There are six airports that serve London they are:
Heathrow is located about 15 miles west of London, in the borough of Hillingdon. Heathrow is the most connected airport in the world and one of the busiest. It handles some 90 million passengers per year and is considered London's main airport. It serves the main international airlines rather than the budget carriers. It has 4 terminals 2,3,4 & 5.Terminal 1 is currently slated for demolition to allow for expansion of terminal 2, and therefore closed to the public.
How to get to and from Heathrow
By Car & Taxi
Although only a short distance from the centre of London, the roads to the airport are often congested and getting to the airport by road is often subject to unexpected delays and traffic congestion. So although a taxi is comfortable and gets you straight to the airport, if your schedule is tight they are not that reliable.
Parking at the airport is expensive, but if you have a large amount of luggage to carry then there are plenty of car park spaces which should be booked ahead online.
By Rail and Underground
Heathrow is served by three main links, the Piccadily and Elizabeth underground lines and the heathrow express overground from Paddington station. The underground lines will take you directly to all the airport terminals from central London and take up to 50 minutes. Piccadilly line trains run about every 10 minutes, Elizabeth Line trains about every 20 minutes. Alternatively you can catch a tube to Paddington station and catch the Heathrow express which only takes about 15 minutes and costs around £25 for a single journey.
Gatwick is London's second busiest airport and home to budget carriers as well as premium carriers. It is located some 28 miles south west of London near the town of Crawley.
How to get to and from Gatwick
By road
As with Heathrow, the roads near the airport can often be congested making journey times uncertain. There is plenty of on-site and off site parking which must be booked on-line ahead of your journey.
You can travel to Gatwick via coach from various locations in London. National Express coaches run out of Victoria Coach station and although they are significantly cheaper than trains the journey can take up to 2 hours depending on the traffic. However they are clean and comfortable and have WiFi
By Rail
A good rail service to Gatwick airport runs from Victoria station. You have two choices either the Gatwick express which is a direct journey or local trains that stop at various stations along the way. The Gatwick express runs trains every 15 minutes and takes about 30 mins. There are many local trains but journey times can be up to an hour depending in the number of stops
An alternative is to take the train from London Bridge station to Gatwick, direct trains take about 30 minutes.
Stansted is London's third airport mainly used for travellers visiting europe and has a number of popular budget airlines operating out of it. It is located some 48 miles to the north east of London.
How to get to and from Stansted
There is only the one terminal at Stansted, which makes the airport easy to navigate.By road
Access to Stansted is relatively easy since it is just of the M11 motorway and there is not usually any congestion on the M11. There is plenty of off and on-site parking which must be booked on-line ahead of arrival. The airport is also served by two coach companies, National Express and Flibco which run from various pick up spots in Central London. Tickets should be booked on-line ahead of your journey.
By Rail
The stansted express leaves from London Liverpool street station in Central London every 15 minutes and takes about 48 minutes to get to Stansted.
Luton is a town in Bedfordshire, some 30 miles north of London. The airport is mainly used by budget airlines and tour operators. It has only one terminal and is relatively easy to navigate.
How to get to and from Luton
By Rail
The easiest way to get to Luton is via the Luton Express, which leaves from London St. Pancras station every 30 minutes and takes just over half an hour to reach Luton Parkway station. From the station there is a shuttle bus (the LUTON Dart) which takes about 4 minutes.
By Road
National Express coaches depart central London for Luton 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are four departures per hour during the day. These services run from London Victoria Coach Station and London Paddington Station.
Greenline 757 coaches run to Luton from central London every 30 minutes during the day, and hourly at night, with a large number of pick-up spots including London Victoria and Marble Arch.
It is located in the old docks in the borough of Newham, near to the financial district of Canary Wharf. It caters mainly to business travellers and private Jet owners. It’s also home to a number of full-service commercial airlines like British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss Air and Luxair, being so central it is easy to reach
How to get to and from City airport
City airport is linked to the tube system via its own Docklands light railway, connections can be made at Bank, Stratford and Tower Gateway station near to Tower bridge.
Southend airport is the newest addition to London's airports and also the furthest away from the capital being some 36 miles from central London.
Only two airlines fly from Southend at the moment, Easyet and Eastern Airways, serving mainly package tourism to European and some north African destinations as well as some inland destinations.
How to get to and from Southend
It is best reached by rail from London Liverpool street station which is a well connected hub on the underground network. The station runs up to 6 trains per hour with a journey time of around 50 minutes.