Environment
Aerodrome Safeguarding
Aerodrome safeguarding is a process undertaken by airports to ensure that any development or activity taking place within the vicinity of the aerodrome does not adversely affect the safe and efficient movement of aircraft.
London City Airport receives over 1000 aerodrome safeguarding consultations a year; these range from children flying their drones or loft extensions to 300 metre skyscrapers, windfarms or wetland parks. We expect the number of consultations to continue increasing as London expands eastwards and more people move to our great city.
Many large developments in London have also benefitted from seeking our advice on aerodrome safeguarding matters. We can advise from initial design through to construction methodology.
Aerodrome safeguarding is a legal requirement for an airport under both ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) regulations and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) regulations. Given that London City Airport is the only airport actually in London, safeguarding is of particular importance. Therefore, we operate a comprehensive aerodrome safeguarding policy to ensure the Airport is consulted on planning applications and any other activities which may affect the safe operation of aircraft.
This process is managed by our safeguarding department who can be contacted via the information at the foot of this page.
There are 3 main features of safeguarding:
- Physical safeguarding protects the blocks of air through which aircraft fly.
- Technical safeguarding protects the integrity of radar and other electronic communications and navigational aids by preventing reflections or diffractions of radio signals.
- Wildlife hazard management is necessary as birdstrikes are a leading cause of aircraft damage. Therefore it is important not to attract birds to areas where they could come into close proximity with aircraft.
Areas of interest within 10km of London City Airport:
- New developments and planning applications
- Cranes and other tall construction equipment.
- Potential bird attractants such as landscaping or outdoor eateries (this extends 13km from the airport).
- Lightings schemes. These can cause confusion if they distract from visual aids and runway lighting.
- Balloon or Chinese lantern releases.
- Filming or events involving lighting or pyrotechnics
- Drones/UAVs both commercial and privately owned. Visit our drone safety page to learn more about drones and airports
- Wind turbines. This extends 30km from the airfield.
- PV/solar panels
- Vessels operating in the docklands area.
If you intend to use a crane in the vicinity of the airport, please inform either the CAA by emailing arops@caa.co.uk or liaise directly with the airport and submit your query to safeguarding@londoncityairport.com. The charge for processing each crane permit is £250 and requires at least 21 days notice.
If your query is related to drones, please refer to the LCY Drone Safety website.
Should you still need to contact London City Airport Safeguarding, you can do so by emailing safeguarding@londoncityairport.com, although we aim to get back to you as soon as possible, please allow 21 calendar days for response.
For urgent and out of business hours queries please contact Aerodrome Operations on +44 (0)203203 2247.