What time should you be heading to the airport?

With increasing travel prices and car park fees, there are various hidden costs that occur before even stepping foot in the airport and a third (32%) of Brits forget to include these when budgeting for a holiday.

All these factors combined with train cancellations and delays can make the journey to the airport stressful for many Brits with over half (51%) admitting they suffer from travel nerves.

So to make the nation’s journeys to the airport as stress-free as possible, bus transport provider Arriva has conducted a new study revealing the hidden cost of going on holiday, whether that be financial or time, by analysing a variety of factors including the cost of airport drop-off fees, the cost of a coach ticket and the amount of time you should allow for travel to the UK’s five biggest airports.

When to get to the airport:

One thing many people often forget is how much time you should allow for getting to the airport, Many Brits have different opinions on what time you should arrive for your flight, 42% believe you should allow 2-3 hours, whilst one in three (30%) believe 1-2 hours is enough time. Almost a quarter (24%) say an hour or less is ample time if only travelling with hand luggage.

To set the record, straight Arriva has pulled together the official guidance for the UK’s five biggest airports.

Airport
The time you should arrive
London Luton
Typically, 2-3 hours before your flight.
London Stanstead
Short haul – Get to the airport at least two hours before flight.
Long haul – Get to the airport three hours before flight.
London Gatwick
Long-haul flights – three hours before your scheduled departure.
European flights – three hours before your scheduled departure.
UK and Ireland flights – two hours before your scheduled departure.
London Heathrow
Internationally – three hours before your flight.
Domestic or European travel – two hours before your flight.
Manchester
You will need to have checked in and be ready to go through security at least 2 hours before your flight departure time.
Best time to take public transport to the airport:

Whilst deciding what time to travel to the airport is often dictated by the flight time, the research has ranked the best and worst times of day to travel depending on the number of train cancellations.