Private jet charter from Biggin Hill to Nice

The hours at Biggin Hill, and what they do to a Riviera day

Biggin Hill is open 06:30 to 23:00 Monday to Friday, and 08:00 to 22:00 at weekends and on public holidays (airport's published airfield specification, checked 25.09.2026). That is a longer weekday day than Farnborough, which closes at 22:00, and much longer than London City, which is shut on Saturday afternoon and does not reopen until Sunday lunchtime. What that buys on this route is the evening. Nice to Biggin Hill takes about 1 hour 40 minutes, and the airport accepts arrivals until 23:00 on a weekday — so a dinner on the Croisette and a bed in London the same night is an ordinary request rather than a special one. Work backwards and the last comfortable departure from Nice is around 21:00 local, with the usual margin for a late handling or a slot delay at the French end. The weekend is the thing to watch, and it works the other way from what people expect: Saturday and Sunday the airport opens later, at 08:00, and closes an hour earlier, at 22:00. A Saturday morning departure before 08:00 is not available here. If the trip has to leave at first light on a Saturday, Luton is the London airport that runs around the clock, and that is the reason to use it.

What the 1,806 m runway rules out, and what it does not

Biggin Hill has one runway, 1,806 m long and 45 m wide. On a sector of about a thousand kilometres, that length is not the constraint people assume it to be. Everything we quote most often on this leg goes in and out of it without a second thought: the Phenom 300, the Citation XLS+, the Pilatus PC-24, the Challenger 350, the Citation Latitude. The distinction worth understanding is between runway length and fuel load. A heavy or ultra-long-range aircraft needs its full runway when it is full of fuel, and on a 1,008 km sector it is nowhere near full — a Global 6000 flying to Nice is carrying a fraction of what it would carry to Dubai. So the types that would be tight here at maximum weight are not tight on this route. Where it does begin to matter is the reverse case: an aircraft positioning out of Biggin Hill to start a long transatlantic leg, tankering fuel. That is a conversation with the operator about the specific airframe, the temperature on the day and the runway in use, not a rule we can publish as a number. The contrast that makes the point is London City, eleven kilometres from the City and 1,508 m of runway on a 5.5-degree approach. There the aircraft type genuinely is decided for you, and half the fleet is excluded. At Biggin Hill none of that applies.

Getting to Biggin Hill: the road, and when the helicopter is worth it

Biggin Hill is 23 km from central London, which is the shortest road distance of the four London business-aviation airports — Farnborough is 55 km and Luton 48 km. The airport itself puts it at 15 miles from the centre and 12 from Canary Wharf. The number that decides the day is not the distance, though; it is the time of day. From Mayfair or Knightsbridge the drive is comfortably under an hour off-peak and can run well past it in a weekday rush, because the route funnels through south London rather than on to a motorway. From the City or Canary Wharf it is more forgiving, since you are already on the right side of the river. The helicopter from the London Heliport at Battersea to Biggin Hill is about eight minutes. From Luton it is about twenty. That eight-minute figure is why Biggin Hill is described as the closest London airport to the centre despite not being the closest in kilometres — and it is the argument for using it when the meeting runs late, or when the return from Nice lands at ten in the evening and the alternative is an hour of the South Circular. At all four airports the car is brought to the aircraft; the helicopter is about avoiding the road entirely, not about the walk.

The summer problem at the Nice end, not the London end

On this pair the congestion is asymmetric, and it is worth knowing which end causes it. Biggin Hill takes no runway slots — you ask for a time and you get it. Nice Côte d'Azur does not work that way in summer: it is one of the busiest business-aviation airports in Europe from May onwards, slot-coordinated, and on the peak weekends of July and August the constraint is the ramp rather than the runway. The practical effect is that aircraft are often asked to drop passengers and leave, repositioning to Cannes–Mandelieu, La Môle, Toulon or Marseille and coming back for the return. Both of those ferry legs are in the quote, and we put them there before you book rather than after. On a Biggin Hill departure this matters more than it sounds: the London end imposes no timing on you at all, so every constraint on the day comes from Nice, and planning the trip around the French end rather than the English one is usually the right way round. Cannes–Mandelieu is the alternative arrival if the Croisette is the destination, and on a busy weekend it can be the easier one. It is a smaller field with its own noise restrictions and a shorter runway, so the aircraft has to suit it — that is a question to settle at the quote, not on the day.

What moves the price on Biggin Hill–Nice

The headline figure is about €9,500 one-way for a light or super-light jet, and it is the same indicative starting point as a departure from London generally. We looked for a defensible handling and parking difference between Biggin Hill and Farnborough and could not source one we would publish, so the two carry the same figure rather than an invented gap. What genuinely moves the number is the direction and the date. London is where the aircraft live, so southbound is the cheaper leg; the same aircraft over the same track northbound starts nearer €11,750, because somebody pays for the ferry flight down. If the trip is out and back inside a day, say so at the enquiry — one aircraft flying both legs almost always prices better than two separate one-ways. The dates that bite are narrow and predictable. The second half of May takes the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix within days of each other and fills every ramp from Marseille to Genoa. August is not a weekend but a month. On those dates the hourly rate is the smallest part of the number: what moves it is positioning, because the aircraft cannot simply stay at Nice, and crew duty, because a late return can push the day past what one crew may legally fly.

Empty legs on this corridor

London to the Riviera is one of the densest two-way corridors in Europe, so repositioning flights appear on it regularly — and because Biggin Hill is a based airport for several operators rather than a stop on someone's schedule, empty legs out of it specifically are not unusual. The catch is the one that applies to every empty leg: it exists because an aircraft has to be somewhere, so the date and the time are the operator's, not yours. If your dates flex by a day either side, ask. If they do not, a scheduled charter is the honest answer and the empty-leg question is a distraction. We publish the current list with the date of the export on it, so you can see how fresh it is rather than take our word for it.

Typical aircraft

Estimated one-way charter for the whole aircraft. The exact price depends on the aircraft and date, and is always quoted on request.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the flight from Biggin Hill to Nice?

About 1 hour 40 minutes nonstop over roughly 1,008 km. Light and super-light jets fly it without a fuel stop, and with private terminals at both ends the door-to-door time is dominated by the road at the London end rather than by the flight.

What time does Biggin Hill close?

23:00 on weekdays, with the airport opening at 06:30. At weekends and on public holidays it runs 08:00 to 22:00. That weekday closing time is later than Farnborough's 22:00, which is why a late return from Nice is straightforward here.

Can a large jet use Biggin Hill?

Yes. The runway is 1,806 m, and on a sector of about a thousand kilometres no aircraft we would quote for this leg is close to needing all of it. Runway length starts to matter only when an aircraft is loading fuel for a much longer flight, which is a question for the operator about the specific airframe.

How far is Biggin Hill from central London?

23 km, the shortest of the four London business-aviation airports — Luton is 48 km and Farnborough 55 km. By road it is usually under an hour off-peak and longer in a weekday rush; by helicopter to Battersea it is about eight minutes.

How much does a private jet from Biggin Hill to Nice cost?

From around €9,500 one-way for a light or super-light jet, rising with cabin size and season. The northbound leg starts nearer €11,750 because the aircraft has to be ferried south first. Every trip is quoted individually; the figure here is indicative, not a live price.

Should I fly into Nice or Cannes–Mandelieu?

Nice Côte d'Azur for almost everything, and Cannes–Mandelieu if the Croisette is the destination and the aircraft suits the field. Cannes is smaller, with its own noise restrictions and a shorter runway, so the choice belongs at the quote stage rather than on the day.