Alternative Airports: Flying into Secondary Hubs

The Secondary Airport Strategy Explained

Major cities are typically served by a primary airport within or close to the city centre and one or more secondary airports at greater distance. Secondary airports — London Stansted and Luton versus Heathrow; Paris Beauvais versus Charles de Gaulle; Milan Bergamo versus Malpensa; Chicago Midway versus O'Hare — exist because demand for air travel outgrew primary airport capacity, and because budget carriers specifically chose to operate from airports with lower landing fees and faster turnaround times. Lower operating costs at secondary airports translate directly into lower fares.

The trade-off is a longer and often more complex ground transfer between the secondary airport and the city centre. London Stansted is 48 km from central London (30 minutes by express train, 60–90 minutes by coach); Ryanair's cheapest London–destination fares consistently originate from Stansted. Paris Beauvais is 85 km from central Paris (90 minutes by coach); Ryanair's cheapest Paris fares use Beauvais. Milan Bergamo is 45 km from Milan Centrale (60 minutes by bus or train); again, Ryanair and Wizz Air operate from Bergamo while more expensive carriers fly into Malpensa.

Calculating whether the secondary airport is worth the inconvenience requires a complete comparison: (total secondary airport cost + transfer time cost + transfer price) versus (total primary airport cost + primary airport transfer time cost + primary airport transfer price). The analysis frequently produces surprising results — the secondary airport option is often the rational choice even for travellers who would have instinctively chosen the primary.

London's Airport System: A Case Study

London is the world's best example of a multi-airport city where secondary airport strategy has the greatest financial impact. Six airports serve London: Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), Stansted (STN), Luton (LTN), City (LCY), and Southend (SEN). Each has a distinct carrier profile, price point, and transfer equation.

Heathrow charges the highest landing fees in the world, which makes it structurally expensive. No budget carrier operates scheduled services from Heathrow; it is dominated by British Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, and the flag carriers of the world. Gatwick is the primary base for easyJet and handles significant budget carrier volume, with landing fees lower than Heathrow. London City Airport is a premium product — convenient for the City financial district, fast processing, business-focused clientele, but expensive.

Stansted is Ryanair's largest hub globally. Its landing fees, subsidies during early growth years, and dedicated infrastructure for rapid turnaround make it the operational foundation of Ryanair's low-cost model. The Stansted Express train to Liverpool Street costs £22.80 single (2024 pricing) and takes 47 minutes; an early-booking National Express coach from Victoria costs £6–£12 and takes 60–90 minutes. A Ryanair flight from Stansted to Barcelona might cost £22; the equivalent easyJet flight from Gatwick might cost £55. Adding £6–£22 for Stansted transfers against £10–£15 for Gatwick transfers, the Stansted option remains cheaper by £15–£30 even after transfers.

Luton Airport is the base for Wizz Air's UK operations and a secondary hub for easyJet and Ryanair. The Thameslink train from St Pancras takes 21 minutes to Luton Airport Parkway station (from which a shuttle bus adds 10 minutes); trains cost £12.50 single. The Luton to London Luton Airport bus adds less than Stansted coach but the total time is comparable. For destinations where Wizz Air has a monopoly or significantly cheaper fares than easyJet from Gatwick, Luton is a worthwhile trade-off.

European Secondary Airports Worth Knowing

Paris has two secondary airports beyond CDG and Orly. Beauvais (BVA), 85 km north, is exclusively a Ryanair hub — it has no other scheduled airlines. The only ground transfer is a Ryanair-operated coach to Porte Maillot in Paris (90 minutes, approximately €17 each way). For travellers who must use Ryanair's Paris fares specifically, this is the only option; anyone with flexibility should compare Ryanair–Beauvais against easyJet–CDG or Transavia–Orly before assuming Beauvais is cheaper in total.

Milan Bergamo (BGY) is 45 km from Milan and served by ATB bus directly to Centrale station (60 minutes, €6) or Orio Al Serio bus (55 minutes, €5). Ryanair operates extensively from Bergamo; fares are typically €15–€30 cheaper than from Malpensa on identical routes. The total transfer premium of €5–€10 versus a Malpensa transfer means the Bergamo option is almost always cheaper in total. Bergamo is also genuinely convenient for the Bergamo city centre itself — an overlooked medieval hilltop city with world-class cuisine.

