Birmingham ranked third in Europe’s most convenient airports study.
GoEuro, the platform for comparing and booking trains, buses and flights across Europe, has analysed more than seventy European airports to rank the fastest and cheapest transfers to city centres, and the much-maligned Birmingham airport has been proved the most convenient in the UK.
Whilst air travel may be the quickest point-to-point travel option, getting from the airport to the city centre can be tricky and stressful, especially if it’s your first time at a new destination. GoEuro’s new research allows savvy travellers to begin their holiday sooner, assessing distance, duration and price from the terminal to the city.
The data reveals transfer fares range from 64p to £25 and journey times vary from five to 85 minutes. Nice Côte d’Azur secured the position of the most convenient airport in Europe, with a five minute transfer time costing just £1.59. Closer to home, Birmingham was the only UK city to make it into the top 20 European airports, with London Gatwick ranking as the most inconvenient airport in the list. London Heathrow, Luton and Stansted airports all scored in the bottom ten for duration and costs – adding valuable minutes and expense to passengers before they can truly start their visit to England’s capital.
Prague and Amsterdam proved themselves to be amongst the most convenient city break destinations, both securing places in the top ten airports with transfer times taking less than 15 minutes and costing no more than £4. Both cities have also increased in popularity since last summer, based on GoEuro’s August Hotlist.
The Hotlist – which tracks popularity increase year-on-year – also shows that, despite an expensive journey from Paris airport to the city centre, travellers are not put off by time or cost as the Parisian capital holds the number one city break title. Paris has increased its European city break popularity, ranking number one holiday destination based on searches from August 2016-2017.
The airport data highlights Lanzarote and Malaga are the top choices for those wanting to maximise their time on holiday and not waste any time travelling from the airport to the beach. Transfer times to the city centre are all under 15 minutes, whereas travellers opting for similar beach destinations in Tenerife or Palermo face over an hour’s wait before they reach the beach.
According to GoEuro, it’s always worth taking door-to-door journey times and costs into account to ensure there are fewer surprises along the way.
The ten most convenient European airport transfers:
Nice Côte d’Azur, five minute transfer from £1.59
Lanzarote, 10 minute transfer from £1.24
Birmingham, 9 minute transfer from £2.90
Málaga-Costa del Sol, 12 minute transfer from £1.59
Frankfurt, 10 minute transfer from £4.24
Nürnberg, 12 minute transfer from £2.65
Cologne Bonn, 13 minute transfer from £2.12
Prague, 15 minute transfer from £0.79
Leipzig-Halle, 13 minute transfer from £3.97
Amsterdam Schiphol, 14 minute transfer from £3.71
The Ten least convenient European airport transfers:
London-Gatwick, 30 minute transfer from £19.90
London-Luton, 60 minute transfer from £18.00
Frankfurt-Hahn, 85 minute transfer from £12.36
London-Stansted, 60 minute transfer from £16.60
Beauvais, 75 minute transfer from £14.04
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, 28 minute transfer from £8.61
London-Heathrow, 15 minute transfer from £25.00
Stockholm Arlanda, 20 minute transfer from £25.60
Paris Orly, 30 minute transfer from £7.06
Edinburgh, 30 minute transfer from £4.50
