Heathrow to Gatwick Airport Taxi & Transfer
Fixed-price chauffeured taxi from London Heathrow (LHR) to London Gatwick (LGW) — roughly 43–45 miles and 50–90 minutes down the M25 and M23. We meet you inside arrivals at T2, T3, T4 or T5 with a name board and drop you at the right Gatwick terminal, North or South. From £95, agreed at booking. Flight tracked, 60 minutes free waiting, no surge, no meter, no night surcharge. TfL licensed, 24/7.
Heathrow to Gatwick — the M25 southern arc
Heathrow sits west of London, Gatwick south of it. The connection between them is a single sweep of the M25 — the shortest and most straightforward of the London airport-pair routes, and the one where the traffic, not the distance, decides your day.
Because M25 junctions are numbered clockwise from Dartford, running from Heathrow down to the M23 means travelling anti-clockwise, junction numbers counting down. Plenty of published guides get this backwards; it matters only because it tells you which side of the motorway the delays will be on.
Which terminal you start from changes the number
Published distances for this route range from 42 to 45 miles, and the reason is that Heathrow is not one point. Terminal 5 sits on the western edge, closest to the M25 southbound run; Terminals 2 and 3 are in the central area and add a few miles of airport roads before you have even left. In practice: T5 around 40 minutes on a clear run, T2 and T3 nearer 50. We quote the same fixed fare from any of them.
Where it goes wrong
Junctions 13 to 15, the Heathrow stretch, carry some of the heaviest traffic on the British motorway network — well over 200,000 vehicles a day on a road designed for a fraction of that. You are joining it at its busiest point.
Junction 10, the A3 Wisley interchange, has been a major reconstruction site for several years and works were still active through August 2026, with overnight lane closures, contraflows and occasional weekend closures, and no confirmed completion date. It sits directly on this route. We watch the National Highways closure schedule rather than discovering it at 06:00.
Junction 7 itself, where every Gatwick-bound vehicle from the west funnels onto the M23.
| When you travel | Typical door-to-door | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| Before 06:30 | 50–60 min | Clear run. The best window by a distance. |
| 07:00–09:00 weekday | 85–120 min | The Heathrow-side M25 at its worst. Build a buffer. |
| 09:30–15:00 | 60–80 min | The most predictable window of the day. |
| 15:00–18:00 weekday | 85–120 min | Evening peak; worse again on a Friday. |
| After 19:30 & overnight | 50–65 min | Quiet — but this is when J10 lane closures run. |
Indicative door-to-door times, Heathrow (LHR) to Gatwick (LGW) via the M25 and M23. Your fixed fare does not change with traffic.
British Airways says three hours minimum
This is the one route where an airline publishes actual guidance, so it is worth quoting directly. British Airways recommends allowing at least three hours when connecting between Heathrow and Gatwick.
It also spells out the thing most people discover too late: your baggage is not forwarded between the two airports. You collect every bag at the first airport and check it in again at the second. That is not a formality — it is a full reclaim wait at one end and a full bag-drop queue at the other, inside the same window.
Our advice
Treat three hours as the floor, not the target. We would book four hours between the two scheduled times as standard, and five for a weekday-peak transfer, a winter departure, or any connection where the second flight is the one you really cannot miss.
Where four hours goes
Up to 60 minutes at Heathrow for taxiing, immigration and baggage reclaim — longer at T3 and T4 on a busy long-haul bank. 50 to 120 minutes on the road, depending entirely on when you travel. Two hours at Gatwick, which is what the airport asks for before a short-haul departure, and bag drop closes 40 minutes before departure and does not reopen.
Add those honestly and four hours is comfortable rather than generous. If your flights are tighter, tell us at booking — we will pick the departure window that gives you the best chance, and if it genuinely will not work we will say so.