Frankfurt Hahn (HHN) is 120 km from Frankfurt city centre — a misleadingly named airport that was once a US Air Force base in the Hunsrück region. Transfer by bus to Frankfurt Central or Mainz takes 90–120 minutes and costs €14. For most travellers to Frankfurt, the time and cost of the Hahn transfer eliminates the fare advantage over Frankfurt Main (FRA) served by Lufthansa, British Airways, and easyJet. However, for travellers heading to the Moselle and Rhine valley wine regions, Hahn is geographically closer and genuinely convenient.

North America: Secondary Airport Opportunities

The US secondary airport strategy is most relevant in the New York area. Newark (EWR), LaGuardia (LGA), and JFK all serve the metro area, but the real secondary airport story involves smaller regional airports. Long Island MacArthur (ISP) on Long Island is served by Southwest and Frontier at fares that can be $60–$100 cheaper than JFK or LGA on the same routes. The trade-off is that ISP is located on the Eastern part of Long Island — convenient for Long Island residents, less so for Manhattan travellers who face a 90-minute ground journey.

Boston has a secondary airport story in Providence (PVD, 1 hour from downtown Boston by bus) and Manchester-Boston Regional (MHT, 90 minutes north). Both are served by Southwest, which provides genuinely competitive fares. A Boston–Florida trip using Providence instead of BOS might save $80–$120 in airfare, and Providence's airport lacks BOS's chronic delays and congestion. The Providence Amtrak station connects to Boston South Station in 60 minutes — a viable transfer for city centre travellers.

Chicago's Midway (MDW) is O'Hare's secondary airport and is actually a primary hub for Southwest Airlines and a focus city for Spirit. Midway fares on Southwest routes are consistently below O'Hare prices for comparable itineraries, and Midway has a direct CTA Orange Line connection to the Loop (30 minutes, $2.50). For destinations where Southwest operates from Midway, there is frequently no reason to use O'Hare other than carrier preference or specific routing requirements.

Calculating the True Airport Comparison

A complete secondary airport cost comparison requires adding: airfare differential + transfer cost differential + transfer time differential (valued at your personal hourly rate) + any accommodation cost difference (if the alternative airport requires an earlier departure or later arrival that changes hotel night requirements). For a leisure traveller with a low time cost, the secondary airport is almost always cheaper when the fare saving exceeds the transfer cost premium. For a time-sensitive business traveller, the same calculation often favours the primary airport.

Transfer reliability is an underweighted factor in most secondary airport analyses. Beauvais-Paris coaches are timed to Ryanair flights and wait if flights are delayed — reducing the risk of missing a connection. Stansted Express trains run every 15 minutes and are highly reliable. Frankfurt Hahn's single bus service per flight is less resilient; if the bus fills before you exit the terminal, the next service is an hour later. Factor transfer frequency and reliability into the comparison, particularly for time-sensitive arrivals.

Accommodation location relative to the destination airport matters more than travellers often recognise. Staying near Paris Beauvais to catch a 7am Ryanair flight requires either a 5am taxi from central Paris or an overnight near the airport. At €70–€90 for an airport area hotel, the accommodation cost partially offsets the fare saving. Flying from Paris CDG at 7am requires leaving central Paris at 5am by RER but the same accommodation consideration applies. For early-morning departures from any airport more than 60 minutes from the city centre, factor in whether an extra hotel night is necessary and include that cost in the comparison.

Apps and Tools for Multi-Airport Searches

Google Flights' "Add nearby airports" function is the simplest tool for multi-airport comparisons. When you search flights from London, Google automatically shows results from all London area airports (LHR, LGW, STN, LTN, LCY, SEN) sorted by price, with airport name clearly visible in the results. Selecting a result from Stansted shows the £20 Ryanair fare; selecting from Gatwick shows the £50 easyJet fare. The fare differential is immediately visible without separate searches.

Kayak's multi-airport search and Skyscanner's "Nearby airports" toggle provide similar functionality. For destinations, the equivalent applies: searching Paris on any of these platforms returns results to both CDG and Beauvais if Ryanair operates to Beauvais, allowing you to see the total fare comparison at once. Some metasearch engines also factor in typical transfer costs to show "true cost to city centre" estimates — useful for a quick sanity check but less accurate than manual calculation for your specific transfer needs.