London Stansted Airport

Stansted: Ryanair's home in London

London Stansted Airport (IATA STN, ICAO EGSS) lies in Essex, about 60 kilometers northeast of central London, near the market town of Bishop's Stortford. It is the third airport of London and the largest base of Ryanair anywhere, which makes it the low-cost gateway to the capital for much of Europe, and at night one of the busiest cargo airports in Britain, with the FedEx and UPS freighters that our radar picks up after dark. Its terminal, designed by Norman Foster, remains one of the most admired airport buildings of its era. The live radar on this page shows the traffic on Stansted's single runway; the arrivals and departures pages are linked above it.

Airlines and destinations

Ryanair accounts for the great majority of flights, to more than 150 destinations across Europe and North Africa, with Dublin, Edinburgh, Belfast, Rome, Madrid, Milan, Cologne and Barcelona the most frequently flown connections in our route data. Jet2 flies holidaymakers to the Mediterranean and the Canaries, easyJet has a smaller presence than at Gatwick and Luton, and TUI Airways adds charter flights. Emirates flies daily to Dubai, Qatar Airways to Doha and Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, the only long-haul and network services. Stansted is also a major base for private jets and government flights, so the radar shows plenty of small aircraft.

Getting from Stansted to London

The Stansted Express runs from the station beneath the terminal to London Liverpool Street in about 50 minutes, with a stop at Tottenham Hale for the Victoria line; booking ahead online is far cheaper than buying on the day. Coaches from National Express and other operators run around the clock to Liverpool Street, Victoria, Stratford and Baker Street, often cheaper still but slower in traffic. Taxis to central London take an hour or more and cost a great deal; agree a price first. By car, the airport sits on the M11 (junction 8); long-stay parking with a shuttle bus is much cheaper than the short-stay car park.

Good to know

Stansted has one terminal with the gates in three satellite buildings reached by a short automatic train or a walkway; allow ten to fifteen minutes to a far gate. Early morning, when dozens of Ryanair flights leave within an hour, security queues are notorious; arrive two hours ahead, and have your boarding pass and hand luggage within the airline's limits, which are checked at the gate. Travelers from the EU now need a passport and an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before flying to the UK. London's other airports are Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and London City. Every airport we track is listed in the airport overview.