London City Airport helps improve access for local people

London City Airport welcomes a recent report published by Transport for London (TfL) revealing improved access for people living near the airport site.

The report, conducted on behalf of Docklands Light Railway (DLR), shows that 74 per cent of residents living near the airport believe they have improved access to jobs, education and shopping since the opening of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) stations at London City Airport and King George V in December 2005. Respondents to the survey mentioned the DLR extension as a primary factor for moving to the area.

The DLR currently operates a high frequency service between King George V, London City Airport and Canning Town station (on the Jubilee line) and Bank station (on the Central, Northern, Circle, District and Waterloo & City lines), making it possible to reach the heart of London from North Woolwich in less than 45 minutes.

Bus routes 473 (serving North Woolwich to Stratford) and 474 (serving North Woolwich to Manor Park and Canning Town) also started in response to the development of the airport and are particularly valued by airport staff in the local area.

London City Airport is the largest private sector employment site in the London Borough of Newham with almost 2,000 jobs across the 50 companies located on site at the airport. 70 per cent of jobs are filled by people living within a five-mile radius of the airport, many of whom rely on the DLR to commute to work.

Richard Gooding OBE, Chief Executive of London City Airport, said: “The extension to London City Airport was originally conceived to handle the growing surface access requirements of passengers travelling to and from the airport - the prime reason behind its construction. It was the vision of all promoters of the scheme, in particular London City Airport and DLR, that this would bring major access improvements to local people and help regenerate what had become a deprived corner of Newham.”

The extension of the DLR to London City Airport has proved popular amongst airport users since the day it opened. Over 50 per cent of all airport passengers travel on the DLR out of a total of 81 per cent of passengers who travel to and from the airport by public transport. This figure represents the highest public transport access to any airport in the UK.

The excellent transport links to the airport were further confirmed in the July 2008 issue of Business Traveller magazine when it named London City Airport as “the best connected airport in the world”.

London City Airport, celebrating 21 years of operations in October 2008, accommodated 133,000 passengers in its first full year of trading in 1988 and an estimated 3.3 passengers in 2008, making this the most successful year in the airport’s history.