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London and Beyond - UK Airports That Serve Trans-Atlantic Destinations
Land closer to your ultimate destination or find a lower cost flight

By Ferne Arfin, About.com

It's natural to plan a visit to the UK that starts in London. Most visitors do simply because it's the United Kingdom's most famous entry point and, in Heathrow, it has the world's busiest international airport.

If you are flying transatlantic, you may have more choice than you think about where to land. At least nine airports across the UK now have regularly scheduled flights to and from North American destinations. Some fly to only a few North American cities, but others have either direct or connecting flights to East and West Coast and Midwestern destinations across the USA and Canada.

By looking for flights to alternative airports, you might pick up a bargain. And, if your final destination is far from the UK capital, you can probably save local travel and hotel costs as well as time. Check out these UK airports that support transatlantic flights.

The London Airports

London has five airports, but, at the moment, only four support transatlantic flights. The fifth, London City Airport only serves destinations in Europe, the UK and Ireland. The others are:
  • Heathrow - The biggest and everyone's obvious choice.
  • Gatwick - Once a secondary airport, Gatwick now has better transport connections to London and a bigger choice of scheduled flights. It's convenient for Kent, Sussex and the South Coast.
  • Stansted - Luxury airline EOS and all-business MAXjet now fly into this small, but rapidly growing airport.
  • Luton - You can fly here from New York and link to most of the big low-cost carriers for cheap, onward flights to Europe or Ireland

Other UK Destination Airports

  • Manchester - The gateway to the North and Northwest of England serves 16 North American air travel hubs.
  • Glasgow - Scotland's main international airport serves East and West Coast destinations in North America.
  • Edinburgh - Fly from New York, Toronto or Atlanta to Scotland's capital city; convenient for England's northeast border country as well.
  • Birmingham - Fly from Newark, Boston or Toronto for access to The Midlands and Mid Wales and good onward connections to the rest of the UK, Europe and even further.
  • Bristol New York and Orlando are destinations served by this gateway to England's West Country and South Wales.
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