Taxi from Royal Docks to London City AirportFrom £39 Fixed · No CCZ · LCY £8 Pre-Settled · 24/7
Royal Docks shares its postcode with London City Airport — both sit in E16, separated by a mile or two of Royal Albert Way and Connaught Bridge. Silvertown, Custom House, Royal Victoria Dock, Royal Wharf and Pontoon Dock all reach the terminal in under twelve minutes. Gatwick Taxi Transfer covers every E16 and E6 address at a confirmed fixed fare from £39. No congestion charge. The £8 forecourt levy is cleared before the driver leaves your door.
Fares verified
- Silvertown £39 · Custom House £39 · Royal Victoria £40 · Royal Wharf £40
- Canning Town £42 · North Woolwich £42 · Beckton £42 · East Ham £42
- Estate £43 · MPV 5-seat £48 · MPV 7-seat £52 · Executive £67 · 8-seat £89
- LCY £8 cleared by operator account · E16 outside CCZ · Euro 6/4 ULEZ-free
- Round the clock · Driver name texted before midnight · Door to terminal gate
Airport levy operator-cleared · E16 outside CCZ · Zero ULEZ · All hours
Royal Docks to LCY — Pick Your Vehicle, Lock Your Price
London City Airport sits inside the Royal Docks — its postcode is E16 2PX, the same district as Silvertown and Custom House. Nowhere in London is geographically closer. Every vehicle below meets Euro 6 or Euro 4 standards, so no ULEZ charge applies, and E16 sits outside the Congestion Charge Zone entirely. The £8 forecourt levy is settled through the operator account before each pickup. Child seats on request at no charge. See the full fleet.
Saloon
Toyota Prius or equivalent hybrid, four seats and two checked cases. This is the default from any E16 address and the one most Royal Docks residents book. Silvertown reaches the terminal in as little as five minutes over Connaught Bridge; Custom House and Royal Victoria Dock run six to eleven. The airport levy is inside the quoted figure and no toll applies anywhere on the E16 approaches.
Book Saloon — from £39
Estate Car
A wagon boot that takes three full-size cases alongside four passengers without anything going on a lap. Royal Wharf and Pontoon Dock residents heading out for a fortnight book this rather than squeezing into a saloon. Same fixed pricing structure, same named driver the evening before, four pounds above the saloon rate.
Book Estate — from £43
MPV 5-Seat
Ford Galaxy or Volkswagen Sharan taking five passengers and four cases. For a Royal Wharf apartment group or a Canning Town office team travelling out together it is one confirmed fare and one driver rather than two separate cabs, which usually works out lower once both are counted.
Book MPV 5 — from £48.webp)
MPV 6 & 7-Seat
Mercedes V-Class or Viano carrying up to seven with full luggage. Extended families leaving Royal Wharf, or a Newham business group heading out on the same flight, travel in one vehicle from one door. Five to eighteen minutes to the terminal depending which part of the Royal Docks you start from.
Book MPV 6/7 — from £52
Executive
Mercedes E-Class or equivalent with leather, privacy glass and chilled water. Booked mainly by E16 businesses running client pickups and by residents who want a VAT receipt that lands automatically in an expense system. Corporate accounts with monthly invoicing are available to any Royal Docks or Newham business.
Book Executive — from £67.webp)
8-Seat Minibus
Eight passengers and full luggage in one vehicle, one booking and one VAT invoice. Multi-family departures from Royal Wharf and larger Newham groups take this rather than coordinating three cabs from three doors. Same-day requests are accepted when a vehicle is free — WhatsApp is quickest for short notice in the E16 zone.
Book 8-Seat — from £89Every Royal Docks E16 Fare to LCY — Fixed, All-In, 2026
Fares are set at booking and do not move. Every E16 and E6 postcode falls outside the Congestion Charge Zone, so nothing is added for the zone at any hour. The £8 London City forecourt levy is pre-settled on every booking and ULEZ is £0 across the fleet. Checked .
