What is the Peak-Time at London Heathrow Airport? (2024)

FAQs

What are peak hours at Heathrow? ›

The peak times at London Heathrow Airport is from 10 AM to 1 PM, and 5 PM to 8 PM. Since London Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in the UK, you'll find it jam-packed with passengers 24/7.

Make sure you arrive at the airport: at least 2 hours before a short-haul flight. 3 hours before a long-haul flight.

At busy times you can reckon in 5 minutes in the fast track and 10–15 minutes in the slow track. Outside busy times, 2–3 minutes in the fast track and 5 minutes in the slow track. Busy times at Heathrow are from about 07:00 to about 11:00.

In general, two hours should be comfortably enough for you to do bag drop, security clearance, a little duty free shopping if you wish and to get to your gate.

During the week, traffic between 7am and 9am can be busy and this is repeated again in the afternoon and evening, with a rush hour traffic period taking place between 4pm and 7pm. If you can avoid travelling to, from or around Heathrow Airport at these times, do so as it will save you a lot of stress.

Terminal 5

The terminal measures 353,020 square metres which is the same size as 50 football pitches. In 2021, 10.5 million passengers travelled through Terminal 5 on 92,925 flights.

Use passport e-Gates when possible

Use passport e-gates if you can. They are automated gates that use facial recognition to check your identity and allow you to enter the country without talking to a Border Force officer. To use them in the UK, you must have an eligible passport and meet specific requirements.

For British and European passengers, the “service level agreement” that Heathrow airport has with UK border force is for almost everyone –95 per cent of passengers – to be through passport control in 25 minutes. For other nationalities, the time is 45 minutes.

Checking-in with airlines online, wearing comfortable clothing, ensuring travel documents are easily accessible and fully charging electronic devices can also keep the airport journey hassle-free. Heathrow recommends passengers on long-haul flights arrive no less than three hours before their departure time.

There's no TSA PreCheck in Europe (womp womp), but at select Europe airports, travelers can head to the front of the security line, free of charge.

How long does it take to get between terminals at Heathrow? ›

From 2 hours before your flight departure, but not before the earliest opening time of 03:30.

You should be OK, the busiest times at T5 are in the morning with in coming transatlantic flights and a lot of departing passengers going through security. A tip when coming from B and C gates - use the lifts and not the escalators.

Peak fares - Monday to Friday (not on public holidays) between 06:30 and 09:30, and between 16:00 and 19:00. Off-peak fares - at all other times and if you travel from a station outside Zone 1 to a station in Zone 1 between 16:00 and 19:00, Monday to Friday.

When to arrive. We recommend getting to the airport three hours before your flight if you're travelling internationally, or two hours if you're travelling domestically or to Europe.

0600 to 10:00 on weekdays (Monday to Friday). That's the arrivals, transit, and departures peak.