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Wow. I kinda have to respect their position in OP but I don't understand this at all. How can the originating airport matter that much?

lisper 4y ago
Gatwick is considered less prestigious than Heathrow in certain circles.
- noncoml 4y ago
  Getting to Heathrow from London is faster, easier and cheaper.
  - avianlyric 4y ago
    Depends what part of London you’re in. For me Gatwick is the faster, cheaper, easier airport. It’s also the airport with the fastest security and passport control I’ve ever been through. I also challenge the idea that Heathrow is ever cheaper to get to than Gatwick. The Thames Link service to Gatwick is far cheaper than the Heathrow express, much faster and more pleasant than the Piccadilly line, only the Lizzie line makes Heathrow as cheap and easy to get to by train as Gatwick.
    - SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
      I can definitely say that Gatwick is the 100% better airport for international transfers. From that angle, the only thing Heathrow has going for it is that there are many more options. From every other aspect, Gatwick is way better and Heathrow is horrific.
  - chatmasta 4y ago
    Doesn’t it depend where in London? For example I’d rather ride the Gatwick Express from Victoria for 30 minutes than sit on the tube from Kings Cross to Heathrow for an hour. And outside of London, from Cambridge for example, there is non-stop train service available to Gatwick but not to Heathrow. It’s too bad Norwegian shuttered their long haul service between Gatwick and NYC/BOS. It was affordable, comfortable and convenient, so of course it went bankrupt. Now the best options are out of Heathrow (my favorite is now British Air, as long as AA isn’t operating the flight…).
    - ciabattabread 4y ago
      But starting in November you can reach Heathrow from Central London in 30 minutes.
    - cjrp 4y ago
      Check out Norse, basically the same flights as Norwegian had.
      - SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
        This is great, exact same model and everything. I hope they come back to my city (Austin), it was insane what they did for price competition in the area (generally sliced the cost to get to Europe in half) and generally had better quality of service. My favorite part was being able to order food and beverages a-la-carte from the IFE console. It's so much more efficient for both the customers and the staff to do it that way.
slickrick216 4y ago
It’s about connecting flights. More flights go to Heathrow from more places. Changing airport is anathema to most sane people so not being able to easily connect to there means it’s less likely people will come. This impacts business in many ways. Several countries and places have had a similar reaction for example the “save our slots” campaign of the Irish mid west community for flights from Shannon to Heathrow.
- jhugo 4y ago
  This. Prestige is part of it, but considering that ACC has only a couple of North American routes and a handful of European routes, a flight to Heathrow is a huge win: it brings one-stop connectivity to most of the world. By contrast, a flight to Gatwick means a deeply unappealing cross-London transfer to make those connections.
  - VBprogrammer 4y ago
    On the other hand, Gatwick isn't exactly a back water. I've flown to Toronto and the Seychelles via Gatwick before. We live between the two so it often comes down to flight times rather than airport.
    - jhugo 4y ago
      Indeed, it has many routes, but it tends to skew towards leisure destinations. Also, Heathrow has the vast majority of the premium demand, so, for example, airlines that have aircraft with a First[0] cabin will schedule those aircraft to Heathrow and not Gatwick. It might seem strange to be discussing premium demand in the context of connections from Accra, but the toy-spitting that happened when BA tried to move the flights to Gatwick was coming from high-ranking politicians — who are certainly not flying in economy. [0] International First, not what is called First in the US.
- diebeforei485 4y ago
  > Changing airport is anathema to most sane people It's not just about time or inconvenience. Nationals of Ghana can transit the UK airside (at the same airport) without needing a UK visa in most cases, but changing airports means they are more likely to need a UK visa (there are fewer exemptions).

lisper 4y ago

Gatwick is considered less prestigious than Heathrow in certain circles.

noncoml 4y ago
Getting to Heathrow from London is faster, easier and cheaper.
- avianlyric 4y ago
  Depends what part of London you’re in. For me Gatwick is the faster, cheaper, easier airport. It’s also the airport with the fastest security and passport control I’ve ever been through. I also challenge the idea that Heathrow is ever cheaper to get to than Gatwick. The Thames Link service to Gatwick is far cheaper than the Heathrow express, much faster and more pleasant than the Piccadilly line, only the Lizzie line makes Heathrow as cheap and easy to get to by train as Gatwick.
  - SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
    I can definitely say that Gatwick is the 100% better airport for international transfers. From that angle, the only thing Heathrow has going for it is that there are many more options. From every other aspect, Gatwick is way better and Heathrow is horrific.
- chatmasta 4y ago
  Doesn’t it depend where in London? For example I’d rather ride the Gatwick Express from Victoria for 30 minutes than sit on the tube from Kings Cross to Heathrow for an hour. And outside of London, from Cambridge for example, there is non-stop train service available to Gatwick but not to Heathrow. It’s too bad Norwegian shuttered their long haul service between Gatwick and NYC/BOS. It was affordable, comfortable and convenient, so of course it went bankrupt. Now the best options are out of Heathrow (my favorite is now British Air, as long as AA isn’t operating the flight…).
  - ciabattabread 4y ago
    But starting in November you can reach Heathrow from Central London in 30 minutes.
  - cjrp 4y ago
    Check out Norse, basically the same flights as Norwegian had.
    - SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
      This is great, exact same model and everything. I hope they come back to my city (Austin), it was insane what they did for price competition in the area (generally sliced the cost to get to Europe in half) and generally had better quality of service. My favorite part was being able to order food and beverages a-la-carte from the IFE console. It's so much more efficient for both the customers and the staff to do it that way.

slickrick216 4y ago

It’s about connecting flights. More flights go to Heathrow from more places. Changing airport is anathema to most sane people so not being able to easily connect to there means it’s less likely people will come. This impacts business in many ways. Several countries and places have had a similar reaction for example the “save our slots” campaign of the Irish mid west community for flights from Shannon to Heathrow.

jhugo 4y ago
This. Prestige is part of it, but considering that ACC has only a couple of North American routes and a handful of European routes, a flight to Heathrow is a huge win: it brings one-stop connectivity to most of the world. By contrast, a flight to Gatwick means a deeply unappealing cross-London transfer to make those connections.
- VBprogrammer 4y ago
  On the other hand, Gatwick isn't exactly a back water. I've flown to Toronto and the Seychelles via Gatwick before. We live between the two so it often comes down to flight times rather than airport.
  - jhugo 4y ago
    Indeed, it has many routes, but it tends to skew towards leisure destinations. Also, Heathrow has the vast majority of the premium demand, so, for example, airlines that have aircraft with a First[0] cabin will schedule those aircraft to Heathrow and not Gatwick. It might seem strange to be discussing premium demand in the context of connections from Accra, but the toy-spitting that happened when BA tried to move the flights to Gatwick was coming from high-ranking politicians — who are certainly not flying in economy. [0] International First, not what is called First in the US.
diebeforei485 4y ago
> Changing airport is anathema to most sane people It's not just about time or inconvenience. Nationals of Ghana can transit the UK airside (at the same airport) without needing a UK visa in most cases, but changing airports means they are more likely to need a UK visa (there are fewer exemptions).