| Area | Postcode | Saloon | Estate | MPV 5 | MPV 6/7 | Executive | 8-Seat | Miles | Time | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silvertown | E16 2EZ |
£39 | £43 | £48 | £52 | £67 | £89 | 1.0 mi | 5–9 min | Book → |
| Custom House | E16 3QD |
£39 | £43 | £48 | £52 | £67 | £89 | 1.2 mi | 6–10 min | Book → |
| Royal Victoria Dock | E16 1BT |
£40 | £44 | £49 | £53 | £68 | £90 | 1.5 mi | 6–11 min | Book → |
| Pontoon Dock / Royal Wharf | E16 2QP |
£40 | £44 | £49 | £53 | £68 | £90 | 2.0 mi | 7–12 min | Book → |
| Canning Town | E16 1SL |
£42 | £46 | £51 | £55 | £70 | £92 | 2.5 mi | 8–13 min | Book → |
| North Woolwich | E16 2EX |
£42 | £46 | £51 | £55 | £70 | £92 | 2.8 mi | 9–14 min | Book → |
| Beckton | E6 5NA |
£42 | £46 | £51 | £55 | £70 | £92 | 3.5 mi | 11–16 min | Book → |
| East Ham / Newham | E6 / E13 |
£42 | £46 | £51 | £55 | £70 | £92 | 4.2 mi | 13–18 min | Book → |
← Swipe the table sideways to see every vehicle class →
Why E16 has the shortest airport run in London
The airport is at E16 2PX. Silvertown is E16 2EZ. They are the same postcode district, a mile apart by road. No other residential area in the country sits that close to a commercial terminal, which is why the base fare here starts lower than anywhere else we cover.
Where the CCZ boundary actually stops
The eastern edge of the zone runs through the City at roughly Tower Hill and Aldgate. E16 begins several miles beyond that. No Royal Docks pickup crosses the line at any point on the way to the terminal, on any day, at any hour.
Coming back from LCY
Same fare in both directions. The driver waits in the single arrivals concourse with a name board and holds for forty-five minutes measured from actual touchdown, not the scheduled time. A delayed KLM out of Amsterdam costs you nothing extra.
Every Royal Docks Area to London City Airport — E16 & E6
Eight areas, each with its own confirmed fare and its own reason for using a car rather than the rail. Enter your exact postcode at the booking page for the door-to-terminal figure.
Silvertown
Silvertown Way, Tidal Basin Road, Factory Road, Constance Street. Silvertown sits alongside the London City runway itself — a mile by road, the shortest airport journey from any residential address in the capital. The route drops south over Connaught Bridge straight onto the terminal approach. Enough Silvertown residents skip the walk to a DLR platform entirely and book a car every time they fly.
Custom House
Custom House station area, Freemasons Road, Victoria Dock Road, Prince Regent Lane. The DLR stop here is the closest station to the airport, one stop down the line, and for a solo traveller with hand luggage it is genuinely the better option. With cases, before half five in the morning, or from an address that is a walk from the platform, the car wins — 1.2 miles east on Victoria Dock Road, six to ten minutes.
Royal Victoria Dock
Royal Victoria Dock, Dock Road, Western Gateway and the waterfront apartments along the north quay. At a mile and a half the run east on the A1020 takes six to eleven minutes off-peak. The dock frontage has filled with residential blocks over the past decade, and most of those buildings have no station within easy walking distance with luggage.
Pontoon Dock & Royal Wharf
Royal Wharf Parade, Compass Avenue, Drew Road, Winton Way and the Pontoon Dock DLR area. Royal Wharf is one of the newest riverside developments in east London, built on the old Thames Wharf site. Two miles to the terminal via Woolwich Manor Way, seven to twelve minutes. For residents flying the LCY European routes regularly, a car from the building entrance beats wheeling cases to a platform.
Canning Town
Canning Town High Street, Barking Road, Silvertown Way, Rathbone Market and Bow Creek. This is the Jubilee and DLR interchange for the area — well connected, but neither line runs early enough for the first departures of the day. Two and a half miles via Silvertown Way, eight to thirteen minutes. Passengers arriving from Stratford or West Ham often find the pre-booked car simpler than juggling a rail connection with bags.
North Woolwich
North Woolwich Road, Pier Road, Albert Road, Manwood Street, Fernhill Street. This southern edge of E16 has no DLR station of its own, which makes the pre-booked car the obvious choice. The alternative is the Elizabeth line from Woolwich across the river — a ferry or foot tunnel crossing, a walk and a change. The car covers 2.8 miles on Woolwich Manor Way in nine to fourteen minutes.
Beckton
Beckton Retail Park, Newham Way, Ron Leighton Way, Tollgate Road, Alps Road. Beckton sits north of the docks on the A13 corridor, three and a half miles from the terminal and eleven to sixteen minutes by road, at the same £42 as Canning Town. Faster than any bus or rail combination from this part of Newham, and the only workable option for a departure before the DLR starts running.
East Ham & Newham
High Street North, Newham Way, Barking Road, Green Street, Central Park Road. The furthest area on this page at 4.2 miles, still only thirteen to eighteen minutes via the A13. Most public transport routes from here require a District line change at West Ham; the direct car removes it. All E6 and E13 postcodes take the same confirmed fare and the same named-driver service.
All eight areas covered round the clock. Enter the exact E16 or E6 postcode when booking. No congestion charge from any Royal Docks address. The airport levy is pre-authorised. Driver identity — name, plate and personal mobile — arrives by text before midnight the night before every pickup.
