The ideal flight time: Early shift, late show or something in between?

Independent

4 days ago

Among the many benefits claimed for Heathrow 's controversial third-runway proposal is this: 'A better selection of flight times to the most popular destinations.' It's always good to have choice, and offering multiple departures across the day is a passenger benefit. Yet is there a perfect time to fly?
You will have a view on this. Consider a three-hour flight to somewhere in Europe from a major UK airport. What time provides maximum benefit? My excellent colleagues have their opinions, which I shall bring you in a moment. But I have two preferences.
6am: Many aspects of a dawn flight are hideous: waking in the early hours, handling intermittent public transport or driving through the night, security queues longer than the Great Wall of China...
Yet once you arrive at your destination, all is forgiven: assuming a one-hour time difference, it's 10am. The whole day lies ahead of you, museums are opening and the first delicious lunch is only a couple of hours away.
4pm: No need for an alarm. Whatever your chosen transport to the airport, it is likely to be quiet – as is the security queue. With that one-hour time difference, you will arrive in time for dinner and a drink before sleeping soundly ahead of your first day's adventures.
My excellent colleague, travel writer Natalie Wilson, could not be more at odds with these timings. She picks her perfect schedule exactly in the middle, five hours from each of mine.
'For a travel experience with the least hassle, an 11am departure time would be my sweet spot,' Natalie says. "Assuming I'm arriving two hours before boarding (something that's hotly debated on the travel desk), 9am promises several forms of public transport are running to get me to a London aviation hub for an overpriced airport breakfast on several hours of sleep.
'Say there's a three-hour flight to Europe, and there's a one-hour time jump, you're ideally timed to arrive just after the average hotel check-in.'
It sounds relaxed – though I don't relish having so much of the day devoured by travelling.
Global Travel Editor Annabel Grossman goes for the late shift: 'Morning flights, where I'm up at the crack of dawn, leave me exhausted. It's not a great way to start a holiday or any trip, as it often means the first couple days involve catching up on sleep.
'I recently discovered to joy of an evening flight. Airports are so much quieter, and everyone seems far more relaxed and less bad tempered than during the morning rush!
'Then there's no hanging around to check in when you arrive at your destination – if you arrive earlier it's usually a bit of a wasted day anyway. You can have a good night's sleep and you're ready to start your holiday. Plus, you have the morning for finishing up packing.'
On the subject of relaxation: at the British end, you could choose a flight that departs after most passengers have already taken off. Fortunately I have asked all the big airports for the magic midpoint when exactly half of the day's passengers have departed.
There is no clear pattern: the halfway point is reached as early as 8am at Birmingham and as late as 2.50pm at Southampton. At the big four UK airports, the sequence is:
Manchester: 11am
Gatwick: 12.30pm
Stansted: 1.30pm
Heathrow: 2.15pm
At the first three, I know from experience that the 'first wave' of flights is tough going (as it is at Luton, Birmingham, Edinburgh and many other airports). Yet few people leave Heathrow in the first wave, so the early experience can be surprisingly calm.
There is one more departure time for three-hour flights that, depending on how well you sleep on aircraft, can work to your advantage: the midnight plane going east. Athens and Istanbul are both three-and-a-bit hours flying time from the London area, and with a two-hour time jump.
A departure (from an almost empty airport) around midnight gets you to your destination at around 5am. After an hour's journey into the city, drop your bags at the hotel, then start your day like the locals: watching the sun rise over the Bosphorus or the Parthenon. You've also saved on a hotel night. The energy of the city will propel you through to lunch, and with a cooperative hotel you can take a siesta before some more exploration and indulgence.
What about coming home? As late as possible for me, please: ideally 8pm, with the time change working in my favour for a 10pm arrival at the UK airport.
But last word to Natalie, who says: 'In a dream world, on the way home I'd reverse the process: checking out of my hotel room at 12 noon to guarantee I've got my money's worth, arriving to the airport at 1pm ahead of a 3pm take-off, arriving back in London for 5pm. Then there's plenty of time to make my way home and unpack.'
Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.