Top 10 Airports in UK
The UK is one of the most popular destinations in the world, and to cater for all that traffic the UK has many airports scattered around the country, although the bulk of the main international traffic flows through a handful of airports, mostly in proximity to London.
In this article, I am going to take a look at the top 10 busiest airports in the UK
London Heathrow
Heathrow is most certainly the biggest airport in the UK and is still growing. It dwarfs the other London airports (Gatwick, Stanstead, London Luton, London Southend, and London City Airport). Some 80,000,000 people pass through Heathrow annually and consequently, it is not the fastest airport to fly from. It has excellent links to London via Coach, Tube, Train, and Taxis. Many people catch a coach to Heathrow airport from locations as far away as Carmarthen in the west.
London Gatwick
With two terminals and two runways, Gatwick can handle substantial traffic but does not handle anywhere near that of Heathrow. Located South of London it is fairly easy to access for people in the southern counties. Getting to London from Gatwick airport is easiest by train, it takes just 30 minutes. There is also a substantial coach network that leads to Gatwick from many places across England and Wales.
London Stansted
Catch a coach to Stansted airport. There are several coach services that travel from London’s premier coach terminal Victoria Coach Station. Stansted airport mainly has flights to European destinations. There is also a train station that provides the airport’s 27,000,000 annual passengers access to various parts of the UK. Travel from London via the Stansted Express takes just 15 minutes.
London Luton
London Luton airport, which is located north of London is the smallest of the four main London airports. It has 16,000,000 travellers every year. It is not really large enough to deal with the demand and can often get quite busy.
Manchester
Moving away from London we have our first regional airport. Manchester boasts three terminals and two runways, serving 28,000,000 passengers annually. Serving Manchester and other urban areas in the North. The airport can be accessed by trains, buses, coaches, and trams. To reach distant destinations simply head to Manchester Piccadilly from the airport and trains depart there to many parts of the UK.
Birmingham
Over 12,000,000 passengers use Birmingham airport each year, flying on over 100,000 flights. The airport is fairly easy to navigate and is easily reached via Birmingham international station, where you catch the Air-Rail-Link Monorail to the terminals. Both National Express and Megabus have services to the airport and there are many services to the city centre.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh airport has Over 14,000,000 people travelling through it annually. It has many internal flights and a range of destinations across Europe and also some long-distance routes. There is a 7-minute journey on the tram from Waverley tram station to the airport. The tram station is just a 2-minute walk from the main railway station.
Glasgow
Glasgow, our second Scottish airport is less busy than Edinburgh, it features flights to London and European tourist destinations. With over 9,000,000 passengers annually it still is quite significant to the UK airport scene.
Belfast City Airport
Across the water on the island of Ireland, there is Northern Ireland’s premier airport in Belfast. George Best Belfast City Airport currently handles 2,445,529 passengers a year and is nearing capacity. A high proportion of traffic consists of flights to UK destinations.
There is a second Belfast Airport – Belfast International Airport which carried 6,200,000 passengers. Both can be reached, from Belfast City by bus.
Cardiff
Cardiff Airport serving the capital of Wales is a small modern airport that serves just 1,500,000 visitors each year. The airport is bypassed by many people living in West Wales who travel into England to Bristol Airport. There are also good coach and train services to Heathrow and Gatwick. Flights are mostly tourist-based with intermittent flights to London.
Conclusion
These are the top UK Airports but by no means the only UK airports. Other significant airports are:
Bristol, Belfast international, Newcastle, London City, Liverpool, East Midlands, Lees Bradford, Aberdeen, London-Southend, Southampton, and Jersey.
