London's small airport is set to be expanded to make it easier to fly to other parts of Europe.
London City Airport (LCY), located in the east of London, will be allowed to expand its passenger numbers from 6.5 million to 9 million a year, according to the Department for Transport, and will also be able to add three extra early morning weekday flights.
The tiny airport has just 15 gates across two wings and handled just 3.4 million passengers last year – a tiny fraction of the 79 million passengers that passed through London Heathrow Airport (LHR) last year.
London City Airport, popular for its proximity to central London, has seen an increase in passenger numbers since the pandemic, according to the airport, but has still not reached pre-pandemic figures, such as the 5.1 million passengers it handled in 2019.
The airport serves flights to over 20 destinations across the UK and Europe, including major airlines such as British Airways, Lufthansa and KLM.
Airports will be allowed to expand but not extend their opening hours. Currently, London City Airport is open from 4.45am to 10pm Monday to Friday, 10.45am to 10pm on Sundays and 4.45am to 1pm on Saturdays.
The airport instead requested that it be closed at 6.30pm on Saturday, but this was rejected due to several concerns, including noise.
“We welcome the approval of increased passenger numbers but are disappointed that the government has rejected our proposal to fly from 12.30pm to 6.30pm on Saturdays,” Alison Fitzgerald, CEO of London City Airport, said in a statement. “As the government recognises in its decision, rejecting our request to extend Saturday afternoon operating hours would delay airlines bringing cleaner, quieter next-generation aircraft to the airport. Local residents will benefit not only from these extended operating hours but also from the additional fact that these aircraft will operate at the airport throughout the weekday.”
London has six major airports: Heathrow (LHR), London Gatwick (LGW), London City (LCY), London Luton (LTN), London Stansted (STN) and London Southend (SEN).
