For reasons that were entirely logical at the time, our recent trip to Ibiza involved flying from London City. It takes twice as long to drive there as it does Gatwick, but the flights were at very civilised times, and BA Club Europe ex LCY was pretty much the same prices as economy from LGW. So why not...?
Anyway, it turned out to be BA cityflyer, presumably a franchise operation, and it was delayed on the return... so a flight that should have landed at 3 and got us safely away from the airport before the traffic was too bad actually landed at 5, with predictably effects. Well, predictable except that the MINI nav didn’t know that route it had chosen was blocked at a critical point near the A13 for emergency gas works... interminable queuing as a result. I was however gobsmacked when an ambulance on blue lights made its way between the two lanes of traffic and was joined by not one, or two but three cars that had been queuing with me! To absolutely no effect mind you, as I passed them all later.
And we made it back in reasonable time; only just over two hours from LCY to coastal West Sussex from a flight that touched down at a little after 5. Blackwell tunnel A2/M25/M23/A23/A272/A24/A283/B2149/A29/A27 was the route I went with. The car figured it out by the time I’d got to the tunnel! Even then it wanted me to pick up the A20 by turning off at Kidbrooke somewhere, but that’s never quicker in my experience!
|
