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.
In this post:
Getting to 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.
Pricing
It is always worth checking prices from London City as I find they are sometimes substantially lower than flying from Heathrow.
Routes
It is surprising just how many routes are served from London City:
Cityflyer covers:
- Belfast
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Dublin
- Berlin
- Billund (seasonal)
- Thessaloniki (seasonal)
- Skiathos (seasonal)
- Mykonos (seasonal)
- Nice
- Florence
- Split (seasonal)
- Bergerac (seasonal)
- Geneva (seasonal)
- Chambery (seasonal)
- Faro (seasonal)
- Malaga
- Ibiza
- San Sebastian
- Barcelona
- Palma
- Prague
- Frankfurt
- Salzberg (seasonal)
- Amsterdam
- Rotterdam
- Florence
- Milan
London City Airport – Check-in and security
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.
- Head to your airlines bag drop desk at LCY.
- Show your boarding pass, passport, visas and other travel documents, including health tests required for the journey
- You can take up to 2 litres of liquid through security
- You can also drop bags for others travelling with you, as long as they’re on the same booking and you can show their passports and travel documents.
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.
Lounges
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.
Seats
British Airways Embraer E190 aircraft. Provided by seatmaps.com
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.
Food and drink
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.
Find out more
You can check prices and schedules on the special BA London City page here.
14 comments
Helpful article, Michele. I haven’t flown from City for a while but when I did I was really impressed with how quiet and quick it was. It was also much easier to reach from the other side of London than I’d imagined – and that was before the Elizabeth Line. Just wish they had a a few more connections to northern England!
A useful and informative article, thanks. I’m flying from LCY for this first time in October to Dublin as a positioning flight to start my tier point run to Tucson. Pity there’s no lounge but the saving on time needed at the airport and (hopefully) a coffee shop there is a compensation.
“…you can leave everything in your bag…” but the photo shows laptop and liquid out of the bag?
It is the only photo I have of London city security. They definitely have the new scanners.
I’m surprised at the choice of seat map which shows row 1 legroom the same as row 2 c,d. Row 2 c,d have, I would say, nearly double the space, which no carrier on any European airline or route can match. Quite frankly, the legroom for 2c,d is extraordinary.
Thanks for this Michele. Only flown LCY once but actually going again next month to Florence as almost 1/3 of the price compared with Heathrow. Also, highly recommend DT by Hilton Excel as walkable to the airport and they tend to recognise status well.
It’s a great airport when I come down from #EDI which has up to eight or nine flights per day. Considering we have NONE on #BA to #LGW it’s a good cost effective option. I only have two small gripes. Hauling the carry on up stairs after landing to then carry it downstairs as no air bridge. I know it’s a traffic management issue but it’s frustrating. Then last year on two occasions there were long flight delays due to weather and due to its size the airport filled up very very quickly with not a seat to be had. Anywhere. It was heaving. It doesn’t happen often I know but it’s the price of compact convenience.
I LOVE LCY. By a country mile London’s best airport. The speed, connectivity and convenience more than makes up for the lack of lounge. Cityflyer is a fantastic operation as the smaller aircraft makes getting on/off a total breeze, and crew are always a delight. We’re flying EDI-LCY-BCN in the summer with 35min transfer which I’d normally not even contemplate at LHR (although I’m not risking checked luggage).
Great article, I am flying to Barcelona next month (May 24) and deliberating pay for an upgrade for the both of us.
It was good you pointed out that you can’t receive a £15 discount if using your Priority pass with Amex, we have separate card with Priority, but yes it’s with Amex.
I have never used London City, even though I live about 6 miles away.
I do miss the lounges at Gatwick and Heathrow, but hey, I will save the money and have a good lunch in Barcelona.
I know the city airport very well and it’s a breeze to fly from… incidentally, why have you mentioned Florence twice?…I know it’s fantastic there as I’ve spent the better part of 15 years there ….also Geneva was good during the ski season
Love LCY, so convenient and loathe LHR. BA catering in club I find better than LHR and LGW and if your flying economy it is great as already said as no middle seat and a free bar service and tea and coffee. The no lounge isnt an issue for me as rarely need one when departing from home territory. If i have an early flight or late flight i use the Premier Inn at nearby Canning Town( new hotel) airport to hotel reception 10mins. Hard to get reward flights from LCY i find.
A couple of errors I think in the article – LCY is invariably MORE expensive than LHR and it is rare to find cheaper seats in Business or Economy – just check LHR – EDI vs LCY- EDI as a comparator.
Secondly the ‘spacious’ legroom is only best served by 2C or 2D.
Lastly according to a BA Cityflier crew cabin manager, San Sebastian is all year round and not seasonal!
I think BA also fly to Zurich from LCY
We love flying from London City and have converted many friends to it ( one was so delighted she messaged me to say it was like flying from her own private airport…a slight exaggeration but I understood what she meant). Connections to it are excellent and the bonus is that the DLR station is right there at the airport . It doesn’t matter that there is no business lounge because it never feels crowded and unlike other London airports you don’t have to arrive hours ahead and then kill time. I would say though ( contrary to the article) that it’s sometimes a little more expensive than Heathrow. I don’t care as the other advantages outweigh that disadvantage.
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