Deal to Stansted by airport taxi, plus the routes to Luton and London City

Deal to Stansted by airport taxi

The route Express Travel Kent publishes from Deal to Stansted runs by the M2 and the A120. In between, the car follows the M25 to the Dartford Crossing, continues north on the M25 and the M11, and leaves it for the A120 and the short run into the airport.

Allow 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes from Deal. Friday afternoons and the first days of school holidays can add 30 to 45 minutes on the M25, and overnight roadworks on the M2 and M25 are common.

At the terminal, cars set passengers down in the Express Set Down area outside Departures. It has no barriers or pay machines: the visit is paid online or by phone by midnight the next day, and the standard allowance is 15 minutes. Stansted also offers up to 60 minutes of free drop-off or pick-up in its Mid Stay car park, with a free shuttle bus to the terminal.

Luton: the longest run from the Kent coast

Luton is the furthest of the five from Deal, at a typical 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours. The car crosses the river at Dartford and follows the M25 round the north of London before turning for the airport.

Luton's Drop Off and Pick Up Zone, signed from the roundabout before the tunnel, charges a set sum for the first 12 minutes and then by the minute, with a 30-minute maximum stay; it is paid online by midnight the following day. Drivers can instead drop off free for two hours in the Long Stay car park, where a shuttle bus leaves for the terminal every 20 minutes, around the clock, and takes about 10 minutes.

The Dartford Crossing: when it is charged

Every trip from Deal to Stansted or Luton crosses the Thames at Dartford. The crossing is charged from 6am to 10pm, weekends and bank holidays included, and is free overnight. Payment is made online, by phone or through an account, by midnight the day after the crossing.

Tolls on the journey can be added to the fare where they apply. With a very early departure the outbound crossing may fall in the free overnight hours, and a flight landing after 10pm means a free crossing on the way home; ask what applies to your trip when you book.

London City: the A2 and the Blackwall Tunnel

London City is the nearest of the three by time, 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours from Deal. The car stays on the A2 beyond the end of the M2, runs into south-east London and goes under the river by the Blackwall Tunnel to reach the airport in the Royal Docks.

The Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels are charged from 06:00 to 22:00 in both directions, seven days a week, and the weekday peak rate applies northbound from 06:00 to 10:00 and southbound from 16:00 to 19:00, which covers the usual hours for a morning departure and an evening return.

At the terminal, drivers may stop in the drop-off zone for no more than 10 minutes and may not wait on the forecourt. Collections use the pick-up zone, which is a paid car park.

Which of the three suits your trip?

Usually the airline decides. Where there is a choice, the published times put London City nearest to Deal and Luton furthest, with Stansted between them. Stansted and Luton both mean the Dartford Crossing in the daytime; London City means the tunnel charge.

The fare for each is calculated for your address, so it is worth comparing them in the booking system before you buy a ticket. A cheaper flight from a more distant airport means a longer drive and, in the daytime, a toll crossing, so look at the whole trip.

Getting back to Deal from north of the river

Return collections work the same way at all three. The flight is tracked, the driver meets you in arrivals with a name board and helps with the bags, and free waiting runs from the actual landing time: 45 minutes for an international flight, 30 for a domestic one.

On the way home, overnight roadworks on the M2 and M25 can still close lanes, so the drive time varies; the fare does not. The car drops you at your door, in Deal, Walmer or any of the villages around them.

• Put the flight number for each leg in the booking
• Give the number of passengers and large cases
• Add any stop you want on the way before you confirm
• Note any access issue at the address, such as a narrow street off Beach Street