How Biggin Hill Airport Connects Passengers to London

While airports dedicated to business aviation are generally considered a great boon to private travelers, they don’t always enjoy the best of relations with their neighbors. The threat to close the Los Angeles-area Santa Monica Airport is a prime example of this dilemma, but it doesn’t have to be this way, as we found while visiting London.

Biggin Hill Airport enjoys a prime location, within easy reach the heart of the U.K. capital, and offers six-minute helicopter shuttle transfers into the city. It competes with other London area airports, including Farnborough, Luton, London City, Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow.

The airport needed the support of the local community in what is a densely populated London suburb to get permission to extend hours, and it doesn’t take that for granted. The prospect of creating more local jobs was a big factor, and that in part came from the opening of new aircraft maintenance facilities, including Bombardier’s new European service center.