Just a bit of a response to the rumours of flights to london from sheffield city. I travel to London quite reguarly (about twice a month) for business meetings. At the moment the only viable option is the train as driving takes about four hours depending on traffic( It has taken more).
I would be willing to take a flight to London if it was a similar price to traveling by train (about £60-120) especially if the journey time was shorter.
What do you think? Would You fly if it was roughly the same price as the train?

I would ( used when going for meetings from Edinburgh to London) if it wasn't too costly and the airport wasn't at some place hard to get into the central area of London.

Get fed up with train delays. Though I love the cinnamon pastries you can buy at one of the kiosks from the train station.

Originally posted by pippins
Just a bit of a response to the rumours of flights to london from sheffield city. I travel to London quite reguarly (about twice a month) for business meetings. At the moment the only viable option is the train as driving takes about four hours depending on traffic( It has taken more).
I would be willing to take a flight to London if it was a similar price to traveling by train (about £60-120) especially if the journey time was shorter.
What do you think? Would You fly if it was roughly the same price as the train?
My fortune-teller's head can see a thread-merge occurring very soon ;)

I think most people would,but it would also depend on how much time would be wasted with checking in and security checks etc.probably work out not much quicker than train.If at all.

You may recall that scheduled flights did operate from Sheffield City Airport to London City Airport, but were withdrawn after a few months due to lack of use.

When I first came to the UK I flew into Heathrow so was then faced with the task of getting from there to Sheffield. After looking into trains and being blown away by the cost (it was something like £80, a big shock for an Aussie where trains aren't privatised and cost about 1/10 of what they do over here) I ended up paying £40 for a return flight on BMI. Admittedly it was to Manchester, but I was lucky in that I had someone coming to pick me up from there.

Cost-wise and even time-wise (providing flights aren't delayed), flying beats catching the train or driving IMHO. And if you know your dates and can book even further in advance, I've seen flights on BMI from like £11.

I'd like to see a train fare for that price!!

I would if I had to work there (project based so you never know). London City Airport would be ideal, get the DLR and tube to wherever you need to be.

I hope its true. Sheffield as the fourth biggest city in the UK deserves an airport. Even Norwich has an airport and there's nothing there.

I don't want to sound too preachy but air travel is pretty bad for the environment. I would rather take a train or a coach.

Originally posted by LisaO
After looking into trains and being blown away by the cost (it was something like £80, a big shock for an Aussie where trains aren't privatised and cost about 1/10 of what they do over here) I ended up paying £40 for a return flight on BMI.

you just have to know the tricks around to get better train fares etc.

i travel regularly down to london and never paid anything more than £50 or so, even when booking on the day. if you have time to kill, look for the £1/£4/£7 fares on national express, or the £19 returns on midlandmainline on weekends etc.

good to see more aussies around in sheffield :)

I often fly to Heathrow for onward connecting flights for my work so I would use it if it went to Heathrow, but not to London City.

Likewise I would use flights to Paris or Amsterdam,

PS

it has got to be the train. cheap tickets, friendly staff, always on time and free coffee. oh how i love midland mainline!

I would not be against flying to London but I choose not to at the moment because:

- Sheffield station is closer to home that Manchester Airport
- You can go Sheffield to St Pancras on the Cutler in just over 2 hours*

Having said that if I could fly for the same or less and it was closer to home I would always choose flying over train.


(*they say you get there in under two hours - that's a lie!!)

Agree with Kathy. When less carbon-crazy alternatives are available, air travel is a luxury that the climate can't afford.

The train takes you from the centre of Sheffield to the centre of London in 2 hours, I can't see how flying would be quicker when you allow for travel to/from the airport, check-in times etc.

And I agree, aeroplanes pollute a lot more too.

Depending on cost it would make the prospect of a commute to London to work (i.e. better wages than Sheffield) a much more attractive possibility.

I'd be eagre to see it come in and at what price... then I'd re-evaluate my working patterns.

I maybe would fly from Sheffield down to London if an airline started a shedule service, but only if it was into London city and not LHR. Plus it would also depend on what the actual flight times where. Normally when i have to go to London its just for the day, so an early morning flight down and a early evening return back up to Sheffield would be ideal if the price was right.

I fly alot with British Airways who offer things like E-tickets, online check in and self service check in machines. SO the amount of time you would have to spend at the airport would be very little if theses services where offered at Sheffield & London City by whatever airline was doing the flights.

You've got to look at the cost and time... A train to london gets you to london in 2 hours and they was offering crazy prices like £10 as well... In a plane you need to get to the airport an hour before departure, pay to park for the duration your away, then have a 50 minute flight (probably to london city) and then a taxi to london... alot more expensive and probably no quicker... so probably not!

Originally posted by lazyfish
Agree with Kathy. When less carbon-crazy alternatives are available, air travel is a luxury that the climate can't afford.

i agree with you both, i would prefer not to have the option then i wouldn't be tempted.

My understanding is you have to spend an hour in check-in for security for domestic flights. Add this to the time it takes to commute to the airport and from the destination airport into the city, I don't think there would be any time advantage at all over the master cutler.
{who's journey between sheffield and St. Panc took me 2h0mins on my birthday trip in 2003]

The environmental impact of the flight journey is much higher. And the roomy seats on the train win hands down.

Also you can catch a bog standard bus to and from sheffield train station at £1.20 each way. So you can have a guinness on the way home and you don't have to worry about driving home over the limit.

Originally posted by pippins
I would be willing to take a flight to London if it was a similar price to traveling by train (about £60-120) especially if the journey time was shorter.
Can't you get a helicopter for that price? If your final destination has a helipad you'll be laughing :D

I used the service when it was available, it cost me £132 as I remember. I was at London City at 18.10, and climbing into a taxi at Sheffield City at 18.50. Brilliant it was. Expensive, but brilliant.

There weren't many empty seats on the plane - it's a shame they discontinued it, be nice to see it running again, although I don't have any need for it these days.