Norwich Airport. The only quick way into Norfolk.
No motorway reaches Norwich, which is why the city has a proper business aviation terminal two and a half miles from its centre. Land here and the north Norfolk coast is an hour away instead of a lost afternoon.
The airport
Norwich at a glance
- CodesNWI / EGSHAt Hellesdon, on the northern edge of the city, about two and a half miles from the centre.
- Runway09/27, 1,841 metresAsphalt, and long enough for light, midsize and many super midsize types.
- Business aviationA dedicated centre on the fieldSaxonAir runs the business aviation centre at the western end of the airport, away from the passenger terminal.
- Published handling hours07:00 to 19:00Those are the business aviation centre's published hours. Movements outside them are arranged through your handling agent.
- RoadsA140 at the perimeterWith the A1270 Broadland Northway running east to the Broads and the coast road, avoiding the city centre.
- Also on the fieldNorth Sea helicopter operationsCrew flights to the southern North Sea gas and energy installations work from here.
- OwnerRegional and City AirportsOperated by Norwich Airport Limited.
- The alternativeCambridge, about 60 miles westBetter for the M11 corridor. See Cambridge.
Norwich is a small field with a full sized runway, which is the combination that makes it useful. Ask your operator to confirm your aircraft type and sector before the day is built around it.
Journey times
From Norwich Airport by road
| To | Quiet roads | Busy periods |
|---|---|---|
| Norwich city centre and the station | 10 to 20 minutes | 20 to 35 minutes |
| Norwich Research Park and the university | 20 to 30 minutes | 30 to 45 minutes |
| Wroxham and the Broads | 25 to 35 minutes | 30 to 50 minutes |
| Holt, Blakeney and Cley | 45 to 60 minutes | 60 to 85 minutes |
| Burnham Market and Brancaster | 60 to 80 minutes | 80 to 110 minutes |
| Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft | 35 to 50 minutes | 45 to 70 minutes |
| Newmarket | 75 to 95 minutes | 95 to 120 minutes |
| Cambridge | 85 to 105 minutes | 105 to 140 minutes |
Realistic ranges, not promises. The problem road is the A149 along the north Norfolk coast on a summer weekend, where a single tractor or a queue for a car park can add half an hour between Holt and Burnham Market. The A11 and A14 towards Cambridge and Newmarket are slowest on a Friday afternoon.
Why clients choose it
Norfolk is further than it looks on a map
East Anglia is the corner of England the motorway network never reached. London to a house near Burnham Market is three and a half hours on a good day and considerably more on a Friday in August, and the train leaves you at Norwich with the last hour still to drive. Flown into Norwich, the same trip is a short sector and an hour in the car, and a day trip becomes possible rather than theoretical.
The traffic here is not only leisure. Norwich is an insurance and financial services city, the Research Park is a serious life sciences cluster, Newmarket bloodstock is within reach, and the southern North Sea energy industry works out of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. A board that needs to be at two of those in a day, and back in London for dinner, is exactly the kind of day this airport exists for.
On the day
Where the car waits and how we meet you
Private movements use the business aviation centre at the western end of the field, which has its own approach road, parking and lounges, a few hundred metres from the passenger terminal. We speak to the handling agent for your flight, agree where the car should stand and what time it should be there, and position it before the aircraft is on the ground. Where the airport permits it for that movement, the car can be brought to the aircraft. That permission is the airport's to give, so we confirm what has actually been approved rather than promise it in advance.
For a scheduled arrival your chauffeur meets you inside the terminal with a name board. It is a small building and the walk to the car takes a minute. We track the inbound flight from departure, so a delay moves the car rather than costing you standing time.
What we handle
Details that make a Norfolk day work
Long lanes, coastal roads and addresses a satnav gets wrong.
- Flight tracking on both legs, with the return timed backwards from the last useful departure
- Coordination with the business aviation centre and the handling agent, including ramp access where it is permitted
- Coastal and estate addresses checked in advance, because a flint wall and a gate are not a postcode
- Multi stop days across Norwich, the Research Park, Yarmouth and Newmarket planned as one journey rather than four bookings
- Larger vehicles for families, dogs, boards and sporting luggage that a saloon boot will not take
Coverage
Our cars, and cars we arrange
Odyssey owns its cars and employs its chauffeurs in London and Manchester. In Norfolk and Suffolk we work with operators we know and have used before, to our brief and under our booking, so you keep one contact and one number wherever the car is. Once there are three passengers and a weekend's luggage, a V-Class is the better car than an S-Class, and we will say so when we quote. If you need the aircraft as well, we arrange that: see private jet charter and on demand charter.
Onward
Where Norwich passengers go next
Other airports
Aircraft that suit the field
Request a quote
Tell us the day
Flight details, passengers, luggage, and the full address at the far end with its postcode. If the day has several stops, give us all of them and we will plan the order. Nothing is booked or charged online.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
About Norwich transfers
Can the car come to the aircraft?
Where the airport and the handling agent permit it for your movement. Otherwise the car is at the business aviation centre door, a few steps away. We confirm before you land.
Norwich or Cambridge?
Norwich for Norfolk, the Broads and the coast, and for anything east of Thetford. Cambridge for the M11 corridor, Newmarket and the science parks. If your day covers both, we will usually suggest landing at Norwich and driving west, because the return leg is easier to protect.
Can you take us to the north Norfolk coast?
Yes, and it is one of the most common jobs here. Give us the village and the house and we will quote the real driving time rather than the map one, including the summer weekend allowance.
We are going to Newmarket. Is this the right airport?
It works, but Cambridge or Stansted is usually a shorter drive. Tell us the day and we will say honestly which field we would use.
Can you arrange the aircraft as well?
Yes. See private jet charter.
