancelling them, and probably gives LBA a fair bit more in terms of evening departures.

Ive flown several times with them from Donny.

[Chekhov]

56 minutes ago, scottcross said:

I use either Splitticketing or the trainline  with a railcard .used the trainline app for 2 single tickets from Birmingham international yesterday to Sheffield £8.40 each .I tend to use LNER for my travel up north for the football as i get cash back on both the train companys website and Virgin Debit card saving me a further 10%

But how does that help if the plane is late and the prebooked ticket is then no longer valid ?

[scottcross]

16 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

But how does that help if the plane is late and the prebooked ticket is then no longer valid ?

Explain to the train manager your flight was delayed and majority of the time they let you board the next available train.Ive done it a fair few times at no extra cost.