London International Airport (YXU)

Where is London Airport, and what flies from it?

London is the largest city in southwestern Ontario, home to Western University, two major hospital networks and the insurance, food-processing and automotive-supply industries, and its airport is the sensible first choice for a Toronto or Calgary connection or a winter sun flight. It is a small, quick terminal with parking beside the door. The question London travellers actually face is not "how do I get to YXU" — it is ten minutes away — but "YXU or Pearson," and this page answers both.

To and from YXU: the options

As at Waterloo, we are honest that for a London resident on a short trip, driving to YXU and parking is a reasonable choice. The chauffeur earns its place for the midnight sun-flight arrivals, for visitors to Western and the hospitals, for groups, for the corporate traveller on an account — and above all for the Pearson run, where nobody wants to drive the 401 twice in a day.

Where the chauffeur meets you

YXU's terminal is a single building with arrivals on the ground floor. The chauffeur waits inside the arrivals area at the customs exit or the domestic carousel with a name board, takes the luggage and walks you to the vehicle in the short-term parking beside the door. Sixty minutes of waiting are included from touchdown on international arrivals, thirty on domestic, which is more than London's customs needs. For departures the chauffeur drops you at the terminal door; the airlines ask for two hours before a domestic flight and three before an international one.

Drive times from YXU

• Downtown London: 10–15 minutes via Oxford Street or Veterans Memorial Parkway.
• Western University, University Hospital: 15 minutes.
• St Thomas: 30 minutes south.
• Strathroy: 35 minutes west.
• Woodstock, Ingersoll: 35–45 minutes east on the 401.
• Sarnia: 75 minutes west on the 402.
• Chatham, Windsor: 90 minutes and two hours south-west on the 401.
• Toronto Pearson: about two hours east on the 401.

Our chauffeurs watch the Ontario 511 boards on the live traffic page; in winter the 401 between London and Woodstock and the 402 towards Sarnia are the squall sections, and winter tyres are standard from November.

YXU or Pearson: the honest comparison

Fly from YXU when the itinerary is a domestic connection through Toronto or Calgary on one ticket, or a seasonal sun flight direct from London. Fly from Pearson when the fare difference is large, the international routing is direct, or the connection through Toronto would cost more time than the two-hour drive — which, for a morning departure to Europe, it often does. Western's travel office and the hospitals' clinicians tend to use both, and the corporate account covers both: the ten-minute YXU pickup and the two-hour Pearson run on one invoice.

London to Pearson: the airport-to-airport and the home-to-terminal run

The 190 km run to Pearson is covered in full on the London-to-Pearson route page — the 401 by section, the winter stretch between Cambridge and Milton, the 407 decision, the departure timing worked through. For a YXU arrival connecting to a Pearson departure, we run it with both flight numbers: the chauffeur meets you at the YXU carousel and delivers you to the departures door of the right terminal at Pearson with the check-in cut-off built in; the terminal finder tells you which terminal.

Western, the hospitals and delegations

Western University brings visiting faculty, recruits and conference delegations through both airports weekly; London Health Sciences Centre and St Joseph's host visiting clinicians; the Fanshawe College campuses bring international students at term start. A visiting speaker met by name at the YXU carousel and delivered to the campus is the same booking as the Pearson pickup; a delegation of fourteen travels in the Executive Sprinter on one reservation.

Sun flights and the winter terminal

From December to April London's terminal is busiest for the early-morning sun departures and the late-evening returns, when a family with four suitcases and a stroller wants a chauffeur inside the hall rather than a taxi rank. The Luxury SUV with a child seat fitted at booking is the vehicle; the fixed fare is the same at midnight as at noon.

Vehicles at YXU

The Executive Sedan for one or two travellers; the Luxury SUV for the family; the Executive Sprinter for a team or delegation; the Premium Sedan for the executive on the Calgary flight. The fleet page has capacities and photographs.

Get a fixed fare from London Airport

The fixed fare

The reservation engine quotes a fixed fare for the pickup at YXU and your exact destination and vehicle class: the chauffeur, the vehicle, tolls, taxes, curbside pickup at the terminal and sixty minutes of waiting from touchdown on international arrivals (thirty on domestic). Gratuity is at your discretion.

What the confirmation contains

Every booking returns an email with the flight number we are tracking, the meeting point, the destination, the vehicle class and the fare; on the day it is followed by the chauffeur's name, mobile number and the vehicle plate. Changes are a reply or a call at any hour.

The terminal, in detail

YXU's terminal on Crumlin Road is a single building with check-in and security at the west end, the gates along the airside face and the arrivals area at the east end; customs for the sun flights is quick and the carousels are steps from the exit. Parking is beside the door, and the airport's own site publishes the rates and the live flight board.

Departure timing across the region

For a 6 am sun departure the three-hour international advice puts you at the terminal at 3 am: a 2:45 am pickup in Old North, 2:30 in Byron, 2:20 in St Thomas, 2:15 in Strathroy, 2:05 in Woodstock. For a 7 am WestJet domestic flight, an hour later. The departures page explains the arithmetic.

Around the airport

Crumlin, Thorndale, Dorchester and the east end of London are five to fifteen minutes from the terminal; Fanshawe College's main campus ten; Western and University Hospital fifteen. All are quoted by the engine as their own addresses.

London by the calendar

The sun-flight season from December to April fills the early-morning and late-evening banks; Western's convocations in June and October and the September move-in bring delegations and families through both airports; the London Knights' playoff run and the Western Fair in September fill the city's hotels. The chauffeur's pickup margin follows the calendar; the fixed fare does not.

YXU, Pearson or Detroit, for a London resident

London sits almost exactly between Pearson and Detroit Metropolitan Airport, two hours east and two hours west, and for a US domestic destination Detroit's fares can beat both. That is a cross-border booking — passports at the Ambassador Bridge or the Gordie Howe bridge, the toll inside the fare — described on the cross-border page, and the live border board shows the Windsor-Detroit waits. Three airports, one engine, and the drive is the chauffeur's either way.

The fixed fare, in short

The engine quotes the pickup at YXU and your exact destination and class: chauffeur, vehicle, tolls, taxes, curbside pickup at the terminal and sixty minutes of waiting on international arrivals (thirty on domestic). Gratuity at your discretion.

Timing worked through

A WestJet flight from Calgary lands at YXU at 10:50 pm. The chauffeur is at the domestic carousel with a board at 11:05; the vehicle is beside the door; Old North is reached by 11:25. For a 6:10 am sun departure the three-hour advice puts the passenger at the terminal at 3:10 am — a 2:50 am pickup in Byron, confirmed in writing, the chauffeur early. And for the Pearson alternative, a 7 am departure from Terminal 1 means a 1:45 am pickup in London for the two-hour run, which is the trip the London-to-Pearson route page is about.

Groups from London

Western varsity teams, Fanshawe delegations, the Knights' travelling supporters and wedding parties from Middlesex County: the Executive Sprinter meets the flight at YXU or delivers the group to it, fourteen with luggage on one reservation; the coach handles thirty-two; the private shuttle page covers the format. Recurring group travel goes on a corporate account.

The hospitals and duty of care

London Health Sciences Centre and St Joseph's bring visiting clinicians and patients' families through YXU, and their travel policies ask for a named chauffeur and a vehicle plate on every confirmation — which is what ours carries. Patients travelling for treatment are met at the carousel with the requirement noted at booking, and the SUV takes a wheelchair without ceremony.

What the confirmation contains, in short

The flight number, the meeting point, the destination, the class, the fare; the chauffeur's name, mobile and plate on the day; changes by reply or call at any hour.