Airport hotels blog

Have you ever flown into an airport and found yourself in a totally different city to the one you expected?  You could have got on the wrong plane by mistake, but it’s more likely to be the result of a “creative” naming policy that sees airports called after bigger cities which are actually miles and miles away.  Here are some of the worst offenders – watch out for them next time you travel!

Frankfurt (Hahn)

At 77 miles (124 km) from central Frankfurt, this is the best example of misleading naming we can find.  In fact, Ryanair were told not to advertise it as “Frankfurt” anymore, until the airport officially rebranded itself as Frankfurt Hahn.  There is no train, so you have to either drive or catch the bus, which takes an hour and 45 minutes to reach the city in which the airport is supposedly located!

Munich West (Memmingen)

Every year, the streets of Memmingen are filled with bemused passengers who arrive for Oktoberfest, expecting to find themselves in Munich.  They ask cab drivers to take them to the Hofbräuhaus, and are puzzled as to the high prices quoted. This is because the airport is actually 71 miles (114 km) from the city of Munich, which takes an hour and a half to reach by train.  The airport blames low cost airlines for describing it in this way – it is also known as Allgäu Airport.  But the town of Memmingen is now thinking of capitalising on the situation by organising its own mini Oktoberfest.

Oslo (Torp)

This airport is really 68 miles (110 km) or an hour and a half from Oslo.  It’s been a popular destination for the low cost airlines, but if you’re going to Oslo you’d be better flying into Rygge which is about 37 miles (60 km) away from the city.  Ryanair is now expanding its services to Rygge, a relatively new airport which just opened in 2007.

Stockholm (Skavsta and Västerås)

Both of these airports are a long way from Stockholm – Skavsta about 62 miles (100 km) and Västerås about 75 miles (120 km).  A better choice would be Stockholm Arlanda, which is only 26 miles (42 km).

London (Oxford)

If you got on a bus that said it was going to London and you were dropped off in Oxford, you wouldn’t be too pleased, but that’s what happens when passengers catch a plane to this airport, which is 60 miles (97 km) from the centre of the capital.  You could argue that for someone coming in from America, an extra 60 miles at the end of the journey wouldn’t seem like too much.  But its main business at the moment seems to be charter flights from Jersey, so the time to drive to London after landing might be as long as the actual flight!

We’d like to hear from you!

Have you found an airport that is further than this from the city?  What kind of difficulties did it cause?