Overseas visitors to London will usually arrive at the capital by air and land at Heathrow airport or perhaps Gatwick, Luton or Stansted but if someone offers to sell you a ticket to Croydon don’t buy it!
Even Londoners forget there was once upon a time another airport which closed in 1952 but used to be the main London airport. This is Croydon airport in south London and there is very little sign of how important this terminal once was. Opened in 1915 as a military landing strip this site began taking the very earliest commercial flights after the First World War ended in 1918.
Commercial in those days was not quite as we think of it today. There were very few commercial flights and those that existed were usually small, barely converted military aircraftand consequently very uncomfortable. The airport is no longer in use although some enthusiasts want to create a flight museum and there is one old plane on a plinth that observant passers-by might just notice these days.
Gradually, as commercial flights grew in volume the London traffic was dealt with at Northolt in north London which to this day is still a busy little airport used by both military and privately owned craft. It is also the usual departure point for the Queen’s flight as it is close to both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
Northolt could not expand and so eventually Heathrow became London and the country’s leading airport. Back at Northolt, another piece of history was made here back in 1921 when it built a tower beside the landing strip and so created the world’s first air traffic control!
Just occasionally men in anoraks with small cameras are seen lurking in the adjoining bushes taking pictures of this iconic aero piece of architectural memorabilia and pasting the developed results on their bedroom wall along with rare aircraft photos and UFOs.
There are stories of a very old man with dementia still turning up now and again and demanding to be let on the afternoon’s flight to Paris.
Even Londoners forget there was once upon a time another airport which closed in 1952 but used to be the main London airport. This is Croydon airport in south London and there is very little sign of how important this terminal once was. Opened in 1915 as a military landing strip this site began taking the very earliest commercial flights after the First World War ended in 1918.
Commercial in those days was not quite as we think of it today. There were very few commercial flights and those that existed were usually small, barely converted military aircraftand consequently very uncomfortable. The airport is no longer in use although some enthusiasts want to create a flight museum and there is one old plane on a plinth that observant passers-by might just notice these days.
Gradually, as commercial flights grew in volume the London traffic was dealt with at Northolt in north London which to this day is still a busy little airport used by both military and privately owned craft. It is also the usual departure point for the Queen’s flight as it is close to both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
Northolt could not expand and so eventually Heathrow became London and the country’s leading airport. Back at Northolt, another piece of history was made here back in 1921 when it built a tower beside the landing strip and so created the world’s first air traffic control!
Just occasionally men in anoraks with small cameras are seen lurking in the adjoining bushes taking pictures of this iconic aero piece of architectural memorabilia and pasting the developed results on their bedroom wall along with rare aircraft photos and UFOs.
There are stories of a very old man with dementia still turning up now and again and demanding to be let on the afternoon’s flight to Paris.
Because Gatwick, Luton and Stansted are mostly charter flights, most international visitors find themselves arriving at Heathrow. As one of the busiest half dozen airports in the world Heathrow is at full capacity and there is a huge push to create an extra runway by the airlines and other authorities and an equally powerful lobby group trying to prevent it.
As it happens visitors to London are without doubt better served by Heathrow if their intention is to stay in a London hotel and enjoy the best parts of the city. From the airport a speedy regular tube train runs to Paddington station in west London and this is the area where most hotels are located.
For a London last minute hotels this and the immediately surrounding parts of Kensington, Hyde Park and Marble Arch are ideal for exploring the city and it is in these areas you will find the vast majority of all the London quality hotels.
