
01Section
Working back from the deadline
The useful number is not the departure time. It is the moment the airline stops accepting bags or closes the gate, which varies by carrier, cabin and terminal. From there the calculation runs backwards: security queue, walk to the gate, and the road time at that hour of the morning.
A 05:30 collection from Belgravia for a first-wave departure faces empty roads and behaves predictably. The same journey at 07:45 does not. Where the traveller has status and hand luggage only, the margin can be trimmed sensibly. Where a bag is being checked, it cannot.








