London Stansted Airport has only one large terminal, divided into a departures area (left) and an arrivals area (right), both on the same level.

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The terminal is spacious and well signposted, yet due to the very heavy air traffic, expect large numbers of people at all hours of the day.

After passing through security, you'll find yourself in a large lobby with shops and restaurants, where you'll have to wait for your gate number to appear on the departure board. This usually happens an hour before departure, sometimes less.

After the security check, you will either walk to gates 40-59 and 81-93 or take the free automatic train running about every 2-4 minutes to gates 1-19 (1 minute ride) or 20-39 (3-4 minute ride).

The airport's official website does not provide a map of the terminal, only a list of services and shops: stanstedairport.com/at-the-terminal.

Immigration and security control

You go through passport control on arrival, but you don't go through passport control on departure, even if you're on an international flight.

Queues for immigration control are split between passengers from the UK, European Union, Australia, USA and a few other countries who can take advantage of significantly faster check-in through automated gates.

Usually you won't wait more than 20 minutes.

All other travelers must go directly to an immigration officer.

Never go through security to the departure area at the last minute. Stansted Airport is known for its long queues, which can reach 45 minutes.

Transfer between flights

Due to the prevalence of low-cost traffic, you can use mostly non-guaranteed transfers at Stansted.

When connecting , you must always pass through passport control, exit the transit area and return to the gates via the departure lounge and security. The minimum net time it takes to walk from the plane on arrival to the other plane on departure is about 50 minutes.

The minimum recommended time for a non-guaranteed "on your own" transfer is 3 hours.