London currently stands as one of the largest budget airline
markets on the planet, with many low-cost carriers serving the handful of airports in the London area. These facilities include major gateways, like London Heathrow (LHR) and London Gatwick (LGW), where legacy traffic is more prominent, the business-traveler specific airport, London City Airport (LCY), and multiple budget airline-oriented airports like London Luton (LTN) and London Stansted (STN).
The major budget airlines of the region, including Ryanair, easyJet, and Wizz Air, operate dozens of services from London to destinations across Europe, allowing for easy and convenient access that comes at affordable prices. Due to London’s status as the economic and geographic powerhouse of the United Kingdom, it is unsurprising that all the major low-cost carriers (including the three already mentioned) want to maintain a strong presence in this crucial market.
The flow of leisure travel traffic to destinations across Southern and Western Europe is immense, and the vacation markets in emerging travel hotspots like Bulgaria, Croatia, and Turkey have become increasingly popular with travelers from the London area. Furthermore, with train travel prices reaching some of their highest points on record, taking a quick and easy flight on a budget airline has overwhelmingly become the most popular option for travelers.
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Nonetheless, there are some budget airlines with a more important presence in London than others which continue to lag, both in terms of passenger numbers and the amount of different destinations served by nonstop flights. Let’s take a deeper look at which budget airlines are the most influential in the greater London region.
Which budget airlines have operating bases or hubs at London’s two largest airports: Gatwick & Heathrow?
For starters, it is important to note that no budget airlines operate hubs at London Heathrow, the largest airport serving the city. While some do operate flights, their services tend to be limited due to the astronomical operating costs at the facility. When it comes to the city’s second-most important airport, London Gatwick, however, there are a handful of low-cost carriers that do have operating bases at the facility. These include all the following carriers:
- easyJet
- Norse Atlantic Airways
- TUI Airways
- Vueling
- Wizz Air
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These carriers include both long-haul and short-haul low-cost airlines
Of these airlines, the largest by far are easyJet and TUI Airways, both of which operate flights across Europe and TUI serves several destinations in its long-haul network. All the budget airlines serving this airport have extensive seasonal operations, but for TUI this is especially the case.
Gat
More than 60% of the airline’s routes from Gatwick are seasonal, and the year-round destinations include many transatlantic services to the Caribbean. The airline is also looking to continue expanding its Gatwick hub, with thousands of new seats already added for summer 2025 for routes from the airport, according to reports from UK-based news outlet GB News.
Photo: Ceri Breeze | Shutterstock
Norse Atlantic Airways also operates nonstop flights from the airport, operating much like TUI with a long-haul low-cost model. Wizz Air and Vueling, a Spanish low-cost carrier, also operate extensive networks from their Gatwick operating bases, both serving destinations across Europe.
No budget airlines operate flights from London City Airport (LCY).
Which airlines operate major bases at the city’s budget airline-dominated airports?
Three major airports have become the unequivocal homes of budget airlines in the London area. These three facilities play host to a handful of budget airline operating bases, from which the vast majority of their London-bound traffic has been routed. Details about these facilities and the budget airlines that call them home can be found in the table below:
|
Airport: |
Budget Airline(s) with operating bases at the facility: |
|---|---|
|
London Luton Airport (LTN) |
easyJet, Ryanair, TUI Airways, Wizz Air |
|
London Stansted Airport (STN) |
Jet2, Ryanair, TUI Airways |
|
London Southend Airport (SEN) |
easyJet |
Ryanair has a massive presence at Stansted, contributing to the airport’s status as one of the busiest budget airline-oriented airports on the planet. The airline also has a sizable operating base at Luton, operating flights to dozens of destinations across Europe. According to Aviation Week, Stansted is the airline’s largest operating base, and the carrier’s busiest route across its entire network is Stansted to Dublin Airport (DUB).
Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis | Shutterstock
Alongside a major operating base at Gatwick, easyJet’s operations are rather extensive at both Luton and Southend, a smaller airport at which it is pretty much the only major airline operating service. Wizz Air flies to dozens of destinations from Luton and TUI has a major presence at both Luton and Stansted.
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Across the board, these airports are appealing to budget airlines as they offer lower costs than the larger, more heavily visited facilities. The downside for passengers, however, is that these airports are outside London and fairly hard to get to.
Photo: Abdul N Quraishi – Abs | Shutterstock
So what is the bottom line?
At the end of the day, low-cost airlines have an extensive presence in the greater London metropolitan area. One strong candidate for the title of most influential in the area is easyJet, which has three separate operating bases at Gatwick, Luton, and Southend, and also operates a handful of flights from Stansted.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Ryanair, however, is likely just as important, with two massive operating bases at both Luton and Stansted, from which it operates services to over 180 destinations. When it comes to long-haul low-cost flying, TUI Airways serves a larger array of leisure-oriented sunny destinations, while Norse Atlantic flies to many North American cities.