[MarcusGB]

A car driver i took yesterday, indicated that the areas all around LCY, are actually being changed for resident permit holders only, 29th May 2017.
I cannot find any info on this, nor the area that is being changed.
I know many Leisure travelers use the road alongside the edge of the airport for short few day flights.
This is not used by residents that have plenty of parking on their roadside and around the School.
This will mean having to use Parking Facilities at LCY, the most expensive in the country.

Various Companies offer off site parking, by meeting you at the Airport, driving your car and then returning it as you arrive.
They state, you enter the car park, hand over the keys ticket to them and they park your car.
Returning the same, but they also give you a £7.50 exit ticket, which is included.
Rates are from about £38!!!
Several Companies, secured sites insured etc, but is this allowed by LCY?

The LCY Parking in Long stay, can be over £200 for 4 days or part thereof, a huge amount for a leisure traveler to add on, more than an Airfare to Europe.

Any comments or experiences from Forum and BT?

[Speedbird1994]

There is the Travelodge, which is quite cheap and about a ten minute walk from LCY, but you can’t book it in advance, and so there is no guarantee that there will be a place available, it is fairly small. I would frankly never pay £200 to park at the LCY car park, it is just crazy.

[LondonAndy70]

It appears to be listed under the “Royal Docks East” consultation on the local council website:
https://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/ServiceChild/Consultations-and-changes-to-RPZs.aspx

I always get public transport to LCY so it won’t impact me….

[AMcWhirter]

Judging by today’s parking charges LCY wants passengers to take public transport.

In the past (when LCY wasn’t busy) you’d pay £5 for a whole day’s parking.

Have just checked the latest tariffs which are short-stay £53 for 8-12 hours. Long-stay £51 for 8-24 hours.

[MartynSinclair]

It takes me an hour to get to LCY on the tube & DLR and off peak I pay £4.60..each way…

Perhaps passengers should park in the suburbs and take public transport. Not ideal, but paying £200+ for a car park is also not ideal.

[MarcusGB]

If there is space for these companies to offer a drop off pick up point, then surely the airport could arrange something less expensive at just such sites?
I certainly am not paying that amount for parking, and of course 1 minute over 24 hrs is a whole day.

If i take a Taxi from North London it will add £80. I would have to go through Central London to get to LCY by public transport. It would take about 1.5 hrs, train, tube, docklands rail. I do not have the time, nor is it reliable, especially with weekends BH’s and suspended, or poor services around these times.

I was sent an email from LCY with an offer of 30% off parking and the code does not work on their own site.
If you order a taxi, apart from the 3 times expense of a Black Cab, you will have to pay £7.50 for them to park in the short stay, more if you are delayed, or it is not done within 30 minute: Unlikely!

What will happen, is that taxi firms will drive around on the estate and meet their collection at the underwalk way, after the lift down to street level, so the congestion there will be awful. They do not want and are not using or paying for car parks.

So do not forget to add on £40 a day for a flight from LCY in future.
Greedy consortium that own it, pumped up retail no one wants inside, not enough seating, restaurants that are overpriced and people do not want full meals there. The toilets are filthy, broken, stained, rife in smell, in arrivals and departures.
The space for simple seating is so small and cramped, squashed in by retailers which appears more profitable for the Consortium. Security that is delayed unpredictable, not enough gates, delays to take offs normal now as too many flights, no taxiway.
The “Grass” is Black and filthy since they took over with hardly any green areas anymore, it is dead, filthy, and polluted. The runway areas when you taxi are dirty with rubbish, and badly maintained.

Even provision for disabled people in the car parks, it is the same price, but made awkward by having to book on line for a long stay car park, call the airport, and arrange to collect a short stay ticket in advance, with the few bays in that area. Still no reduced rate, which i feel strongly there should be some discount for people who generally do not have huge amount of cash to spend, have the right and need for access. having said that, neither are the aircraft set up to accommodate disabled or older people, as you have to climb stairs on all aircraft, stairs down to the gate and tarmac.
This group of people are excluded from LCY now.

LCY in my view, is no longer fit for purpose, and standards have dropped to an all time low.

I shall be avoiding it, shame as KLM have now 4 Embraer’s a day to AMS where i take my long haul flights from with KLM or other Airlines.
I save over £500 per business ticket than departing UK Airports long haul, and have more expense getting to LHR. No Government departure taxes just to get off our Island, and pay in Euros not £’s.This does save right away £4-500 with an £89 return on KLM LCY – AMS. Stay overnight or a few days in Amsterdam this way also!

The Airport of LCY is just no longer safe to arrive at, without 1.5hrs for a departure, bearing in mind self check ins even for hold baggage, and reduced desks, and most flights start to board at the gate 35 minutes before. Long walks to some gates, planes delayed, and a 30 minute turn around time for KLM, is just not viable. Queues at times for BA, are up to 40 minutes to check in i have seen and was told.

City Jet are almost finished with only a handful of routes now.

the consortium are greedy, profit before service, and frankly it is very unpleasant standing with hundreds of others waiting for your flight, with no free seats, and this is for 10am-3pm departures. I am sure it it worse at other times.
Bye Bye LCY for me!
It is no longer convenient, it is overcrowded, dirty, overpriced, cramped, delays common, unreliable, and has declined in the past 2 years. I have been flying from there for over 12 years. Never has it reached this awful state.

Has anyone used these pick up and drop off companies offering parking off site for £38 for 4 nights? It does not sound financially viable to me.

[MarcusGB]

The LCY parking tarriff!

https://www.londoncityairport.com/intheairport/page/parking/

[SimonS1]

Can’t say I have ever had a problem getting there by public transport.

