London 2012 Air Charter - Slot Availability

In the run up to the London Olympic Games, there has been concern by many private aviation businesses as to the potential operational challenges during this period.

Severe restrictions will be placed on aircraft over flying London between July 14 and August 15, unless they are inbound to, or outbound from any airfields with an exemption in the prohibited airspace zone. These airfields include Heathrow, London City, RAF Northolt, Denham, Fairoaks and Battersea Heliport. A reservation system will also mean that aircraft wanting to land in one of the 58 coordinated airports across the South-East of England between July 21 and August 15 will have to apply for a slot in advance. 

This could be an exciting opportunity for airports outside of the restricted zones, which will provide an overspill for traffic London airfields cannot cope with. “We envisage that many spectators will be staying outside of London to avoid the congestion and ramped up pricing, and therefore alternate airports make perfect sense. We have already been in talks with helicopter operators, and have alternate sites to London’s Battersea heliport that will provide quicker ground transfer times and reduce costs to passengers” stated Execflyer’s head of charter Jamie Dickson.

With Battersea still a 10 mile journey from the Olympic park along congested roads, Execflyer have put in place alternate solutions to minimize delays and travel times. It is expected that the majority of traffic will be inbound from the west and north of London, hence landing facilities to the east of the Olympic park should allow for quicker transfer times.

In addition, Execflyer has also teamed up with a luxury car operator which has access to parking spaces only a 5 minute walk from the stadium. The exclusive spaces allow their clients the ability to be picked up closer to the venue, and avoid the need to use public transport.

As demand will be so high, the 58 slot coordinated airports are likely to fill up fast, and so Execflyer advises all clients to give as much notice as possible. Airports such as Farnborough, Luton, Biggin Hill, London City and Northolt will be first to reach capacity and it is anticipated that airports as far north as Birmingham could be affected. Airfields such as Oxford, Cambridge, Gloucester and Birmingham are likely to absorb most of the additional private traffic and maybe even become a preferred alternative due to lower charges and parking availability.

For further information on any Olympic Air Charter flights, either fixed wing or helicopter please contact us on +44(0) 1926 840057 or email fly@execflyer.com.

Alternatively you can visit our London Olympics Air Charter page which has details of all venues and their nearest heliport and airport.