From the aircraft door to a seat on a London train at Gatwick takes about 35 to 50 minutes if you have a bag in the hold, and closer to 20 minutes if you do not. The station is under the South Terminal, five minutes' walk from arrivals, and the single most expensive mistake is buying the wrong ticket from the machine beside it.
Our Gatwick Airport guide covers the terminals, the operators and what the transfer costs, and Gatwick to central London compares the trains minute by minute. This page is the bit in between: the sequence of rooms and queues you walk through after landing, and roughly how long each one takes.
Gatwick is a straightforward airport to arrive at. The layout is linear and the railway is inside the building rather than a bus ride away. The parts that go wrong are the passport queue, the bag and the ticket.
Gatwick arrivals at a glance
- Passport control
- Two halls per terminal: eGates, and desks for everyone else
- eGate minimum age
- 8 years old, and at least 120 cm tall; 8 to 17 must be with an adult
- Customs
- Green channel (nothing to declare) or red channel (goods to declare)
- Station
- South Terminal, about five minutes' walk from arrivals
- From the North Terminal
- Free shuttle, two minutes' ride
- Left luggage
- Excess Baggage Company, before security in both terminals, 04:00–22:00 (September 2026)
- Minimum connection
- 60 minutes in the same terminal, 90 minutes between terminals
From the aircraft door to passport control
Gatwick's arrivals corridors are long. Both terminals put passport control a walk away from the gates rather than immediately behind them, and on a bad morning the wide-body flights from the far side of the North Terminal add several minutes on foot before you see a queue. Allow ten minutes from leaving the aircraft to joining a passport line, and more if you were bussed to a remote stand.
Gatwick says there are two passport control areas in each terminal: one signed for British, EU, EEA and Swiss nationals, the other for all other nationalities. Read the overhead signs rather than following the crowd, and if the halls look unbalanced, staff will point you at the faster-moving queue. The airport also sells a separate, priced lane at passport control, which is optional.
Before any of this, most visitors need permission to travel. Since 2026 a great many nationalities require an Electronic Travel Authorisation, applied for and approved before you fly, and airlines check it at the departure gate rather than Border Force checking it here. Our page on UK entry requirements sets out who needs one, and the ETA explained goes through the application.
Photo: Sunil060902 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized
The eGates, and the age Gatwick's own page gets wrong
The eGates are much the fastest route through the border if you qualify. Border Force's guidance, updated in July 2026, says you can normally use them if you hold a biometric passport with the chip symbol, have valid status such as an approved ETA or an eVisa, are at least 8 years old and at least 120 cm tall, and are British or a national of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the United States. Registered Traveller members with a chipped passport can use them too.
Two limits catch families and EU visitors. Children between 8 and 17 must be accompanied by an adult through the gate. And a national identity card does not open the gates. Most EU, EEA and Swiss citizens cannot enter the UK on an ID card at all any more; it is valid only for people with settled or pre-settled status and a few other groups, so bring the passport.
Gatwick's own website still says the eGates are for over-10s. When we read the airport's passport page in September 2026 it gave the minimum age as 10, which was correct until the rules changed. Border Force's current guidance says 8, with a 120 cm height requirement. If you are travelling with a child of 8 or 9, join the eGate queue and let staff redirect you if the gate refuses.
If you are not eligible, Gatwick directs you to the left-hand side of the arrivals hall for the officer desks. Complete any visa paperwork before you reach the front, keep the passport open at the photo page with covers removed, and check that it does not expire during your stay.
Baggage reclaim, and the wait that shapes your morning
Baggage reclaim sits immediately after passport control in both terminals, which means the queue you have just cleared is usually the reason your bag is already circling. Gatwick publishes no per-flight delivery target, so treat this as the least predictable stage: hand luggage only and you can be at the station 20 minutes after the aircraft door opens, while a hold bag realistically adds 15 to 30 minutes.
