London City (airport)

Idea and construction

The idea of ​​building an airport was proposed in 1981 by Reg Ward, the head of the then-established London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) with the goal of developing the Docklands area. After negotiations with Philip Beck (head of Mowlem , one of the largest UK construction companies), airport construction has become a reality. In November of the same year, Mowlem and Brymon Airways submitted to the LDDC an airport plan with a runway and access to the city. ^[3]

On June 27, 1982, Brimon pilot Harry Lee landed in Dockland on de Havilland Canada Dash 7 , demonstrating the suitability of building an airport with a short take-off and landing runway. A year later, LDDC published the results of a public opinion poll among residents of the district, which showed that the majority of respondents spoke in favor of building an airport, and Moulam began work on an application for the design of the facility. ^[3]

63 days continued the preparation of the project application, which began on June 6, 1983. By the middle of next year, the Ministry of Transport announced that it was inclined to agree on a statement, but requested additional documents. Ultimately, permission was received only in early 1986. ^[3]

Construction began shortly after obtaining permission; on May 29, 1986, Prince Charles laid the foundation stone for the terminal. The first plane landed on May 31, 1987, the first commercial flight was made in the same year, October 26. Elizabeth II officially opened London City in November of the same year ^[3] .

Placing a commercial airport in crowded airspace was a challenge for the National Air Traffic Service (NATS), which established a special agency, Times Radar, to control air traffic.

Airport Development

In 1988, the first full year of operation, the airport served 133,000 passengers. The earliest scheduled flights connected London with Paris , Amsterdam and Rotterdam . With a runway length of only 1080 and a glide path of 7.5 °, the airport could accept a very limited number of aircraft types, mainly Dash 7 and Dornier Do 228 . In 1989, airport management submitted an application for designing an increase in the length of the runway so that the airport could accept more types of aircraft. ^{[3] [4]}

In 1990, the airport served 230,000 passengers, but performance fell sharply especially after the Gulf War and did not return until 1993, in which 245,000 passengers were transported. By this time, the runway was expanded, and it opened on March 5, 1992. The glide path was reduced to 5.5 °, which was still quite high for the European airport, but enough to accept a wide range of aircraft types, including the BAe 146 . ^[3]

In 1995, the number of passengers carried reached half a million, and Mowlem sold the airport to Irish businessman Dermot Desmond . Five years later, the number of passengers carried reached 1,580,000, with 52,000 flights a year. In 2002, a new catering service was opened for corporate aviation, as well as additional aircraft parking at the western end of the platform. In 2003, there was a place to wait for takeoff at the eastern end of the runway, which enabled planes awaiting takeoff to be there while landing another plane ^[3] .

In 2006, 2.3 million passengers took advantage of airport services. On December 2, 2006, the light metro station opened, connecting the airport with Canary Wharf and the City of London . November 30, 2006 the airport was sold to a consortium, which included AIG , GE Capital and Credit Suisse ^{[1] [3]} .

Airport Operation

The airport has severe restrictions on the level of noise from aircraft . Given the physical parameters of the runway and steep glide path, the types of aircraft that London City can take are limited.

Medium-haul aircraft hosted by London City include: ATR 42 , DHC Dash 8 , BAe-146 Whisperjet , Dornier Do 328 , Embraer ERJ 145 , Embraer E-Jet ^[5] , Fokker 70 , Fokker 50 and Saab 2000 . In addition, in 2006, the Airbus A318 was tested successfully for the possibility of receiving an Airbus A318 (currently, British Airways operates a longer-range version of this model from London City to New York ^[6] ).

Corporate jets such as the Beechcraft Super King Air , Cessna 500 , Hawker 400 , Hawker 800 , and Dassault Falcon options are regular airport guests. For environmental reasons, helicopter maintenance is prohibited.

The airport is open for flights from 05:30 to 21:00 from Monday to Friday, from 05:30 to 11:30 on Saturday and from 11:30 to 21:00 on Sunday. Closing the airport for 24 hours between 11:30 a.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. Sunday is necessary so that local residents can relax from the noise made by airplanes. ^[7]

The airport is limited to Royal Albert and King George V docks filled with water from the north and south, respectively, which means there are no indoor hangars to service aircraft.

Terminal

London City is the smallest of London's international airports. However, it is convenient for those who use the airport, many businessmen meet in it, traveling to the business districts of London, and weekend tourists also use the airport. The terminal has 26 check-in desks and an additional five self-service kiosks for British Airways , Air France , Lufthansa and Scandinavian Airlines System passengers. There are fifteen gates at the airport.

Airlines

The following companies use the services of London City Airport:

• Air france
  • Cityjet
• Austrian airlines
  • Austrian arrows
• British airways
  • BA CityFlyer
• Euromanx
• Klm
  • KLM Cityhopper
• Lufthansa
  • Augsburg Airways
  • Contact air
  • Eurowings
  • Lufthansa CityLine
• Luxair
• Scandinavian airlines
  • Transwede airways
• Swiss International Air Lines
  • Swiss European Air Lines

Transport

London City is connected with the new financial district of London in Canary Wharf and the traditional financial district of London City via the Docklands Light Railway line with connections to the London Underground at various stations. is located directly next to the terminal building.

The airport is served by bus routes 473 and 474 going to East London, previously there was a network of local bus routes, but it was eliminated after the commissioning of the light metro station. Short and long-term car parks are also located near the airport, and a taxi rank is located near the entrance to the terminal.

Data from the request to Wikidata .

Airport Master Plan

In response to the background document issued by the British government, The Future of Air Transport , the airport operator prepared a master plan for the development of the airport until 2030. The plan went public in the spring of 2006 and was reissued based on the results of these discussions and consultations. The master plan takes into account the gradual development of the airport, as a result of which the airport will have to serve 8 million passengers a year by 2030. It does not involve the construction of a second runway or the expansion of the airport. ^[2]

The first stage of development should be completed by 2015. It includes the continuation of the construction of the apron in the eastern part and the pier on the south side, in order to create access for passengers to new aircraft parking. The terminal building is expanding to include the use of a piece of land between the existing terminal and the railway station. Corporate aviation service capacities are expanding, and a fire station is being transferred. ^[8]

Stages 2 and 3 should go from 2015 to 2030. The number of aircraft parking east of the terminal will increase, additional taxiways will be built. For these events, the territory in the King George V dock, today filled with water, will be used. Fueling equipment will be transferred to the eastern part of the airport. A multi-storey parking will be built on the site of the existing parking lot. The facilities serving corporate aviation will also be expanded. As a result, the existing terminal will be completely rebuilt. ^[8]

In accordance with the plan of stage 1 in August 2007, the airport of London City filed an application with the administration of Newham . If satisfied, the airport will be able to increase the number of operated flights by 2010 from 80,000 to 120,000 per year. ^[9]

• London City Airport Official Website
• London City Airport Consultative Committee
• London City Airport Unofficial Website