Travel: Flights to Hamburg from London (lon)

Airport Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel (HAM)

Hamburg has the fourth-largest international airport in Germany, so arrival by plane is an obvious choice for those visiting from far away.

Hamburg airport is closed at nighttime. Flights which have suffered severe delays will be diverted to Hannover, Frankfurt or other German airports. It is therefore prudent to avoid booking flights due to land late in the day. But to my knowledge, this has not happened so far, so it is not a great worry. International flights are highly unlikley to be diverted as they are all scheduled to land well before the airport is closed for the night.

The airport---which is hugely popular with plane-spotters---is surrounded by Schrebergärten (meticulous maintained allotments), parklands and open greenspaces, criss-crossed by bicycle and walking trails. The popularity of this area is not only down to the many viewpoints, but also because Lufthansa Technik (Lufthansas maintenance service) operates a large hanger on the airport, which means that the site is visited by a variety of rare and interesting aircraft.

The airport has been thoroughly modernized with a new terminal, streamlined infrastructure and facilities that are by and large adequate, so you won't get lost. Depending on the gate your flight arrives at or leaves from, walking longer distances can be a problem.

Despite the fact that the airport is basically in the city, it isn't necessarily easy to reach. If you are in a hurry or feel like you can't be bothered, take a taxi - but be aware that this can be costly. Buses connect the airport to the central station, to Ohlsdorf and to Rahlstedt - you can change to regional trains and subways at all three, or national/international trains at the central station. Fare is roughly 2-3 Euros per person, depending on where you wish to go. Your journey is very likeley to take some time, as it is almost certain that your destination will include a change.

The bus shuttle, 'Airport Express', goes to the central station which is not covered by tickets for the public transport; you will have to pay the fare as you enter the bus: 5 Euros one-way; the trip will take about 25 minutes.

This situation is being addressed; part of the construction at the airport is for a new railway station which will hopefully result in much better connections to the city itself. The railway is expected to operate from 2008/09.

• Hamburg Airport website

Airport "Hamburg-Lübeck" aka "Lübeck-Blankensee" (LBC)

As with many other destinations, the discount airline Ryan Air does not operate from Hamburg, as their naming scheme might indicate, but from Lübeck-Blankensee airport (not to confuse with Blankenese), which is 65km from Hamburg via motorway A1. The second airline that offers flights to Lübeck is Wizz Air. Flights go to London Stansted (England), Shannon and Dublin (Ireland), Glasgow Prestwick (Scotland ), Stockholm Skavsta (Sweden), Milan Bergamo (Italy), Pisa (Italy) and Gdansk (Poland).

Buses connecting to the flights go from Hamburg's central bus station ("ZOB", adjacent to the main train station), cost 8 Euros and take about 1 hour and 10 minutes. The buses depart about 2 hours and 50 minutes before every Ryanair departure, meet every arrival and wait for delayed flights. Timetable is available on VHHAG's webiste . Free parking is available at the airport at car park "P3".

Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport (XFW)

This small airport is owned by Airbus Deutschland GmbH and only accessible to Airbus employees. Two daily (passenger) flights are available to/from Toulouse (only bookable by Airbus Employees). As it is located near the city centre, it is probably the quickest way to reach Hamburg.

It is accessible by harbour ferries (nr. 68, leaving from Teufelsbrück) and buses (nr. 150) (stop: Airbus).

Hamburg-Uetersen Airport (EDHE)

This airport is served by flights from several German islands. The only way to reach it is by taxi, the nearest railway station being Tornesch.