Four terminals — we come to the right one
Heathrow is the most terminal-complicated airport in the UK, and the inter-terminal transfer is not trivial with luggage. Tell us your terminal at booking and your driver is in that arrivals hall.
| Heathrow terminal | Who flies from it |
|---|---|
| Terminal 2 — The Queen's Terminal | The Star Alliance home: Lufthansa, United, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Air India, Turkish, Swiss. Plus Aer Lingus, Icelandair and Eurowings. |
| Terminal 3 | Mostly oneworld: American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Finnair, Japan Airlines. Plus Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Delta. |
| Terminal 4 | The SkyTeam base, plus Qatar Airways, Etihad, Gulf Air, Malaysia Airlines, El Al and Vueling. |
| Terminal 5 | British Airways (most of its Heathrow flights) and Iberia. |
| Terminal 1 | Closed since June 2015 and demolished. If a booking or an old guide says Terminal 1, it is out of date. |
Airlines move between terminals from time to time. Your boarding pass or booking confirmation is definitive — check it close to travel, or send us the flight number and we will confirm it.
Two that catch people out
American Airlines is at Terminal 3, not Terminal 5. It moved to T5 in 2020 and moved back to T3 in July 2022 — a lot of guidance online still has the old answer. And Virgin Atlantic is at Terminal 3 even though Terminal 4 is the SkyTeam terminal.
Where we meet you
T2, T3, T4 or T5 — same fixed fare from any of them.
Your driver waits inside the arrivals hall with a name board. We track the inbound flight, so an early landing or a long delay is handled without a call from you.
Heathrow's drop-off charge, 2026
Relevant if you are running the reverse leg or starting at Heathrow.
£7 per visit at every terminal, with a strict 10-minute maximum introduced in January 2026 and no waiting or pick-ups permitted in the drop-off zones. ANPR-enforced, payable by midnight the following day; unpaid it becomes an £80 charge, reduced to £40 within 14 days. Blue Badge holders are exempt from both the charge and the time limit.
Terminal 4 changed in June 2026 — most guides haven't caught up
The T4 multi-storey car park closed on 23 June 2026. Pick-ups moved to Park & Ride Zone A, which gives up to two hours free — but only in Zone A — with a free shuttle roughly every five minutes and a ten-minute transfer. T4 also gained a Priority Pick-Up area on its own tariff: £7 up to 10 minutes, £14 for 11–29 minutes, £25 for 30–60 minutes. If you are flying from T4, check any parking advice you were given before June.
Charges are set by Heathrow Airport, not by RushXO, and can change. With a RushXO booking any applicable charge is accounted for at the time of booking — no meter, no surprise on arrival.
North or South — straight to the right door
Gatwick's two terminals are a three-minute automated shuttle apart, and arriving at the wrong one with cases and a bag-drop deadline is a reliable way to lose twenty minutes you did not budget for.
North Terminal
British Airways (long-haul), TUI, Norwegian, WestJet and some easyJet routes.
Reached on the dedicated North Terminal spur off Airport Way. Departures drop-off is directly outside the check-in concourse.
South Terminal
easyJet (most routes), Ryanair, Vueling, British Airways short-haul and others.
The busier terminal at peak times, because it connects directly to Gatwick railway station. Departures drop-off is on the upper forecourt.
Gatwick's drop-off charge went up sharply in January 2026
It is now £10 for up to 10 minutes, then £1 per additional minute to a £30 cap and a 30-minute maximum — up from £7, and double the 2024 price. ANPR-enforced, payable by midnight the following day, and unpaid it becomes a £100 Parking Charge Notice (£60 within 14 days). The Long Stay car parks are free for up to two hours with a shuttle. Any applicable charge is settled inside your fixed fare. Full detail on our Gatwick drop-off charge guide.
Fixed fares Heathrow to Gatwick
Every fare is per vehicle, not per person, and covers any Heathrow terminal to either Gatwick terminal. It is the exact total agreed at booking and does not move with the M25, the time of your flight, or how busy either airport is. No night rate, no weekend rate, no bank holiday rate.
| Vehicle | Passengers | Large cases | From | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saloon | Up to 4 | 2 | £95 | Book → |
| Estate | Up to 4 | 3–4 | £110 | Book → |
| MPV 6-seater | Up to 6 | 5–6 | £125 | Book → |
| Executive (E-Class / 5 Series) | Up to 3 | 2 | £135 | Book → |
| 8-seater minibus | Up to 8 | 8 | £165 | Book → |
Heathrow (LHR), any terminal, to Gatwick (LGW), either terminal. Fares fixed at booking. Child seats free on request.
