On this page (5 sections)
The postcode for sat nav
For driving to the terminal, the postcode to use is CM24 1RW. It is the one the airport itself publishes for driving in, and it brings you to the terminal and the Express Set Down drop-off zone. If you are dropping someone off or heading for the front of the airport, this is the code to enter.
The confusion most people hit is the other postcode, CM24 1QW, which is widely quoted online as "the Stansted postcode" and even appears on some sites as the terminal code. It is not wrong exactly: CM24 1QW is the airport's registered postal address on Bassingbourn Road and covers the Premium Orange Short Stay car park, so it gets you to the airport, just not to the terminal entrance. Even aggregator and taxi sites disagree on which to use. The simple rule: for sat nav to the terminal, use CM24 1RW; treat CM24 1QW as the postal address, not the driving destination.
Postcodes for each car park
If you have booked a car park, do not use the terminal postcode. Each car park sits on its own access road with its own postcode, and entering the wrong one can route you the long way round. Use the code for the car park you booked:
| For | Postcode |
|---|---|
| Terminal and Express Set Down (drop-off) | CM24 1RW |
| Premium Orange Short Stay | CM24 1QW |
| Red, Green and Blue Short Stay | CM24 1PP |
| Mid Stay | CM24 1PZ |
| Long Stay | CM24 1SF |
| JetParks | CM24 1AE |
| Car Rental Village | CM24 1SJ |
Postcodes from the official Stansted parking and car-rental pages. Use the one for the car park you have booked. Meet and Greet and Valet drop you at the terminal forecourt, so use the terminal code CM24 1RW for those.
The detail on each car park, with prices and walk or shuttle times, is on the parking page; the Mid Stay car park doubles as the free drop-off option. If you are collecting a hire car, the Car Rental Village on Coopers End Road is CM24 1SJ.
The full postal address
For a form, a delivery or a booking that wants the full address rather than a sat-nav postcode, Stansted's registered postal address is:
London Stansted Airport
Enterprise House
Bassingbourn Road
Stansted
Essex
CM24 1QW
This is the address of Enterprise House, the airport operator's main building, which is why CM24 1QW turns up so often as "the Stansted postcode". It is the correct postal address; it is just not the best code to drive to the terminal, where CM24 1RW serves you better. The airport's IATA code is STN and its ICAO code is EGSS, both useful when a form asks for an airport code rather than an address.
Where Stansted is
Stansted sits in the Uttlesford district of Essex, about 30 miles north-east of central London and close to the Hertfordshire border. It is the furthest of the main London airports from the city centre by road, though the M11 and the rail line keep it well connected. The approximate coordinates are 51.884 north, 0.235 east, if your sat nav takes a latitude and longitude rather than a postcode.
By road it is just off the M11: junction 8a from the London direction, or junction 8 from the Cambridge side, then the A120 dual carriageway and the airport signs. There is no congestion charge or emissions charge to drive there, unlike the central London airports. The full driving picture, including drive times and traffic, is on the driving and the M11 page, and the layout once you arrive is on the airport map.
Sat nav tips
A few things that get drivers to the right place first time.
- Use your car park's postcode, not the terminal's. If you have booked parking, the car park code in the table above routes you to the correct entrance; the terminal code can send you past it.
- Do not use Stansted Mountfitchet. That is the village and its station, a few miles from the airport, not the terminal. A bare "Stansted" can land you there too.
- Trust the airport signs near the end. Once you leave the M11 at junction 8 or 8a, the signage is reliable for the last stretch, even where an older sat nav is unsure of the road layout.
- For drop-off, head for CM24 1RW. That is the terminal and the Express Set Down zone, where the drop-off charge applies; the free alternative is the Mid Stay car park at CM24 1PZ.
- Check the postcode against your booking. Car park operators print the right code on the confirmation; if it differs from the table here, trust your booking, as layouts occasionally change.
For everything else about reaching the airport, including the alternatives to driving, see the Stansted to London hub.