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Nottingham to East Midlands Airport: the complete guide

Distance, routes, drive times, parking, taxi prices and every practical detail you need for the shortest airport hop in the East Midlands.

2025-12-08 · 6 min read

East Midlands Airport (EMA) is the closest major airport to Nottingham — 16 miles, 25 minutes door-to-terminal in typical conditions. Here's everything you need to know.

Route

A453 from Nottingham → M1 J24 → EMA. The A453 upgrade a few years back made this route almost bulletproof. There is no alternative worth using.

Drive times by time of day

  • Overnight: 22 minutes.
  • 4–6am (charter peak): 25 minutes.
  • 7–9am: 35 minutes (A453 slow inbound to Nottingham direction — outbound to EMA is fine).
  • 9am–3pm: 25 minutes.
  • 3–6pm: 35 minutes (rush hour builds).
  • Evening: 25 minutes.

Airlines & routes

EMA is a Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI base. Big on Alicante, Palma, Faro, Malaga, Antalya, Krakow, Prague, Corfu, Rhodes, and a growing list of city breaks. No long-haul — for that, use Birmingham or Manchester.

Terminal & security

One compact terminal. Security is efficient off-peak but genuinely brutal 4–6:30am on summer weekends — 45-minute queues are normal. New CT scanners are rolling out but not fully live yet.

Parking

See our detailed [East Midlands parking guide](/blog/east-midlands-airport-parking-explained). Short version: pre-booked long-stay from £45/week, taxi is usually better value for 2+ travellers.

Taxi from Nottingham

Our fixed fare is £35 one way, £70 return. Includes flight tracking and 1 hour free waiting on return pickups. See our [Nottingham to East Midlands](/airports/east-midlands) page for full details and to book.

Timing rule

Check-in closes 40 minutes before departure (Ryanair, Jet2). Leave home 2h 30min before your scheduled departure and you'll never miss a flight.

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