VLM Airlines beats the train to London

VLM claims there is no faster way of getting to London than with their airline. Over the past few days, various media have done the time test, and all have come up with the same results: VLM Airlines is the fastest way of getting to London, whether you depart from Antwerp or from Brussels.

Yesterday, Eurostar launched it’s shortened travel time to London, but with 1h51 minutes of actual journey (actually, only one train of the 10 daily trains to London has this travel time), VLM Airlines is still the fastest even when taking various travel aspects into consideration. When departing for London, passengers need to get the check-in, complete the actual journey and then make their way to their final destination in London.

Flemish radio station Radio 1 today performed the test. Two journalists left at the same time from the Brussels radio studio, to travel to London’s Trafalgar Square.

The first went to Brussels Midi Station to try out the new Eurostar connection and got on the train at 10.16. The second went to Zaventem Brussels Airport to board the 10.35 VLM Airlines flight and arrivived at 10.34 local time at London City Airport.

Once in London, both journalists headed for Trafalgar Square, where they would meet. The VLM Airlines-traveller set foot on Trafalgar Square first, at 11.22 local time (1 hour and 47 minutes after his departure from Brussels). Taking into account the head start of the Eurostar passenger, the VLM Airlines-traveller was 1 hour and 4 minutes faster at his destination.

With only 50 minutes flight from Antwerp and 60 minutes from Brussels to London City Airport, it would be quite obvious for VLM Airlines to take a lead in this comparison but we also take the ETT or Elapsed Travel Time into consideration, it is the only correct way of doing a time comparison, according to many other companies and media.

The Elapsed Travel Time takes all aspects of the total journey time into consideration; check-in, embarkation, travel time, disembarkation, and travel time needed to get to the final destination (be it home or office). VLM Airlines has always taken all of these aspects into consideration and knows it’s the only way of comparing travel time.

Passengers who arrive at London City Airport can easily hop on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) to Bank tube station or Canary Wharf. It only takes two minutes from the arrival hall to the train, and 22 minutes later the DLR arrives at Bank Tube station, in the centre of the City.

Being faster does mean being more expensive, as VLM Airlines offers fares starting from €57 (from Antwerp) or €60 (from Brussels) one-way, including taxes. Furthermore the airline offers all inclusive onboard catering, where all passengers can enjoy a snack and drinks on the house! The comfort onboard is also very much appreciated by the business traveller, with ample leg room, and spacious leather seating.

And what about the environment? VLM Airlines operates a fleet of Fokker 50 aircraft, the most environmentally friendly aircraft type for short distances, with a very low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of 92gr passenger per kilometre, which is a lower CO2 emission than for a Smart car.

For more information check out Flyvlm.com/fastest.