London City airport has received planning permission from Newham Council to make investments in its infrastructure to expand capacity at the airport.
London City airport say that additional runway capacity will enable larger aircraft to operate from the airport and enable the number of flights at the airport to increase from 70,000 to 110,000 (a cap imposed by Newham Council).
The development originally proposed by the airport included adding seven aircraft parking stands, extending the terminal building and building a new eastern passenger pier and a new passenger forecourt in front of the terminal building.
It will be interesting to see how airlines respond. The largest aircraft to operate at the airport at present is an Airbus A318 (which serves London City to New York JFK, but has to stop at Shannon to refuel). Expansion may result in additional long-haul services at the airport, both from BA and another airlines.
Slots that enable airlines to operate “out and back in a day” short-haul business routes are also highly sought after and expansion may open new business routes.
London City airport will face additional competition from London Heathrow from Crossrail which is scheduled to open in 2018 and will provide a direct link from the City to London Heathrow.
This is the full press release from the airport. The press release from Newham Council also details some of the conditions attached to the planning permission, specifically around noise.
The London City website also has full details of its development plans for the airport.
