When should you arrive at the airport? Our travel team reveal how long they leave (without missing a flight)

We’ve had gate lice, raw dogging and nan check-in chicken – but this recreation inclination tests nan limits of airdrome presence times.

“Airport theory” is simply a TikTok inclination wherever group effort to whizz done check-in, container driblet and information pinch conscionable 15 minutes to spare earlier boarding their flight.

The “theory” suggests that accepted timeframes to get from nan terminal to nan craft doors spot travellers discarded unnecessary hours hanging around.

But does a short dash done nan terminal prevention precious packing time, aliases is nan inclination pointlessly risking a missed flight?

Here’s really acold up nan predominant flyers of our recreation team stone up to nan terminal, from allowing plentifulness of clip for a Pret to cutting it good successful nan information line.

Read more: ‘Airport Theory’ is simply a ridiculous conceit. Here’s mine, though

When does The Independent’s recreation squad get astatine nan airport?

Just successful clip

Unless you miss nan overseas flight, you are spending excessively agelong astatine airports. Obviously, though, missing a formation is annoying and expensive. So I activity retired nan past train that will get maine to nan airdrome earlier nan check-in deadline, past return nan 1 earlier to let immoderate betterment time. Typically, I will scope nan airdrome pinch 10-15 minutes to spare. But if trains are disrupted, it tin beryllium closed. Going to Kathmandu connected Qatar Airways from Gatwick, I reached nan check-in table (physically nan furthest imaginable location from nan airdrome obstruction station) pinch 3 minutes to spare earlier nan one-hour check-in deadline expired. On occasion, I hitchhike to nan airport, astir precocious to Glasgow, but that really does inject uncertainty. – Simon Calder, recreation analogous

Planned up

This inclination makes my tegument prickle. Despite flying comparatively often for work, I still get stressed astir my travel to nan airport. I for illustration to let astatine slightest 2 hours for flights to Europe and three-and-a-half if I'm flying internationally. The process is undoubtedly smoother than it utilized to be, and I precocious flew Ryanair, wherever moreover checking successful my container was done by a machine, but it's nan fearfulness of nan chartless that gets to me. Traffic/rail delays/long queues/etc. I scheme my travel astatine slightest a week successful beforehand and get location early capable to beryllium smugly pinch a java arsenic I watch nan panicky last-minute travellers arriving flustered astatine nan gate. – Emilee Tombs, adjunct recreation editor

As small airdrome arsenic possible

While I don’t mind flying, I’m not a instrumentality of airports. As pinch different forms of nationalist transport, I ever look to beryllium successful painfully adjacent proximity to nan personification conducting an extended telephone speech connected loudspeaker pinch zero information for those astir them, children sans headphones blasting Bluey from tablets, and passengers of each ages scrolling done societal media astatine measurement (yes, I AM nosy astatine parties).

Hanging astir a crammed departures lounge pinch irritable, exhausted and anxious chap passengers, paying £7 for a substandard Pret sandwich and trying and failing to navigate nan world’s narrowest aisles successful Boots pinch a wheelie successful tow is acold from a vibe. For this reason, my purpose is to walk arsenic small clip arsenic imaginable astatine nan airdrome without moving nan consequence of really missing my formation – but I’m reasonably blimpish erstwhile it comes to timings. For short-haul flights, 90 minutes seems much than reasonable, while for long-haul flights, I’ll agelong to 2 hours astatine a push. If I’m travelling during a highest time, specified arsenic schoolhouse holidays, I mightiness reluctantly let myself an further 30 minutes, but thing much than 2 and a half hours seems deranged. I haven’t missed a formation yet. – Joanna Whitehead, recreation writer

Somewhere successful nan mediate

The cavalier cognition I utilized to show towards airdrome arrivals has been replaced pinch thing alternatively much cautious aft a mates of near-misses – yet you’ll seldom drawback maine astatine an airdrome overmuch much than 2 hours earlier my formation departs. Even astatine nan fanciest terminals, I person nary desire to walk much clip astatine nan airdrome than is perfectly necessary. If I person lounge access, I may get 2 hours and 30 minutes up of departure, but I’d still alternatively beryllium astatine location than moreover nan nicest parts of Gatwick aliases Heathrow. Something betwixt 90 minutes and 2 hours feels astir correct - capable clip to nip into Pret, but not rather capable for a Wetherspoons breakfast. – Annabel Grossman, world recreation editor

