City Thameslink to Luton Airport - how long?

bj-sailaway

I'm looking at geting a flight from Luton to Aberdeen at 1905 on Monday 18th July.

I've never flown from Luton, but I work in Holborn, and wondered how long I should allow - the train from CityThameslink to Luton seems to be about 35 minutes - when I get to Luton Parkway - how long do I need to allow to get to security and boarding gates?

Never flown from Luton, so not sure how big or spread out it is.

Thanks folks!

Alan_Bowen

Firstly you need to realise the station is not at the airport, you transfer to a bus to go the last couple of miles and at rush hour that can be slow. I use Thameslink often and they seem the least reliable company in the London area. Combine that with rush hour and you need to leave plenty of time. You can buy a ticket that includes the fare to the airport but if you buy it just to the Parkway station it costs another £1.50 on the bus. Buses run every 10 minutes and I would allow 10 minutes for the bus, assuming you have no luggage to check in, you need to be at the airport at least an hour before departure. The last, and I hope it will be the last, time I flew through Luton, most passengers seemed to have no idea about security which slowed it down as they searched and then argued about liquids, if you need a bag, Luton do not give them away, you have to pay for them and it just drove me mad.

On that basis I would not leave it later than 1700 to get a train from City Thameslink, at that time of the day there ought to be fast trains that only stop a couple of times but the slow trains could take almost an hour, so the earlier you can get away the better

Alan_Bowen

Luton Airport issued a press release today admitting they were victims of their own success and admitting people were missing flights due to the numbers trying to get through security. You may wish to leave even earlier, I am now certain I will never fly Luton again, I can arrive at Heathrow Terminal 1 35 minutes before departure and have never missed a flight yet. The flights from Luton may be cheaper than Heathrow but you pay for it in other ways.

aerostar

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

Luton Airport issued a press release today admitting they were victims of their own success and admitting people were missing flights due to the numbers trying to get through security.

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