We advise that you arrive at least two hours before your flight to allow plenty of time.
People Also Ask
The best times to visit the London Gatwick Airport rush hours is to travel either early in the morning or late night because that is the time when the normal traffic is asleep. The peak-times at Gatwick Airport in morning are from 7AM to 10AM and 4PM to 7PM in the evening.
Generally speaking, most airlines advise that you arrive at the airport at least 2 hours prior to a domestic flight, and at least 3 hours prior to an international flight. That said, there are many factors to consider that will help you decide how much time you should budget for at the airport.
Most people don't like the time wake-up times required to hit the earliest flights out of the airport, so a “first flight of the day” oftentimes offers less packed airplanes as well as easy breezy airport concourses. As a bonus, the early morning flights almost always have the best on-time records.
If you know you'll be traveling during a peak time, it's probably still a good idea to plan on the standard two hours for domestic flights and three hours for international flights. If you're heading to the airport at a slower time of day, then you can consider arriving a little later.
When you're traveling within the United States, we make the suggestion to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours prior to departure. For most airports, you must be checked in at least 30 minutes before your scheduled departure time (airports requiring additional time are listed below, Go to footer note).
There's no fixed time given by the airport stating how early passengers can go through the security check. But for a guarantee of minimal stress, arriving 2-4 hours early is recommended. If you want, you can even travel 6 hours ahead. It's wise to give yourself some cushion for ease of mind.
This statistic displays how long passengers had to wait in a queue for security screening at Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019. In the airport, 58 percent of respondents had to wait between one to five minutes, while 21 percent had to wait for six to ten minutes.
You can check in your bags between 18:00–21:00 the day before. You can drop off bags for others travelling with you, but they must be on the same booking and you must bring their passports and all travel documents, including health tests, required for the journey.
2 hours before my flight. Always been my rule and it's always been plenty of time, usually end up sitting around for a bit. If I just have hand luggage sometimes I might go down to 90 mins.
Passport Control: Everyone arriving at Gatwick has to go through passport control. This can mean wait times of 5-20 minutes or an upwards of 1 hour depending on the amount of travelers.
Generally speaking, most airlines advise that you arrive at the airport at least 2 hours prior to a domestic flight, and at least 3 hours prior to an international flight. That said, there are many factors to consider that will help you decide how much time you should budget for at the airport.
As a general rule, you should arrive at the airport no less than an hour before a domestic flight. Ninety minutes to two hours is a safer bet, and most airports, such as London Heathrow and London Gatwick, recommend that you get to the airport two hours before a domestic or European flight.
If you book a 6AM domestic flight, for example, you'll need to arrive at the airport by 4AM. Depending on how far you live from the airport, this could mean getting on the road around 3AM or 3:30AM; traffic should be minimal at this time, as should check-in and security lines.
What is the recommended layover time for international flights? International flights require longer connections as you will often have to go through immigration and customs upon arrival. For international layover flights booked on one airline, two hours is often recommended to make your connection.
If your itinerary was purchased as one ticket (as in: you have only one itinerary and one confirmation number), and the connection time was too short and you miss the second (or third) flight, you can rest easy, no matter what happens. The airline will simply put you onto the next available flight, free of charge.
If a delay in your first flight is the reason you're missing your connection, don't worry too much. Usually, most airlines will rebook you on the next flight, and that too for free. Although, you might have to fly on standby depending on seat availability.
The Best Time to Fly Crowd-FreeIf you're looking to fly without experiencing huge crowds, you should be aiming for flights that leave anywhere between 7 and 8 in the morning.
Generally, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best weekdays to fly. Thursday is a bit more expensive but still reasonable. Saturday is usually the cheapest weekend day to fly. That does not mean you cannot find great flight prices on the other days of the week.