Stoke Poges to London City Airport Taxi

Out to the Royal Docks, and what changes on an LCY run

London City is the only one of these five that finishes on ordinary city streets rather than a motorway spur, and it is the one where we lean on signs rather than exit numbers. The corridor is the A40 and then the A13: out of the village onto the A40 by Gerrards Cross, east past Denham and Uxbridge, and across to the A13, which is the trunk road serving the airport in the Royal Docks. The A406 North Circular gives a second way onto the same local roads through the A1020, which is worth having when the A40 into town is solid. From the A13 we follow the signposts for London City Airport rather than a sat-nav instruction, and come in on Hartmann Road. Two things about the destination are worth knowing before you set off. The airport sits in Newham, inside the London-wide ULEZ, though it is outside the central Congestion Charge zone, so that only comes into play if a route runs through the middle of London. And the forecourt has a strict maximum stay, tighter than anything at the other four airports we cover, so the handover at the door is deliberately brisk.

The quoted 75–100 minutes covers a journey that is almost entirely business. London City is roughly five miles east of the City of London, has one terminal and flies mainly short-haul European routes, which suits the traveller who wants to go out and come back inside a working day. From Stoke Poges that means the office park at Sefton Park on Bells Hill, where Urenco and Servier Laboratories are based, along with the Slough Trading Estate just to the south and the studios over at Iver Heath. For those passengers the useful part is not really the road, it is knowing the car is outside at 5.30am and that the whole thing goes on a business account at the end of the month. If you would rather use the hour to work, ask for an executive car with room to spread out.

What is London City like for a Stoke Poges business traveller?

Quick, mainly. London City says bag drop usually takes around a minute once your bag is tagged, and security averages about five minutes. It is a silent airport, so there are no boarding calls; you watch the screens. If your meeting is at ExCeL rather than abroad, Custom House station serves the exhibition centre, also in the Royal Docks.

At the forecourt, private hire cars pay £8 for up to five minutes. Licensed black cabs pay a reduced £7, which is one of the differences explained in our guide to private hire and hackney carriages. The maximum stay for any car is ten minutes.

If you are flying out of the airport regularly from the village, corporate accounts in Stoke Poges let a travel booker manage it, and our checklist for booking an airport taxi covers what to ask any operator.