However LCY lost its lustre a long time ago. Long queues at security, heaving departure lounge, pokey gaterooms, diet toilets, tedious bussing operations. I’ve long since given it a miss.

[MartynSinclair]

@MarcusGB – interesting to hear you are willing to go to AMS to start your long hauls, presumably for the same reason as I do. That in itself must add a couple of hours to your trip.

The difference by going to LCY from north London by car (taxi) or public transport is probably only 35 – 40 minutes. The northern line provides a great service to Bank and the switch to DLR is quite easy, not so easy if you have loads of luggage.

I have never driven to LCY & only had a problem once with transport from LCY when the northern line was suspended.

Interestingly, if you miss your flight due to a problem on public transport, I believe your travel insurance will kick in if you miss your flight due to a problem on the roads in a taxi, I do not believe you will be covered.

Marcus, not sure where you live north London, but if you can get to a DLR station non stop, try it and see for yourself…. off peak £4.60 is great value (and also to LHR via the tube)…

[MarcusGB]

Hi Martyn & Co.

To LCY- I have tried public transport, and it takes 1.5 hrs from my place in North London.
Docklands Rail, was slow delayed, overcrowded. Often tube or train would be cancelled, especially weekends or BH’s.
Train into Moorgate, change tube twice, to Docklands rail. Not near to a DLR station this far out, only Piccadilly Line. predictable with traffic or services by Public transport, and can be awkward
LHR would mean from this “top end” of North London, M25 or North Circular always chocker, and unpredictable mornings and eves, as North so i would need to leave

Have flown from LCY weekly when CityJet was owned by AF/KLM group from about 15 yrs ago, it was making losses, and The fleet is 23yrs old+!
Driving – Quick, to get to traffic wise in about 30-40 minutes. I fly KLM, so yes i split my long hauls into AMS and take KLM Biz class for long haul trips, making a saving of £400-500And it IS quicker than using LHR!

KLM still have Worldwide Business fares (on their Dutch site) if booked 3 months in advance from Euros 1,512. You can also book Open Jaw, BKK HKG, KUL, SIN, into one out of the other, stopover in Amsterdam if you like, for Euros £1,500.
Ex LHR, these fares often exceed £2,000 (not Euros). return Biz. KLM have fares Ex LHR from about £1,550 return to BKK, and no motrthan £2
I would have to allow 2 hours to drive or take a taxi (there, and 2 hours to check in, so it is not quicker at all.

The Brand new KLM Embraer’s from LCY take me less time than getting to LHR, which is always also unpredictable.
KLM Via Amsterdam, is also a huge saving, 25% less, reliable, and pleasant an airport, with superb KLM staff on ground, and on Board. They have a greater number of fights to Central and South America, USA & Asia, Africa these days.
Multi city bookings are the same as a return, and “Open Jaw” the same.

So hopping across to Amsterdam saves me 2 hrs, and i save %25 each return as no taxes as There.

[MartynSinclair]

@Marcus – I would agree that a double change, with luggage would be challenging.

However, if you can get to BANK (directly) and on the tube, then you will lose 1 of the changes.

Next week, I have adjusted some flight times and will be leaving for Europe LHR and returning to LCY (hand baggage only) and will use the tube both ways. I have a 15 minute walk to my local tube station.

I reckon the additional travel time over car/taxi will be around 1 hour 15 minutes MAXIMUM in total.

Savings will be around £100. To some, it may be insignificant, but when doing this up to 15 – 20 times a year, the savings virtually amount to 1 return flight to Asia.

As far as reliability is concerned, I can honestly say I have never been let down by the tube/DLR when going to airports.

For the very infrequent trips to Gatwick, I use Capital Connect/Thames link, direct train and takes an hour. Easily faster than the M1/M25/M3…..

[Citiflyer]

Sorry @MarcusGB but there is a problem with parking locally. There have been numerous complaints in particular about cab drivers who are using local roads and even gardens as toilets while they wait. It’s also not fair on local residents who can’t park because the roads are full of airport users.

Second, the taxiways are not full of rubbish. That would create a serious hazard. All staff are regularly trained on FOD and keeping the airport clean and tidy. You can contact airside operations if what you say is true as they will be most interested to follow up. You also mentioned the black grass. This is actually as a result of the runway works which have been carried out on weekends and evenings and the normal grass will return. It is not polluted but has been done on purpose (not sure of exact reason).

There is also much more seating available now along the pier so the last few times I’ve used LCY this hasn’t been a problem. There is also now a Pret and a brewery company both selling sandwiches and snacks so it’s not just restaurants.

An Uber from Piccadilly to LCY cost me £25 at 6pm on a Friday night so that is always an option. However if you really want somewhere to park, there is a large Tesco by Gallions Reach which doesn’t have a time limit (although parts of the car park are locked at night) where you could leave your car and take a bus to LCY.

LCY will look completely different in the coming years as the terminal will be rebuilt, they will gain a full length taxiway and I heard that a multistory car park could be built too. But LCY’s city location means that they are being encouraged to stop private vehicles and get users onto public transport hence the high car park costs. It plays well with the local council and the green agenda in London.

[Citiflyer]

@marcusGB also you could try using Drivenow. I believe they have some cars in North London and you can leave them at LCY. I use this in Stockholm and it works well.

[Charles-P]

My sister, a regular flyer from LCY parks near the Excel Centre. Long term car parking is £15 for any 24 hour period, from there a cab or the DLR is easy and short.

[Author]

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