Gatwick sits about 215 miles east of Barnstaple and takes something like four and a half hours, with the closing stage on the M25 — the stretch that decides whether you arrive settled or flustered.
Charter and package flights leave early, so most of our Gatwick work starts in the small hours. We work backwards from your check-in desk to a pickup time and then say it out loud, however unwelcome it sounds, because the M25 is not somewhere to be making up lost minutes with a holiday riding on it.
North Terminal or South Terminal?
The two terminals are a shuttle ride apart and you want dropping at the right one. Give us the terminal, or the flight number if you are unsure, and we will confirm which it is before the day.
Gatwick has swapped airlines between the terminals before now, so a terminal you remember from a previous holiday is not something to rely on. We check it rather than assume it.
Early charter flights and the small-hours start
Package holidays love a 6am departure, which from North Devon means being collected somewhere around midnight or one in the morning. Families are often surprised by that, so we would rather set the expectation when you book than at the door.
The compensation is that the roads at that hour are as good as they ever get. An overnight run to Gatwick is frequently faster and calmer than the same journey in daylight, and you can sleep through most of it.
The M25 factor
Everything up to the M25 is fairly predictable: the A361, the M5 and the A303 behave much as you would expect. The anticlockwise section down to the Gatwick junction is the part that varies, and it can swing by three quarters of an hour between a quiet Sunday and a Friday teatime.
We pad for it according to when you are actually travelling rather than applying one blanket allowance. If your flight time gives us a choice, we will tell you which departure slot makes for the easier drive.
Coming home to North Devon
Landing at Gatwick leaves you the best part of five hours from Barnstaple, and the rail alternative involves London and at least two changes with all your cases. It is a poor end to a holiday and an expensive one for a family.
With your flight number we follow the inbound and adjust, so a delayed return does not mean a fresh scramble at the terminal. The car is booked, the price has not moved, and you are asleep in the back within twenty minutes of leaving the airport.
What is included
- Cost agreed at booking, not worked out afterwards
- North and South Terminal drop-offs
- Early charter departures a speciality
- Room for a family holiday's worth of luggage
- Night-before and small-hours collections