Depends connected nan time

I'm a spot of a chameleon erstwhile I'm flying and guidelines my presence clip astatine nan airdrome connected wherever I'm flying from and when. If I cognize it's a mini airdrome pinch fewer gates, minimal nutrient options and a swift check-in process, I'm not wasting my clip waiting around. So, for example, arsenic City Airport prides itself connected ratio for business travellers and has a azygous terminal, moreover if I'm checking successful luggage, I'll get pinch a maximum of 70 minutes until my flight. And moreover for a long-haul flight, if I cognize it's a quiet time and play for recreation – opportunity a Tuesday successful January – past I'll trim it fine, pinch astir 1 hr 30 minutes astatine nan airport. I do return heed of proposal from locals astir nan lengthy airdrome process; however, moreover then, I'm scarred from arriving 3 hours early for a formation successful Sri Lanka and checking successful my luggage arsenic soon arsenic baggage drop-off opened – only to person to hold 45 minutes for my lawsuit to onshore connected nan loop backmost successful Heathrow. Being first successful statement decidedly doesn't ever salary off. – Hayley Spencer, adjunct recreation editor

With clip for a Wetherspoons

If I americium genuinely honest, I americium not ever a punctual person. However, my airdrome presence clip whitethorn beryllium nan objection to my ‘running 5 minutes late’ lifestyle. Not because I fearfulness missing a flight, aliases because my flatmate has again lied to maine astir what clip we really request to beryllium somewhere, but – arsenic cruisers declare that nan vacation starts erstwhile they measurement onboard – I americium firmly of nan belief that a vacation starts pinch spending an extortionate magnitude connected a flute of fizz successful an airport’s Spoons-esque establishment. For this recreational reason, I americium loyal to nan wide guidelines and thin to let astatine slightest 2 hours to get to nan gate, peruse Duty-Free and down a prosecco. – Natalie Wilson, recreation writer

By nan book

When it comes to airdrome punctuality, I'm strictly by nan book. I cognize this because my partner's attack of arriving astatine nan past infinitesimal leaves maine acold pinch dread. So if nan recommended clip to cheque successful is 3 hours earlier nan formation departs, that's erstwhile I effort to move up, pinch possibly moreover a cheeky 15-minute buffer thrown successful connected apical of that. And erstwhile nan gross is shown, I'll caput to nan gate. My partner? That's her cue to bargain a caller brace of sunglasses and a mates of coffees. – Ted Thornhill, US recreation editor

There’s clip to spare

As a self-confessed over-organiser whose accent levels skyrocket whenever I americium late, I could ne'er return portion successful nan airdrome mentation trend. I thin to get astatine nan airdrome astatine slightest 3 hours earlier a formation departs. While baggage driblet and information ne'er return up copious amounts of time, I ever allocate complete an hr aliases truthful successful lawsuit of immoderate chaotic airdrome queues aliases chaos fuelled by short unit aliases strategy failures. I would alternatively person hours sampling Duty Free perfume aliases sitting down for a portion and thing to eat than sprinting done nan concourse. I use this to arriving astatine nan gross too; arsenic soon arsenic my gross number is announced connected nan accusation screen, I americium instantly connected my measurement there. Gate unit sometimes ace connected pinch loading passengers consecutive away, and being first astatine nan gross tin sometimes consequence successful boarding earlier most, grabbing nan all-important compartment container abstraction successful nan lockers and relaxing while everyone other gets impatient waiting for others to beryllium down truthful they tin move up nan aisle. – Amelia Neath, recreation writer

Two hours – no more, nary little

I'm a large instrumentality of arriving 2 hours early arsenic I fearfulness missing nan level and for illustration clip for a pre-flight pint. That timing is astir apt beautiful standard, but I besides do that for agelong haul, wherever I deliberation nan proposal is three, truthful I conjecture I'm a spot brave. The thought of arriving 15 minutes earlier strikes fearfulness into my bones! – Marc Shoffman, cruise writer

What is charismatic proposal connected airdrome presence times?

Most airports urge allowing 2 to 3 hours to cheque successful and get done information earlier your scheduled formation time.

In nan UK, London Gatwick says: “Generally we urge you get astatine slightest 2 hours earlier your formation to let plentifulness of time.”

The Crawley aviation hub advises that check-in opens “around 3 hours” earlier nan departure of long-haul flights.

Heathrow, nan UK’s busiest airport, says: “We urge getting to nan airdrome 3 hours earlier your formation if you're travelling internationally, aliases 2 hours if you're travelling domestically aliases to Europe.”

Airlines thin to echo nan two-hour guidance, pinch Ryanair passengers told to “arrive astatine nan check-in aliases container driblet table astatine slightest 2 hours earlier they are owed to fly”.

Simon Calder’s apical tips

To trim nan magnitude of clip you request to allow: destruct each nan uncertainties you can, past build successful a spot of padding.

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