The Airlink helicopter takes off from Gatwick. (Image: crusader752 marked CC BY 2.0)
Heathrow and Gatwick are two of the country’s busiest airports – handling tens of millions of passengers each every single year.
People arrive at both airports from all over the world, with many using Britain to catch connecting flights to elsewhere, whether in Europe or further afield.
The airports sit just 42 miles apart and there are options to get between them.
According to ‘s website, National Express coaches run between the airports seven days a week and take around 70 minutes, for £20 per person.
The Oxford Bus Company also runs a service between the two airports which costs £15.
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Heathrow Airport is the busiest in the UK. (Image: Getty)
Those who want to take the train can travel to London Paddington on several local services or the Heathrow Express, take a tube to Victoria and then take the
However, for eight years, there was once a helicopter service that linked the two airports in just 15 minutes, provided you could afford it.
The Airlink helicopter service operated between 1978 and 1986 and aimed to resolve what had long been understood to be a problem – getting to and from London to either airport was no problem, but getting between them was.
The helicopter service was the result of a joint partnership between the British Airports Authority, which controlled both sites at the time, British Caledonian and British Airways Helicopters.
The helicopter, an American-made Sikorsky S-61 (a civilian version of the Sea King military helicopter), was piloted by British Airways Pilots, while British Caledonian provided the ground and cabin crews.
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The helicopter used to fly between Gatwick and Heathrow. (Image: Getty)
Up to 28 passengers could fly at any one time and it was hoped the helicopter could make just over six flights a day, or more than 2,600 per year.
Tickets for the service were around £12, which would have been roughly £63.74 in August 2024 adjusting for inflation.
The unique helicopter service carried a maximum of 60,000 passengers per year and generated £10.5 million over eight years of operation.
However, it was not without its detractors, not least the people under its flightpath whose protests led to the service being unable to operate between 9.15pm and 6.30am.
Despite being given a licence to operate until 1994, then Transport Secretary Nicholas Ridley axed Airlink in 1986 at the cost of 62 jobs, because had been completed the previous year and he believed this would provide an adequate link.