Free planning tool · Not a taxi
How long after landing until I should pick someone up?
Live arrival time + live traffic from your postcode.
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Landing is not the same as ready
When the app says landed, the aircraft has touched the runway. It still has to taxi to a stand, the doors have to open, and the passenger has to get off, walk in, clear the border if there is one, and wait for a bag. None of that shows on the flight tracker.
For a domestic or Irish arrival we allow around 20 minutes from landing to the kerb. After a long-haul flight it is around 40 minutes, because passport control and baggage reclaim take more time; a short-haul international flight sits between the two. Those are realistic allowances for the kind of flight, not a live reading of the queue — we do not have one, and would rather say so.
Then subtract your drive. The planner above takes the flight’s live arrival estimate, adds the ready window, takes off live drive time from your postcode, and gives you a time to leave. If the flight moves, so does your answer.
Collecting from a particular airport?
This is
A calculator for the person doing the collecting. Free, no account, no booking.
This isn’t
An airport taxi, Uber or meet-and-greet. We never take payment for a journey.
Frequently asked questions about picking someone up after landing
How long after landing until someone is ready to be collected?
Landing is not the same as ready. From touchdown the aircraft still has to taxi and park, and the passenger has to get off, clear the border if there is one, and collect any checked bag. For a domestic or Irish arrival we allow around 20 minutes to the kerb; after a long-haul flight it is around 40, because passport control and baggage take more time, and a short-haul international flight sits between the two. The planner shows the window for the specific flight.
So what time should I actually leave the house?
Take when they are likely to reach the kerb, then subtract your drive. The planner uses the flight's live arrival estimate — not the timetable — adds the ready allowance, subtracts live drive time from your postcode, and takes off a few minutes to get into the pick-up area. What is left is your leave time, and it updates if the flight moves.
Does a delay change the answer?
Yes, and that is the point of using the live arrival time rather than the scheduled one. If the flight slips by twenty minutes, your leave time slips by twenty minutes, and you are spared the wait — which at some airports is the difference between a free stop and a £50 one.
Does FlightPickup know the live queue at the border?
No, and we do not pretend to. The ready window is a realistic allowance for the kind of flight, not a live reading of passport control. If you know the border is unusually slow, leave a little later, not earlier.