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My first priority for getting back to Blighty was to be back in London on Friday evening. My fiancée lives in Hackney, so London City is by far the closest airport to her place. I’ve flown from Amsterdam Schiphol loads of times, and fancied a change. My search for an alternative airport took me to Rotterdam, which is just over an hour away from Amsterdam by train.

The only airline offering flights from Rotterdam to London City is VLM, who operate nine flights a day during the week from Rotterdam to London City, so I was spoilt for choice. I opted for the 6.20pm flight, which cost €95 (£64).

The frequency of trains between the Netherlands’ major cities puts us to shame (every ten to fifteen minutes between Amsterdam and Rotterdam), although it is worth noting that you have to pay with cash (only Dutch cards are accepted at the various ticket machines dotted around Amsterdam Centraal station). The Dutch trains are not as smart as many of their European counterparts, but this is a country where substance thrives over style – so it was no surprise that the train I caught was bang on time at both ends.

Rotterdam’s main station is best described as a ‘work in progress’. Although a huge makeover is taking place, which could be cause for confusion, the signs to the airport bus were very clear. The 33 bus runs every ten minutes from the station to Rotterdam airport; the journey takes about 20 minutes and costs €2.70 (£1.80). 

Rotterdam airport is small, but perfectly formed. Check-in was quick, there was no security queue, and the little café in the departures lounge served my favourite Euro-drink, Chocomel (I’m easily pleased). Unlike flying out of Schiphol, which can involve half-hour hikes to the gate, Rotterdam was an absolute doddle – I can’t have taken more than 50 paces from the check-in to the aircraft steps.

The VLM in-flight magazine was refreshingly highbrow, although a feature on watches did make me feel very poor (the cheapest watch on show was £2,400!). My reading material kept me occupied until we finally broke through the grey blanket of cloud cover on the approach into London. The trusty turboprop banked over Battersea Power Station before gliding down the Thames towards City airport.

It can be hard to appreciate the architectural riches of our capital until you fly over the city – I was like the proverbial child in a sweet shop. Such spectacular views are reason alone to use London City, but the airport’s real trump card, especially for its core business customers, is how quick and easy it is to use. From the moment the seatbelt light went off to getting onto the DLR station platform took just over seven minutes (yes, I used a stopwatch!). This is all the more impressive considering that I had a bag in the hold.

Having just returned from being very squashed in on a no frills flight back from Amsterdam, I’ll have to say that the idea of flying in a private jet is starting to sound quite appealing.

We’ve had a few phone calls in the past, asking about if we could offer, or advise on how to charter a plane, and we’ve never been able to help much. Now I’ve found out about a US-based company, Elite Jets, which offers on online booking service for private jet flights.

It doesn’t give much  guidance about typical prices, or whether their focus is just on the US, but I’ll try and get more details on this later.

They also have an excellent service of selling empty seats on “dead leg” flights, where an aircraft has been chartered in one direction, and needs to position itself elsewhere. So before I get totally lynched by the ecopuritans, I think it is worth pointing out that this has to be a very environmentally efficient way of acquiring luxury flights.