Another Record Month for London City Airport

 Passenger numbers at London City Airport peaked at 241,976 in the month of August 2007, an increase of 31 per cent over the same period in 2006. Last year in August a total of 185,718 passengers travelled through the airport.

The airport’s passenger statistics have been on the up month after month, with a record 26 per cent increase in July 2007.  Year to date figures show an additional 21 per cent in passengers choosing to fly through London City Airport when compared with the first eight months of 2006.

The growth in London City Airport’s popularity underpins the forecast growth as outlined in its Master Plan (1). On 3 August the airport submitted a planning application (2) to the London Borough of Newham, proposing an increase in movements from 80,000 to 120,000. In the application, London City Airport forecasts 3.9 million passengers will travel through its Docklands terminal by 2010. Almost 2.4 million passengers travelled through London City Airport in 2006.

The growth of London City Airport can be attributed to its convenient links into the centre of London, with transfer times of less than thirty minutes to the heart of London’s financial capital.  The airport has seen an increase in routes this year with most recently announced destinations including Berlin-Tegel with Lufthansa, Oslo with SAS and Madrid with CityJet for Air France. The airport now serves 32 European hubs through a network of 11 airlines.

In August additional security capacity was introduced at London City Airport to meet the incremental growth in passenger numbers. This month the airport also welcomes two branded eateries, Caffe Nero and EAT, into the terminal. Construction of four additional aircraft parking stands is also underway, with completion scheduled for May 2008.

Richard Gooding, Chief Executive of London City Airport said, with an ever increasing number of leading financial institutions locating their headquarters on the east side of London, the airport, only three miles from Canary Wharf, is ideally located to serve the growing business community. Passengers can disembark and arrive at the platform of Docklands Light Railway within five minutes of their flight arriving at London City Airport. These record transfer times make the airport the preferred gateway into London.”

London City Airport, the only London airport to be located within the M25 corridor, is only minutes away from the site of the 2012 Olympic Games and the new O2 entertainment centre. The DLR was introduced to London City Airport in December 2005, with 50 per cent of the airport’s passengers now utilising the efficient service with a journey time of only 22 minutes to Bank station.