London City Airport’s DLR rail link opened officially on Tuesday (December 6) giving London City the cheapest, fastest and most comprehensive public transport links from any of the capital’s airports to the city centre.

Besides offering a faster ride, the airport station adjoins the arrivals area, allowing passengers to reach the platform within a couple of minutes. This contrasts with the long distances involved in reaching the rail links at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton or Stansted.

Trains run every seven to 10 minutes on elevated tracks, affording a bird’s eye view of the Thames, the Thames Barrier and the Millennium Dome. Services operate direct to Bank in the City (22 minutes away) and Canning Town (six minutes away, where you change for the Jubilee tube line). But passengers bound for Canary Wharf (14 minutes away) must change at Poplar.

London City Airport is in Travelcard zone 3 with one-way tickets into central London costing £2.80 (or £2.50 with a prepaid Oyster card). Travellers visiting London for the day can buy a one-day Travelcard priced at £7 peak or £5.20 off-peak, which offers unlimited transport within the capital.

Now that the DLR is open, the airport bus services are being rescheduled. The shuttle to Canning Town will cease on December 11 but the other links to Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street will continue for the moment.

The main carriers using London City Airport include Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Scot Airways, Swiss and VLM.

For more information go to www.dlr.co.uk or www.londoncityairport.com.