Aer Aran to London Southend, opinions.

vard

Hi there,

excuse the quick post, I'm writing from my phone.

I need to be in London this Thursday for a meeting at about 1pm.

I just checked sky scanner and noticed the cheapest flights are now operated by aer Aran using the new Southend airport.

Everything sounds good, but as I have no option other than to fly and return on the same day and I have never flown to this airport, or with A.Aran, I thought I'd check to see if there's anything I should be aware of.

My timing will probably be tight - how are A.Aran with regard to punctuality? Is the new airport difficult to get to / from? Any awkward travel times or journeys?

Would love to hear from you if you have anything to add.

Cheers

A Dub in Glasgo

London is a big place, where in London is your meeting?

vard

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

London is a big place, where in London is your meeting?

Sorry, should have specified. Central - goodge St tube station.

Mint Sauce

vard wrote: »

Sorry, should have specified. Central - goodge St tube station.

TBH. You'd probably be as handy flying Aer Lingus to Heathrow, and jumping on the underground from there. At a second choice Aer Lingus or Ryanair to Gatwick, and take the Gatwick Express or Southern Trains to Victoria.

The Aer Arran planes are smaller, in size, and in the over head bins so maybe a smaller hand luggage allowance, slower in flight time, and depending on the weather, bumpier.

Dont know Southend, but assuming it will be a commuter train service, then one or two changes to your final destination.

vard

irish-stew wrote: »

vard wrote: »

Sorry, should have specified. Central - goodge St tube station.

TBH. You'd probably be as handy flying Aer Lingus to Heathrow, and jumping on the underground from there. At a second choice Aer Lingus or Ryanair to Gatwick, and take the Gatwick Express or Southern Trains to Victoria.

The Aer Arran planes are smaller, in size, and in the over head bins so maybe a smaller hand luggage allowance, slower in flight time, and depending on the weather, bumpier.

Dont know Southend, but assuming it will be a commuter train service, then one or two changes to your final destination.

EI to Heathrow is extortionate. The flight times are very similar - all I care about is price and arrival time! I'm only over for a few hours; I won't have luggage!

A Dub in Glasgo

Transport for London have an excellent journey planner

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en

The train from the airport takes about 55 minutes into Liverpool Street station. According to the journey planner above, it is 17 minutes to Goodge Street so add 10 minutes from train to tube connection time gives approx 1 hour 23 minutes journey time to and from the Airport to your meeting

Edit: total about £20 return

Terrontress

Southend is pushing it to be described as London.

If I were you I'd go to City Airport with Air France. Prices are usually similar to the rest this late but you get a free bag, coffee, sandwich, sweets on takeoff etc.

Get the DLR and tube to Goodge St.

sunnysoutheast

vard wrote: »

EI to Heathrow is extortionate. The flight times are very similar - all I care about is price and arrival time! I'm only over for a few hours; I won't have luggage!

The rail station at Southend Airport is literally over the road from the terminal. The train service is direct to London Liverpool Street, the only downside is that the train stops regularly on the way in.

You can change at Stratford for the Central Line which is a much easier transfer to the tube. If you have to go to Goodge St. then you can get out at Tottenham Court Road and walk it in less than five minutes, or get the Northern Line for one stop.

Aer Arann/Aer Lingus Regional use ATR42 or 72 turboprop aircraft if that is a concern.

The trains out of Liverpool Street in the rush hour could be very busy, maybe have a look at a flying into Southend and out of LHR or LGW via the multi-city option.

SSE

chalkitdown

vard wrote: »

EI to Heathrow is extortionate. The flight times are very similar - all I care about is price and arrival time! I'm only over for a few hours; I won't have luggage!

EI SNN to Heathrow can be reasonable.

driveshaft

Travelled via Southend on the Friday morning flight for the Heineken Cup. IIRC we were in the city around 1pm, so you may be cutting it fine for your meeting.

The trains run from the train station opposite the front door of the terminal and are on roughly every 20 mins and leave you to Liverpool street. Travel time Southend to London is approx 50 mins. To put it into context it is like flying into Mullingar and getting the train to dublin.

Rascasse

What time does the flight arrive in Southend? What time is the return flight? And, how long will your meeting last?

It looks like it will take a minimum of 90 mins from airport to goodge St from (station to station)

My missus flies over for day trips at least every month. Her airport of choice is gatwick followed by Heathrow, luton and stanstead in that order (based on swiftness into London without using premium 'express' trains).

If you post when you flight leaves it will be easier to advise if its reasonable to get to your meeting and back.

Neworder79

Goodge St is about 15min walk from Kings Cross, so I'd fly to (Luton €63 return at the moment) if I were you. But leave some time to freshen up, running across London after an early flight for a meeting can be a disaster from my experience!

Rascasse

I just had a look at the flight times there and the earliest flight arrives at 1050 and the latest departure from Southend at 1710.

Assuming you get a the first train after you arrive and the latest train coming back, National Rail reckon you'll arrive at Goodge St at 12.34 and have to be be on the tube at 14.47. So you will have a total of 2hrs and 15 mins there.

Better be a quick meeting!

Joe 90

vard wrote: »

Sorry, should have specified. Central - goodge St tube station.

Train from Southend will take you to Liverpool Street Station and the tube Central Line will take you from Liverpool Street to Tottenham Court road station, about five minutes walk from Goodge Street. Overall train time from Southend to Tottenham Court Court Road should be between an hour and an hour and a half.

If you go that way, it is on the junction of Tottenham Court Road, Charing Cross Road, Oxford Street and New Oxford Street. Just walk down the left hand side of Tottenham Court Road and you will come to Goodge Street in five minutes or less.