What the fare already includes
The driver's time and fuel; meet-and-greet inside your Heathrow arrivals hall with a name board; luggage handling at both ends; real-time flight tracking with an automatic pickup adjustment; 60 minutes of free waiting after landing; and delivery to the correct Gatwick terminal door. No booking fee, no card surcharge, no airport charge to settle on the day.
Car, coach or train — an honest comparison
Heathrow to Gatwick is unusual among the London airport pairs: there is a genuinely good direct coach, and there is no direct train at all. Here is how the realistic options compare.
| Option | Door-to-door | Cost | Charged | Changes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RushXO fixed-price car | 50–90 min | from £95 per car | per vehicle | None | 2+ people, luggage, tight connections, odd hours |
| National Express coach | ~90 min–2 hr | from ~£15 pp | per person | None | Solo travellers on a budget with time in hand |
| Train via Farringdon | ~2 hr–2 hr 30 | ~£30 pp | per person | 1 change | Rarely the right answer on this route |
| Train via Paddington & Victoria | ~2 hr–2 hr 30 | £30–55 pp | per person | 2 changes + Tube | Almost never — expensive and hard work with bags |
Third-party times and fares are indicative, vary by operator and booking date, and should be confirmed with the operator. Door-to-door figures include terminal walks and waiting, which headline journey times exclude. Correct at time of writing.
The coach is the real competition here
National Express runs direct, non-stop, with up to 56 services a day and stops at the Central Bus Station for T2 and T3, at T5, and at T4 on some services. First departure is around 00:40 and the last around 22:40, so it covers most of the flight schedule. Fares start from about £15.
The honest journey time is around 70 minutes, not the 50 minutes advertised for the fastest T5 service — Heathrow's own travel guidance lists it at 70. Add the walk to the bus station, the wait for a departure that suits and the walk at the far end, and you are realistically at 90 minutes to two hours door to door. It is also a fixed timetable: if your inbound lands 90 minutes late, your coach has gone.
There is no direct train, and RailAir does not go to Gatwick
Heathrow Airport states plainly that there are no direct trains between the two airports. Every rail route crosses central London. The least painful is the Elizabeth line to Farringdon, then a direct Thameslink to Gatwick — one change, but the Elizabeth line alone is £15.50 to Zone 1 and the total lands near £30 a head and two hours or more with luggage.
Worth stating because it comes up constantly: RailAir does not serve Gatwick. It runs only to Heathrow, from Reading, Woking and Watford Junction. If a guide tells you to take RailAir to Gatwick, it is wrong.
When we would tell you to take the coach
Travelling alone or as a pair with light luggage, with three hours or more of slack, and a coach departure that lines up with your arrival. That is a good use of £15.
When the car is clearly better
Two or more passengers — at £95 a car, three people are already level with the coach and far quicker. Hold luggage, because you are moving every bag yourself on this connection. A landing before 05:00 or after 22:30. Anything under a four-hour connection, where a missed coach is a missed flight. And any trip with children, reduced mobility, or a schedule where an hour of certainty matters.
Gatwick to Heathrow — the same journey north
Landing at Gatwick and connecting to a Heathrow departure is the same 43–45 miles in reverse: M23 north to M25 junction 7, then clockwise round to junction 15 and into your Heathrow terminal.
We meet you inside Gatwick North or South arrivals with a name board, with 60 minutes of free waiting from touchdown, then drop you at T2, T3, T4 or T5 as booked. Full detail on the Gatwick to Heathrow transfer page.
Heathrow to Gatwick frequently asked questions
How much is a taxi from Heathrow to Gatwick?
How long does Heathrow to Gatwick take by road?
Is there a direct train from Heathrow to Gatwick?
How much time should I leave between the two flights?
What is the Heathrow drop-off charge in 2026?
And Gatwick's drop-off charge?
Which Heathrow terminal do I need?
Are the M25 roadworks still a problem?
Do you cover all four Heathrow terminals?
Do you charge extra at night or on bank holidays?
Book your Heathrow to Gatwick transfer
One agreed fare, any Heathrow terminal to either Gatwick terminal. Meet-and-greet inside arrivals, flight tracked, luggage handled, delivered to the right door. Saloon to 8-seater. TfL licensed.
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Guides: Heathrow vs Gatwick · Gatwick Drop-Off Charge 2026 · Gatwick Parking Guide
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