London City Airport received local planning approval early this month to proceed with developments that will allow it to accept larger aircraft and stimulate an increase in activity from 70,000 to 111,000 flights a year. (There is currently a politically mandated cap of 120,000 flights per year.) Newham Council determined that the increase in noise would “not be significant” despite many local objections. The decision comes against the backdrop of calls for greater airport capacity in the London area, where a wide-ranging inquiry continues into whether authorities should grant Heathrow, Gatwick or both permission to build new runways.
The airport said in a statement that the development would create more short-haul aviation capacity for the UK with new, larger aircraft. “These aircraft will have longer ranges and will open up new markets not currently served from London City Airport,” it noted. Although London City does not plan to extend the 3,934-foot runway, a new, larger terminal and gates plus more capable firefighting equipment would allow higher-capacity aircraft to operate there.
wned by Global Infrastructure Partners, the airport is the closest to London’s Square Mile business and finance district and already boasts 46 destinations across the UK and Europe, as well as British Airways flights to New York (via Shannon on the way out, and direct back). Some 65 percent of its passengers travel on business, compared with 30 percent at Heathrow and 15 percent at London Gatwick. The airport’s Jet Centre FBO, opened in 2002, would also benefit from improved availability of slots for business aviation traffic.
“The development of the airport will culminate in 2023 when, having constructed seven new aircraft stands [making 25 in total], a parallel taxiway and terminal extensions to the west and to the east, the airport will be welcoming 6 million passengers a year [up from the current 3.65 million],” said Declan Collier, the airport’s CEO, said. A limit of 6 million passengers stands as one of the conditions placed on the development.
The terminal will eventually grow to three times its current size, and developers also plan a new six-story hotel with 260 rooms. The plan remain subject to approval by London mayor Boris Johnson by the end of 2015.