I have never flown from London City Airport – though I find myself quite envious of those who bag a flight there and skip the long journey out of the centre. You’ve probably heard the same sentiment from those you speak to, and as a smaller airport, it probably isn’t uncommon.
Now, the airport is set to increase its capacity by more than a third, so who knows? You might find yourself using the airport more often after all. Plans have been approved to hike the annual capacity of London City Airport from 6.5 million to nine million passengers by 2031.
As reported by The Standard, the decision was announced yesterday (August 19) by Angela Rayner, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, and Louise Haigh, who is the transport secretary.
After it was initially blocked by City Hall, ministers have approved the proposal from the airport to allow for more passengers by adding more weekend and early morning flights. The government did not, however, approve extended Saturday operating hours, with the airport’s chief executive Alison FitzGerald calling this aspect of the decision “disappointing”. Saturday’s 12:30pm curfew will remain in place, instead of being pushed to 6:30pm as proposed.
Initially, the plan was also rejected by Newham Council back in July last year. This was due to several objections raised including the impact on climate, quality of air, and the extra noise it will create.
The move to go ahead with the proposals has already been criticised by Greenpeace, who called it a “a surprisingly clumsy misstep”. Paul Morozzom who is a climate campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “Not only does it undermine the UK’s climate leadership, but it will mostly benefit an elite of wealthy frequent fliers while dumping the environmental costs on some of London’s poorest neighbourhoods.”
Despite the annual passenger cap going up, the number of flights allowed (111,00 each year) is staying th same.