The airport's own connection advice is the best available guide to how long it assumes the whole arrivals process takes. It asks passengers who already hold a boarding pass for their next flight to allow at least 60 minutes in the same terminal, and it tells anyone who has to collect luggage and clear immigration before checking in again to ask their airline for a longer minimum. In other words, the airport itself does not promise that bag plus border fits inside an hour.
If your bag does not appear, report it before you leave the baggage hall: the handling agent's desk is inside the reclaim area, and a claim made after you walk out is harder to pursue. Compensation for a delayed bag is a matter for the airline, not the airport.
Customs: green channel, red channel and the cash rule
Everyone arriving in the UK passes through customs, even on a domestic leg. Gatwick's channels are the standard pair: green if you have nothing to declare, red if you do. Walking through the green channel is a declaration in itself, so it is worth knowing what has to be declared.
Gatwick lists four categories: anything over your duty-free allowance, goods that are banned or restricted in Britain, goods you intend to sell here, and more than €10,000 in cash or equivalent assets if you are arriving from outside the EU. Arriving from inside the EU with €10,000 or more is allowed but must still be declared. Our guide to UK customs allowances has the alcohol and tobacco limits in detail.
One rule the airport repeats and visitors ignore: never carry anything into the country for somebody else. There is a customs information point in the hall if you are unsure about an item.
If you landed at the North Terminal
The railway station is at the South Terminal only. Gatwick runs a free shuttle between the two, a two-minute ride on an automatic transit, and the walk to the shuttle and the wait for it are what actually cost you time rather than the ride. Our page on choosing between Gatwick's terminals works through the timings and the traps in both directions.
Arriving passengers are the lucky ones here: with no check-in deadline to miss, a slow shuttle is an inconvenience rather than a disaster. Follow the signs for trains rather than for the other terminal; the route takes you to the shuttle anyway.
Where the ticket machines are, and what they charge
There are plenty of ticket machines inside the station at the South Terminal, and that is where most arriving visitors buy a ticket to London because it is the first thing they see. It is usually the wrong choice.
We read the prices below on National Rail's own journey planner in September 2026, for off-peak travel on a Wednesday. They are the cheapest single fares the planner offered on each departure from Gatwick Airport to London Victoria.
| Departure | Platform | Journey | Arrives Victoria | Cheapest single |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:56 | 4 | 32 minutes | 11:28 | £12.50 |
| 11:10 (Gatwick Express) | 5 | 31 minutes | 11:41 | £24.10 |
| 11:13 | 2 | 32 minutes | 11:45 | £15.00 |
| 11:26 | 4 | 35 minutes | 12:01 | £12.50 |
| 11:40 (Gatwick Express) | 5 | 31 minutes | 12:11 | £24.10 |
A passenger standing on the concourse at 10:50 can take the 10:56 for £12.50 and be at Victoria at 11:28, or wait fourteen minutes for the Gatwick Express, pay £24.10, and arrive thirteen minutes later. The express is one minute quicker over the same track, nearly twice the price, and on that morning it also went second.
Tapping in with a contactless card or Oyster is cheaper again on the Southern and Thameslink services, and the pay-as-you-go rates and the peak boundary that decides them are on the page linked above. The short version for an arriving visitor: the barrier reader almost always beats the ticket machine, and the only reason to buy a paper ticket at Gatwick is a journey beyond the London fare area, such as Gatwick to Brighton.
Tap in at the barrier rather than queueing at the machine. A contactless card or phone works at Gatwick's gates on Southern and Thameslink, and the fare is charged automatically. Our guide to Oyster and contactless explains the caps, and using a foreign bank card covers what your bank may add.
Buying an Oyster card, if you want one
Most visitors do not need one, but Gatwick is one of the easier places to buy an Oyster card. It is sold at the Your Service Centre desk, operated by SkyFix: the airport gives its location as check-in Zone J in the South Terminal, with a second desk on level 2 in the North Terminal. Visitor Oyster cards are also sold at the airport's information centre and ticket offices.
Whether the card is worth the deposit depends on how you pay at home. Our look at the Visitor Oyster card sets out when it helps and when a bank card does the same job for nothing.
