Plan a trip
Helicopter versus road and rail
Where the sources give a rail or road time we show it next to the flying time. Where they do not, we say so.
Route by route
| Route | Helicopter | Rail | Road |
|---|---|---|---|
| London to Heathrow | not stated (historic BEA shuttle Waterloo terminal to London Airport 1955-56) | Heathrow Express Paddington-Heathrow about 15 min non-stop, every 15 min; standard single GBP 26.00 (as shown) | not stated |
| London to Luton | not stated | not stated | not stated |
| London to Stansted | not stated | not stated (Stansted Express page returned 403) | not stated |
| London to Biggin Hill | not stated (ACS: Biggin Hill to Ascot 30 min) | not stated | not stated |
| London to Cambridge | not stated | not stated | not stated |
| London to Oxford | not stated | not stated (no source found) | not stated |
| London (Battersea) to Cheltenham Racecourse | approximately 40 minutes (Global Charter/ACS); ACS Helipad a few hundred metres from racecourse (Jockey Club) | Paddington to Cheltenham Spa about 1h56-2h05 direct (aggregator: Rome2rio 1h59, Omio) - not an official timetable; station to racecourse not covered | not stated (page cites severe congestion at the Festival) |
| London (Battersea) to Silverstone | 25 minutes each way (ACS, Aug 2026 page); London Heliport said about 25 min in a 2012 article | not stated | ACS time saved vs driving 'about 5-8 hours' on a return trip in heavy traffic incl. car park queues (operator claim, typical event-day) |
| London (Battersea) to Goodwood | 25 minutes (ACS) | not stated | ACS time saved vs driving 'approximately 2-4 hours' (operator claim) |
| London (Battersea) to Ascot | 20 minutes Battersea; 30 minutes from Biggin Hill (ACS); landing site 10-minute drive from grandstand | not stated | ACS time saved 'approximately 4-6 hours' from Battersea, '5-8 hours' from Biggin Hill (operator claim) |
| London to Newmarket | not stated | not stated | not stated |
| London to Antwerp | not stated | Eurostar via Brussels about 3h15-3h17 now; direct service 2h41 from December 2026 (Eurostar) | not stated |
For typical flying times from Battersea use the flight-times tool.
Method
Helicopter figures not stated here are in the flight-times tool, which uses airborne minutes only. Rail times come from operators and timetables; road times are typical and vary with traffic.
Sources and checks
Facts on this page come from these sources, last checked 2026-11-03. Where a source could not be reached or did not say, we left the fact out.
- heathrowexpress.com heathrowexpress.com
- ianvisits.co.uk ianvisits.co.uk
- stanstedexpress.com stanstedexpress.com
- acshelicopters.com acshelicopters.com
- globalcharter.com globalcharter.com
- thejockeyclub.co.uk thejockeyclub.co.uk
- rome2rio.com rome2rio.com
- aircharterservice.com aircharterservice.com
- helicopterinvestor.com helicopterinvestor.com
- acshelicopters.com acshelicopters.com
- eurostar.com eurostar.com