Flying between London and Köln-Bonn CGN Airport is the fastest and often cheapest way to travel to Cologne — Cheap flights also arrive from Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh.
Low-cost airlines Easyjet and Germanwings are the only carriers flying between airports in London or the UK and Flughafen Köln-Bonn (CGN) in Germany. Germanwings also flies to Cologne from Manchester and Edinburgh (EDI) while Flybe connects Birmingham with Cologne. Legacy airlines such as Lufthansa and British Airways do not fly between Britain and Cologne – these airlines arrive in Germany at Frankfurt (FRA) or Düsseldorf (DUS) airports – both around an hour by train from Cologne.
Trains to Cologne are a great alternative, especially when traveling from London.
Cheap Flights from London to Cologne
The cheapest flights from London to Cologne are usually on Germanwings (4U) – a German super low-cost airline owned by Lufthansa. Germanwings flies usually three times per weekday to Cologne-Bonn Airport (CGN) from London-Heathrow (LHR) and London-Stansted (STN). On weekends, the number of flights is much lower. The flights from Stansted are usually the cheapest but prices vary by demand. Germanywings flights can often be booked as Lufthansa flights.
British low-cost airline Easyjet usually flies twice daily from London-Gatwick (LGW) to Cologne-Bonn (CGN) Airport in Germany.
Scheduled flying times from Cologne-Bonn to London airports are 1h10 to Stansted, 1h25 to Gatwick and 1h30 to Heathrow but air traffic control probably has a larger influence on the actual time in the plane.
Cheap Flights from Manchester to Cologne
Germanwings flies five times per week between Manchester Airport (MAN) and Flughafen Köln-Bonn (CGN). The flying time of 1h30 is a significant saving over any other routings requiring connecting flights or transfers to trains and buses.
In contrast to most low-cost airlines, Germanwings offer connection flights from some destinations. It is possible to book flights from Birmingham (BHX) to Cologne-Bonn airport with guaranteed connections on Germanwings flights via Berlin-Tegel (TXL) or Hamburg (HAM) airports.
Cheap Flights from Birmingham to Cologne
Flybe offer direct flights between Birmingham Airport (BHX) and Köln-Bonn (CGN). As with Germanwings, Flybe also offers guaranteed connecting flights, which allow transfer flights to Cologne via Birmingham from Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Cheap Flights from Edinburgh to Köln
Germanwings flies up to six times per week between Edinburgh Airport (EDI) in Scotland and Cologne-Bonn Airport (CGN). The flying time is 1h40. These flights usually do not operate during the winter season.
Transportation from Cologne-Bonn Airport is cheapest by train (€2.80 to downtown Cologne) or buses (€7.20 by bus to Bonn) although pre-booked shuttle vans offer convenience and savings for small groups and families traveling with luggage.
Trains to Cologne are a good alternative for traveling from England (especially from London) to Germany. Buses to Cologne are also available on Eurolines / National Express from most cities in Britain although Megabus usually has the cheapest deals.