Three Roads to the Terminal — Connaught Bridge, A1020, Woolwich Manor Way
Three corridors carry every Royal Docks pickup to London City Airport, and which one your driver takes depends on where you start and what the roads are doing at the time. All three are short. The fare holds regardless of the route chosen.
The Airport Is Your Neighbour — What E16 Residents Know
Getting there, and how long it takes
The quickest option from most E16 addresses is a pre-booked car: five to nine minutes from Silvertown with nothing to carry up a staircase. The DLR from Custom House covers one stop in three to five minutes for around £2.50 on Oyster, which for a solo traveller with hand luggage is genuinely competitive. From a Royal Docks address the door-to-terminal figure by car runs five to eighteen minutes depending on which postcode you start in.
By road: Silvertown 1.0 mile, Custom House 1.2, Royal Victoria Dock 1.5, Pontoon Dock and Royal Wharf 2.0, Canning Town 2.5, North Woolwich 2.8, Beckton 3.5 and East Ham 4.2. London City sits on the old King George V Dock, which is why no other residential district in the country shares a postcode area with a commercial airport.
What the terminal is actually like
One terminal, one security cluster, one arrivals exit. Security clears in ten to twenty minutes outside the morning peak, up to thirty during it. Check-in advice is sixty minutes ahead for hand luggage and seventy-five if you are putting a bag in the hold. The single pier means the gate is an eight to twelve minute walk from the entrance, no more.
The route network is built around European business city pairs: British Airways CityFlyer to Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dublin and Jersey; Lufthansa to Frankfurt; SWISS to Zurich; KLM to Amsterdam; Air France to Paris CDG; Finnair to Helsinki; SAS to Copenhagen and Stockholm. From touchdown to meeting your driver in arrivals typically runs fifteen to twenty-two minutes.
DLR or Taxi from Royal Docks — An Honest Comparison
The DLR is genuinely good from one specific place under one specific set of conditions. Everywhere else in E16, the car wins. Here is the split without the sales pitch.
Pre-booked car — right for most E16 journeys
- Collects at the exact address, door to terminal kerb
- Runs round the clock, including before the DLR starts near 05:30
- Fare fixed at booking with the £8 levy inside it and no CCZ
- No limit on checked bags, no lifting cases onto a platform
- Reaches Silvertown, Royal Wharf and North Woolwich directly
- Driver name, plate and mobile confirmed the night before
- One vehicle for up to eight, one invoice
- Executive class from £67 for client-facing runs
DLR from Custom House — right for one specific case
One stop south, three to five minutes, roughly £2.50 on Oyster. It is the fastest rail link to any London airport, full stop. Take it if you live within a short walk of the Custom House platform, you are on your own, you have hand luggage only, and you are travelling between about 05:30 and midnight Monday to Saturday. Outside that, it stops being the easier option.
Elizabeth line from Woolwich plus DLR
Cross the river from North Woolwich, pick up the Elizabeth line west to Custom House, change to the DLR. Fifteen to twenty minutes once the walk and the change are counted. Worth considering only if you already happen to be beside the ferry terminal or the Woolwich station entrance. From every other E16 address it is more steps for a longer journey.
Bus routes
The 473 and 474 pass close to the airport and cost a flat fare, which makes them the cheapest option on paper. In practice they are slow, they stop frequently, and a suitcase in a crowded lower deck at seven in the morning is nobody’s idea of a good start. Reasonable without luggage; not otherwise.
Booking a Royal Docks Taxi to LCY — Three Steps from Your Door
Fixed Fare, Named Driver, Levy Cleared
What Time to Leave for a 07:00 Departure
London City opens at 06:30 on weekdays, which sets the earliest useful arrival for a seven o’clock flight. Work back from there and these are the pickup times by area. The DLR does not start until around 05:30, so anything departing earlier than this leaves the pre-booked car as the only ground option.
Leave by, for a 07:00 flight
Sixty minutes ahead covers hand luggage; seventy-five if you are checking a bag. For a bag drop on a seven o’clock departure, pull each time above forward by fifteen minutes and expect to be waiting for the desk to open.
Saturday runs the same as a weekday. Sunday opening is later and the DLR starts later still, which is when the pre-dawn bookings cluster. Reserve the evening before for any Sunday departure before nine.
The Royal Docks regeneration keeps a rolling programme of lane closures running. Drivers check conditions before setting off rather than on the way, and where a closure is live the pickup shifts forward and you are told why.
Royal Docks to London City Airport — FAQ
Other London City Airport Routes & Nearby Areas
Royal Docks is the closest district to the terminal, but every area of east and central London has its own page with checked fares.
This page covers Royal Docks as a place to live — the apartments, the streets and the residential postcodes. If you are coming for a show at the exhibition centre, the ExCeL London page covers the entrances, the on-site hotels and the event calendar that drives demand on move-in and teardown days.