It’s official: one of the world’s most beautiful airport landings is in London

Flying into London can be an exhilarating experience. Catch the city on a cloudless day (or night) and you’ll be picking out the capital’s countless identifiable landmarks through the plane’s mucky oval window, from the City of London’s skyscrapers and the River Thames to Wembley Stadium. 

Any Londoner knows that the city’s approach in an airplane can be magical – and that fact has just been confirmed by a new list of the world’s most beautiful airport landings by travel insurance provider AllClear. The company apparently ranked the planet’s top airplane approaches with ‘eye-tracking’ technology – and no, we don’t really know what that means either. 

However the list was calculated, the big news is that a London airport made the cut. None other than London City Airport featured in the top 15, coming fifth. AllClear described City as offering ‘one of the world’s most unique and exciting landings’, saying that ‘landing here is a memorable experience’. 

And we wouldn’t disagree with any of that. In fact, this author landed at London City just last week, and can attest that the views are phenomenal. Swooping in from west to east, above the Thames, City’s approach boasted views of pretty much every central London landmark. 

So, why exactly is London City’s landing so spectacular? For starters, it’s closer to the centre of town than any other London airport. That means planes come in low over much of the city centre and get particularly close-up views of City of London and Isle of Dogs skyscrapers.

AllClear’s list was topped by Lord Howe Island Airport in Australia’s Tasman Sea, and you can find the full 15 top airport landings in the world here. 

In other London City Airport news on Time Out, the Docklands hub was this week named one of the top airports in the world at the World Airline Awards. Plus, City could be set to soon expand with millions more passengers and loads more flight routes. 

Plus: London Gatwick just made changes to the 100ml liquids rule for hand luggage.

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