London City to Waddon: distance, time and the real cost of getting there.
- Road distance
- 17.7 miles
- Fixed private-hire fare
- £91.80
28.4 km by road, not straight-line.
All-in, up to 3 passengers. No meter, no surge.
Drive time by time of day
Four figures most transfer sites never publish — because they quote one number and hope. Traffic is real; here is what it does to this route.
| Overnight (22:00–06:00) | 50 min |
|---|---|
| Off-peak (10:00–16:00) | 62 min |
| Morning peak (07:00–10:00) | 92 min |
| Evening peak (16:00–19:00) | 97 min |
- London City forecourt drop-off charge (£8.00)
Distances and drive times from road-network routing. Fares modelled from licensed-operator cost benchmarks and shown VAT-inclusive. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) — road geometry via OSRM. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2024 (OGL v3); airport points © OurAirports (public domain); © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0) · GeoNames (CC-BY 4.0) · Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NaPTAN, Department for Transport.. Powered by TfL Open Data. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights.
Everything about the London City to Waddon journey.
Your journey from London City to Waddon
A private hire transfer from London City Airport to Waddon covers 17.7 miles (28.4 km) by road and takes 50–97 minutes door to door, depending on the time of day and traffic. The drop covers the CR90 postcode district in the London Borough of Croydon. Your fixed all-in fare is £91.80 for up to 3 passengers — agreed before you travel, with no meter, no surge and no change if the roads are busy.
At 17.7 miles by road this is a substantial cross-London drive,, and the fixed fare covers the whole of it whether the journey runs to 50 minutes or the full 97.
How long the Waddon drive takes at different times
Traffic, not distance, decides how long the London City to Waddon drive takes. Overnight, between 22:00 and 06:00, the roads are clear and the run takes about 50 minutes. Through the off-peak middle of the day it settles around 62 minutes. The morning peak from 07:00 to 10:00 is the busiest inbound window at roughly 92 minutes, and the evening peak from 16:00 to 19:00 runs about 97 minutes as central London empties out.
The gap between the best and worst case on this route is 47 minutes — an evening-peak run into Waddon takes about 94% longer than the same drive overnight. Most of that variation lands on the A213, which carries the longest single stretch of this route at 6.1 km. Planning works the same way in reverse. Leaving Waddon for a flight out of London City Airport during the morning peak means allowing the full 92 minutes plus check-in time, while an off-peak departure needs closer to 62 minutes and a quiet overnight start nearer 50.
What a Waddon transfer costs
Every London City to Waddon fare is fixed and all-in, quoted VAT-inclusive before you book. Economy seats up to 3 passengers with room for 2 bags at a fixed £91.80, Business seats up to 3 passengers with room for 2 bags at a fixed £112.00, First seats up to 3 passengers with room for 2 bags at a fixed £179.01 and Van seats up to 7 passengers with room for 7 bags at a fixed £127.60.
On the cheapest class that works out at about £5.20 per mile across the 17.7-mile route.
Travelling as a group changes the sum. The Van seats up to 7 passengers with 7 bags for a fixed £127.60 — about £18.23 a head when it is full, and usually less than 7 separate train or coach tickets once luggage and changes are counted.
What's included in your fixed fare
Every London City to Waddon journey is pre-booked and driven by a TfL-licensed chauffeur who meets you inside arrivals with a name board, tracks your flight so an early or delayed landing moves the pick-up automatically, and helps with your luggage. The fare covers the drive itself, the meet-and-greet, the free wait if your flight lands early or late, and the drop at your exact address — there is nothing further to settle with the driver on the day, a traffic-heavy crawl costs exactly the same as a clear overnight run, and the same fixed fare applies wherever in Waddon you are headed. Fares are quoted VAT-inclusive and all-in, so there is never a separate airport, waiting or booking fee to settle on the day. Prices rise with the size and class of vehicle, never with demand or the time you travel: there is no meter running in traffic and no surge multiplier however busy the roads or the calendar, and everyone in the party arrives together at the same door on one fixed fare. Fixed pass-through costs such as London City forecourt drop-off charge (£8.00) are already folded into the quoted fare, not bolted on afterwards. On the London City to Waddon route you can choose from 4 vehicle classes, from the Economy at £91.80 to the First at £179.01, so the fixed fare scales to the party and the occasion rather than to a meter. Because the booking is accepted by a licensed operator before you travel, it is a pre-booked private hire transfer end to end — never a hailed or ranked service.
Where we cover around Waddon
We cover Waddon and the surrounding CR90 postcode, picking up and dropping at the exact door you need. Waddon sits outside central London's Congestion Charge zone, so the daily charge does not apply to this route.
Waddon on the map
The London City to Waddon drive runs mainly on A213 (6.1 km), A205 (5.6 km) and A102 (4.1 km), with the A213 carrying about 21% of the 28.4 km route — which is why the same journey can be quicker or slower than a similar distance across a different corridor. London City is the closest of the 6 London airports to Waddon by road, 17.7 miles (28.4 km), ahead of Gatwick at 33.9 km. Waddon sits within a short drive of West Croydon Station (1.1 km), South Croydon (1.3 km), East Croydon Station (1.6 km) and Selhurst (2.3 km), so the same fixed fare covers pick-ups either side of the area boundary. Waddon lies in the London Borough of Croydon, and every pick-up there is dispatched to a licensed operator before your driver is assigned.
- Route
- London City → Waddon
- Distance
- 17.7 mi · 28.4 km
- Typical drive time
- 50–97 min
- Postcodes covered
- CR90
- Congestion Charge
- Not applicable to this route
- Main roads
- A213 6.1 km · A205 5.6 km · A102 4.1 km
- Borough
- Croydon
- Airport proximity
- London City is #1 of 6 by road
- Nearby areas
- West Croydon Station 1.1 km · South Croydon 1.3 km · East Croydon Station 1.6 km · Selhurst 2.3 km
- Fixed fare from
- £91.80
From the London City forecourt to a Waddon doorstep.
Your driver meets you inside arrivals, tracks your flight so the pick-up moves with it, and takes the fastest clear route into Waddon. One fixed fare, agreed before you travel.
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Good to know.
How far is Waddon from London City Airport?+
How much is a minicab from London City Airport to Waddon?+
Is a private car cheaper than the train from London City Airport to Waddon?+
Do you meet me at London City?+
Is there a Congestion Charge from London City Airport to Waddon?+
Which Waddon postcodes do you cover?+
Can you carry a group from London City Airport to Waddon?+
Hotels in Waddon
Staying over near Waddon? Compare hotels and rooms in the area — boutique stays through to the familiar chains — on Booking.com.
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