Flying from London to Glasgow
Latest Glasgow - London Air Travel Information
Updated January 2010
If you can reach Central London easily to get to London's King Cross (KGX) train station and don't mind a 4 and a half hour rail journey, then getting to Glasgow by train may be the best and cheapest option with single tickets starting at £15. However, there are so many flights from all of London's airports that in many cases, flying to Glasgow may be slightly more expensive but far more convenient.
Instant fares for cheap flights from London to Glasgow and Glasgow to London.
Save up to 70% on Accommodation in Glasgow or London
Glasgow Hotels near Central Train Station
Discount Glasgow hotels and accommodation in the City Centre.
London Hotels
Discount London hotels and accommodation in Central London.
Airlines operating direct London - Glasgow flights
There are currently only five airlines operating direct flights between London and Glasgow, with only one being a cheap, no frills airline:
- EasyJet - EasyJet is the only low cost airline on this route with flights departing from Luton, Gatwick and Stansted.
- RyanAir - RyanAir is the only low cost airline on this route with flights to Glasgow Prestwick Airport departing from Stansted.
- British Airways - BA, while a far cry from being a low cost airline, operate frequent daily flights to and from Glasgow from Heathrow, Gatwick and City Airport.
- bmi - bmi also operate frequent daily flights from Heathrow to Glasgow International Airport.
- Lufthansa - Lufthansa operate several daily flights from London Heathrow to the International Airport in Glasgow.
Glasgow and London flight times and prices
- The earliest morning flights from London depart around 7.00 am and land at Glasgow International Airport at roughly 8.30 am in the morning.
- The earliest morning flights from Glasgow towards London's airports depart Glasgow International Airport at 6.20 am and land in London at 8.00 am approx.
- The last evening flights from London depart around 9.00 pm and land at the International Airport in Glasgow at roughly 10.30 pm in the evening.
- The last evening flights from Glasgow towards London's airports depart the International Airport in Glasgow at 9.30 pm and land in London at 11.00 pm approx.
Bus to Edinburgh
Book coach tickets to Edinburgh from £15. Guaranteed seats, overnight or daytime journeys.
selected from nationalexpress.com
Edinburgh Sightseeing Bus Tour
The third most popular attraction in Edinburgh. Great open-top bus views of the City, from £10.
selected from viator.com
Edinburgh Hotels
Save up to 70% off top Edinburgh Hotels and B&Bs. Reserve now, pay on arrival.
selected from laterooms.com
The early morning / late evening flights are particularly handy for those on business trips but also for tourists on short breaks who want to make the most of the time they have in London or Glasgow. Prices for these flights will vary from airline to airline and you may not be able to get the cheapest flight if you absolutely must take an early morning / late evening flight.
Flights between Glasgow and London take roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes. This is the maximum flight time but most flights take 1 hour and 10-15 minutes approx, provided there are no significant delays on take-off / landing. Weekdays have the busiest flight timetables for all airlines with up to 6 flights taking off every hour in either direction while weekends see some of the early morning flights scrapped.
Flight prices vary significantly from airline to airline, date and time of the day. The cheapest London-Glasgow flights are with EasyJet, with prices starting at £49 return, if booked far enough in advance.
Airport transfers
The time and cost required to get to and from the airports in London and Glasgow will vary.
Glasgow Airport Transfer
There is a frequent train service between Glasgow International Airport and Glasgow Central. The nearest rail station is Paisley Gilmour Street, which is just one mile from the terminal and serviced by buses no. 66 and 300. This train journey takes just over 10 minutes to reach Glasgoe Central. The earliest train for the Airport (Paisley Gilmour St station) leaves Glasgow at 5.55 am while the last train from Paisley Gilmour Street towards Glasgow Central leaves at 11.57 pm.
The airport is reachable by local buses, National Express (Glasgow Airport bus transfer tickets) and CityLink coaches which depart from several Glasgow locations including Glasgow Central and Queen Street railway stations and Buchanan bus station. Journey time is approx 25 minutes.
The Glasgow Flyer (service 500) operated by Arriva is the express shuttle bus connecting Glasgow Airport and Glasgow City Centre (Buchanan bus station). A single journey costs just over £4 while an open return ticket costs £6.50 and is valid for 4 weeks. The 500 bus service runs up to every 10mins, 24 hours a day, 364 days a year. There is another limited stop bus (service 600) connecting Glasgow Airport to East Kilbride.
There are also a number of airport taxi services available which you can get much cheaper if you book in advance.
London Airports Transfer
There is a wide variety of options to get to and from London's airports (Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, Luton and City Airport) including by bus, coach, train and taxi.
Total time to set aside for London-Glasgow flights
Remember that when flying you also need to set aside time for check-in and transfer to and from the airport. This means that on top of the 1 hour and 20-30 minutes of the actual flight time from London to Glasgow, you need to factor in another 2 hours at the airport itself and, depending on where you live, maybe another 1-2 hours to get to and from the airport. This means that it may actually be more convenient to travel to Glasgow from London and back by train.
>> Back to Glasgow Travel Guide index