BA has a subsidiary called CityFlyer, which flies short haul from London City and other UK airports and is very similar to BA in most ways. However, flying from London City is quite a different experience than flying from other airports, so I thought it was worth a look at what to expect when flying BA from London City.
Even though I live in Surrey close to Heathrow, I ended up at London City recently after a cancellation and was surprised how easy it was to get home from there. It only took marginally longer than battling the M25. The airport has its own DLR station right next to the terminal which makes it easy even with luggage. The DLR connects with the Elizabeth Line, London Overground, and London Underground, and trains depart every 4 to 10 minutes depending on the destination. To get to Canning Town to change onto the Jubilee line only takes 7 minutes.
It is always worth checking prices from London City as I find they are sometimes substantially lower than flying from Heathrow.
It is surprising just how many routes are served from London City:
The airport itself is very small which is the beauty of it. No walking miles to your gate or immigration.
Check-in has late closure times thanks to the airport’s compact nature.
If you’ve checked in online, you must deposit your bag(s) at our Bag Drop facility at least 30 minutes before your flight departs. Check-in closes 20 minutes before your flight departs. Pass through security at least 20 minutes before your flight departs.
The airport also offers twilight check-in for British Airways, KLM and Luxair. You can now drop off your bags form 4pm the day before, for flights departing London City Airport on or before 10:00am the next day.
Security also has the new scanners which means that you can leave everything in your bag and bring liquids as large as two litres per item.
The disadvantage is that there is no lounge facility at London City for those flying business class. However, if you have a Priority Pass, you can get £15 of food and drink from Juniper & Co or Soul & Grain. Juniper is situated airside by the East Pier. After Security, follow the walkway round and Juniper & Co. is located at the entrance to Gates 21 – 24.
Soul & Grain is also airside on the main Concourse, next to the Duty Free Shop.
However, if your PP comes from Amex, you will not be eligible for the deals.
The seats on the E190 Cityflyer fleet are all in a 2-2 configuration, so you won’t get a free middle seat here. So if you are travelling with someone, you may decide to save some money and book economy.
Currently there is a generous 33″ seat pitch – mainline BA is 30″. However, they are due to add two extra rows in the future which will make the seat pitch smaller from row 12. But if you can manage to get the first few rows of economy it will be a much nicer experience and no dreaded middle seat either!
In Club Europe, the seats are exactly the same except for the front row which has very generous legroom. Row 2 C and D have the most legroom in the front row.
The food and drink offerings are also slightly different. Club Europe offers the same type of drinks and meals although it is a different caterer to Heathrow. At the moment, some of the offerings seem a little smaller than Heathrow on some meal services.
However, in economy there is good news! You get a free bar service, unlike BA Mainline, where you get water and a free snack, which is similar to what you would get on Mainline BA. So, something like some pretzels or a flapjack.
You can check prices and schedules on the special BA London City page here.