Carvair

I am just back from a trip to London using Southend with Aer Lingus (Aer Arann)

Flight time to Southend from Dublin was 1 Hr and 10 minutes ( Heathrow & Gatwick) are almost the same

The return flight was 1HR 20Mins. Both flights departed exactly on time. Both flight were very smooth and enjoyable.

Arrival into Southend is a short walk across the apron via acovered in arae into the terminal building

I only had hand baggage, so was out of the Terminal immediately

The train Station is directly across the road from the terminal and is, at most ... a 2 minute walk

The cabin crew member was selling a one way train ticket from the airport to Liverpool St for £15. I bought an open return ticket at the station ticket desk for £22. This only covers the rail service and not the underground in London. The ticket desk at the airport can sell you a underground ticket should you require one. The guy at the ticket desk was very helpfull

Train time is 52 Minutes, including the stops. The train stopped maybe 5 or 6 times for no more than 2 minutes at most at each station

You can get off at Stratford or carry on to Liverpool St, both connect with the underground

In looking at other London airports, it has been my experience that journey time from Heathrow to Central london by Tube is abpprox 1 hour. From Gatwick its about the same and Southend is 52 minutes

The cheapest option for getting into central London is the underground from Heathrow., for about £9 you can get a one day travel card which gets you from Heathrow into London and still allows you unlimited Bus & underground for the same day throughout London

Any questions, just ask me.. glad to help

sunnysoutheast

Far easier to change for the Central Line at Stratford as it's an adjacent platform rather than the long walk at Liverpool Street.

Stratford of course will be manic from 27th July for three weeks and again from 29th August to 9th Sept. Apparently there's some sporting thing on!

SSE

vard

Thanks a lot for all the advice everyone.

In the end I decided to opt for Ryanair to Gatwick as the return journey left me with some space for delays.

I usually take the Bus or the rail and sail to London but I really didn't feel like travelling for 25 hours this time! I think I'll give Southend a go next time I have to be over.

Rascasse

vard wrote: »

In the end I decided to opt for Ryanair to Gatwick as the return journey left me with some space for delays.

Just a tip for Gatwick in case your aren't aware - stay clear of Gatwick Express.

You can use Southern trains to Victoria and the return ticket is about half the price of Gatwick Express but takes the same amount of time and are just as regular.

There is also First trains to London Bridge or Blackfriars. they are cheaper still by a pound or two but are less frequent and use less handy stations in London.

vard

Rascasse wrote: »

Just a tip for Gatwick in case your aren't aware - stay clear of Gatwick Express.

You can use Southern trains to Victoria and the return ticket is about half the price of Gatwick Express but takes the same amount of time and are just as regular.

There is also First trains to London Bridge or Blackfriars. they are cheaper still by a pound or two but are less frequent and use less handy stations in London.

I wasn't aware of that - thanks for the tip! I have gone through Gatwick a lot in the past and I've always taken the Gatwick Express, so I'll be sure to go for Southern Trains from now on.

Cheers!

sunnysoutheast

vard wrote: »

I wasn't aware of that - thanks for the tip! I have gone through Gatwick a lot in the past and I've always taken the Gatwick Express, so I'll be sure to go for Southern Trains from now on.

Cheers!

It's very good advice, but beware that if you arrive in the morning peak these trains will be MEGA-busy as they are commuter trains into London. You may end up with a ticket you can't use because you can't get on the train!

Out of the morning peak you should be fine.

SSE

Marcusm

Rascasse wrote: »

Just a tip for Gatwick in case your aren't aware - stay clear of Gatwick Express.

You can use Southern trains to Victoria and the return ticket is about half the price of Gatwick Express but takes the same amount of time and are just as regular.

There is also First trains to London Bridge or Blackfriars. they are cheaper still by a pound or two but are less frequent and use less handy stations in London.

First Capital Connect use London Bridge, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and Kings Cross/St Pancras in central London. For those in the know, it's often far handier and provides better connections than Southern into Vicky.

L1011

Marcusm wrote: »

First Capital Connect use London Bridge, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and Kings Cross/St Pancras in central London. For those in the know, it's often far handier and provides better connections than Southern into Vicky.

The FCC trains are horrible and usually absolutely jammed, though.

They're known as "Crapital" in Brighton for a reason!

bkehoe

MYOB wrote: »

The FCC trains are horrible and usually absolutely jammed, though.

They're known as "Crapital" in Brighton for a reason!

Hmm, I've frequently used FCCs Thameslink service (i.e. to Kings X) from Gatwick and haven't seen a horrible train yet. Only issue is the overhead shelves are too small for a standard carry-on case.

Marcusm

MYOB wrote: »

The FCC trains are horrible and usually absolutely jammed, though.

They're known as "Crapital" in Brighton for a reason!

How recent is your experience? Much of the stock is 2008 vintage Electrostars and the balance are undergoing interior refurbs. From Brighton there are faster choices to London (although you wouldn't have to go back that far for some of the pre Southern operators to be at the bottom end of performance and satisfaction scales). You're absolutely right that it is a heavily used commuter route (one I endured for 6 years) but it's actually a very good service to/from Gatwck for a large portion of London.

A Dub in Glasgo

MYOB wrote: »

The FCC trains are horrible and usually absolutely jammed, though.

They're known as "Crapital" in Brighton for a reason!

The Class 319s need a refurbishment and the Class 377s are newer (all 26 units are sub leased from Southern).

With the Thameslink upgrade ongoing, FCC are running 12 coach trains in the peak