Leaving your bags at the airport
Gatwick has a staffed left-luggage service run by the Excess Baggage Company, and it is in a useful place: before security in both terminals, so you do not need a boarding pass to use it. In the North Terminal it is on Level 1, next to the Costa Coffee; in the South Terminal it is on Level 2, behind check-in zone E. Both are listed as open 04:00 to 22:00 on the airport's page (checked November 2026).
The prices on that page, the same day, were £10 for up to three hours, £15 for up to 24 hours, £27.50 for up to 48 hours, £40 for up to 72 hours, then £12.50 a day, falling to £10 a day after seven days. The counters also weigh, wrap and ship bags and sell SIM cards, which makes them the obvious stop if your case is overweight.
There are no luggage lockers at Gatwick. The airport says this is for security reasons, so the staffed counters are the only option on site. If you want to leave bags in London instead, our left-luggage guide compares the station offices and the cheaper app-based storage.
If you have another flight to catch
Gatwick asks connecting passengers who already hold the onward boarding pass to allow at least 60 minutes in the same terminal and at least 90 minutes if the flights use different terminals, and warns that individual airlines may demand more. If your two flights are on separate tickets and you are arriving from outside the UK, you go through immigration first, and only then to security for the onward flight.
If the connection fails, the same Your Service Centre desk handles re-protection on behalf of TAP, Qatar Airways, Norwegian, Swiss and Air Europa, and can arrange alternatives for other carriers. Contact the onward airline first. Moving between Gatwick and another London airport is a separate problem: connecting between London's airports has the coach and rail options and the times they really take.
How long the whole thing takes
Putting the stages together, a realistic Gatwick arrival with hand luggage runs at roughly ten minutes to walk to the border, five to fifteen at passport control, two minutes through the green channel and five to seven minutes to the platform. That is 25 to 35 minutes, and it is why hand-luggage travellers sometimes make a train they thought they had missed.
Add a hold bag and the same arrival becomes 40 to 55 minutes. Add the North Terminal shuttle and it becomes an hour. Plan the first evening on the later figure, and if the arithmetic gets tight, staying near Gatwick is an honest alternative to a midnight train. Your arrival day in London covers what to do with the hours you have left.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get through Gatwick arrivals?
With hand luggage only, expect 25 to 35 minutes from the aircraft door to a train seat. With a bag in the hold, allow 40 to 55 minutes. Arriving into the North Terminal adds the free inter-terminal shuttle, so budget close to an hour.
Can my child use the eGates at Gatwick?
Border Force's current guidance allows children of 8 and over who are at least 120 cm tall and hold a biometric passport, provided an adult accompanies anyone under 18. Gatwick's own website still gives the age as 10, so join the queue and let staff redirect you if the gate will not open.
Where do I buy a train ticket at Gatwick Airport?
There are ticket machines inside the station at the South Terminal, and a ticket office. For a journey into London you will usually pay less by tapping a contactless card or Oyster at the barrier instead; buy a ticket if your journey continues beyond the London fare area, for instance to Brighton or Reading.
Is the Gatwick Express worth it from the airport?
Rarely. On the off-peak morning we checked, the Gatwick Express took 31 minutes to Victoria at £24.10 while the train fourteen minutes earlier took 32 minutes at £12.50 and arrived first. It is worth paying for only if the timetable happens to suit you and you value a reserved-feeling carriage.
Can I leave luggage at Gatwick Airport?
Yes. The Excess Baggage Company has staffed counters before security in both terminals, open 04:00 to 22:00 when we checked in November 2026, at £10 for up to three hours and £15 for up to 24 hours. There are no self-service lockers anywhere at the airport.
Sources
- London Gatwick - Passport control and visas (checked September 2026)
- London Gatwick - Customs (checked September 2026)
- London Gatwick - Luggage storage (checked November 2026)
- London Gatwick - Flight connections (checked September 2026)
- London Gatwick - Travelling by train (checked September 2026)
- National Rail Enquiries - times and fares, Gatwick Airport to London Victoria (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Border Force: faster travel through the UK border (eGate eligibility) (checked November 2026)