Planning a Northern Lights trip can take some time, but one element that doesn’t need to is which airport to fly from. With many regional airports now flying to Northern Lights holiday destinations, you don’t need to go cross-country to leave the UK.
Iceland
Out of the three countries, a Northern Lights Iceland trip is the very best for regional options both in terms of airports and frequency of service. As you would expect flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton are every day with Icelandair for the first two and Easyjet for Luton.
London City with BA works on Sundays and Thursdays, and for those outside of London but still in the south, Easyjet offers a Bristol flight on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
For those in the north, Manchester with both Icelandair and Easyjet covers off every day of the week between them. Our Scottish clients can fly from both Glasgow with Icelandair and Edinburgh with Easyjet on a Northern Lights Trip. Glasgow depart on all days barring Wednesdays and Saturdays. Edinburgh departs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on their Northern Lights Journeys.
Our Irish clients have good options for a Northern Lights trip, with Dublin flights with Icelandair departing on all but Saturdays. Belfast flights go with Easyjet on Mondays and Fridays, whilst Icelandair depart on Thursdays and return on all days barring Mondays and Saturdays.
The great news is Jet2 now offer additional flights from northern airports for those wanting to go on a Northern Lights Trip, but they are for select dates only, so flexibility is important if you want to fly from your nearest airport.
Norway
Holidays to see the Northern Lights can also mean flying into or from Norway, however there are less regional options than Iceland for departure airports for a Norway Northern Lights Holiday.
The good news is Norwegian Airlines offer a direct flight from Gatwick to Tromso on Saturdays, whilst Scandinavian Airlines offer the same from Heathrow direct on all days of the week.
If you decide for your Northern Lights holiday to fly from a regional airport with indirect flights, rather than a direct flight, then SAS offer daily flights from Manchester to Tromso via Oslo. For Scotland, Norwegian Airlines offer Edinburgh daily flights to Tromso, again via Oslo. If you are happy to fly to Oslo and maybe enjoy a few days seeing this capital city, then you could also fly from Birmingham to Oslo with SAS, which currently flies on all days barring Saturdays. British Airways also offers this option from Heathrow. You can then connect onto Tromso on a later date.
Sweden
All flights to both Kiruna for the Ice Hotel and Abisko Sweden, along with Lulea for the Tree Hotel, go via Stockholm Arlanda, although there is usually a very quick turnaround so you won’t be spending long on the ground waiting to board your second flight.
Scandinavian Airlines run this service to Stockholm from London Heathrow on all days barring Saturdays, and these are timed to connect with your onward flight.
For those preferring Gatwick with Norwegian Airlines, these only connect on Sundays, or you would need to spend an overnight in Stockholm, but this can provide a mini city break of a day or two exploring this great city.
For Manchester options, you need to be a bit more flexible with your dates on a Northern Lights holiday, as Scandinavian Airlines offer departure days of Sundays and Mondays only with connection working on the return on Fridays.
Scandinavian Airlines do connect Northern Lights holidays for Dublin to Stockholm on Sundays, if you can work your dates accordingly.
All of the above shows how easy it is to fly from regional airports with a little bit of planning, whilst also providing the choice of extending your trip to maybe take in a second or even third country, which maximises your chance of the best Northern Lights trips. Alternatively taking in a few days in a city en-route is a good way of splitting up travelling time also.
Please note if choosing an airline that doesn’t depart on every day of the week, this will be the same in regards to return flights only flying on select days.
This information was correct at time of compiling, however, you must check with your airlines prior to booking your Northern Lights trip, for latest information.
See our Northern Lights Trips to Iceland and Sweden and our superb multi-destination Northern Lights Trips combining Iceland, Sweden and Norway.
