London City Airport expansion approved
09.10.08
London City Airport has received planning permission to increase its take-offs and landings by around 50 percent. Despite residents' fears of increased noise, the number of flights will increase from 80,000 to 120,000.
The airport, which mainly operates business flights for the financial services industry in the City of London and Canary Wharf, has grown rapidly in recent years with passenger volumes rising by more than 20 percent a year in both 2006 and 2007. It was bumping up against its existing limit of 80,000 movements a year, but on Wednesday night the local planning authority, the London Borough of Newham, approved a 50 percent increase to 120,000 movements annually.
Although growth in both commercial passenger numbers and corporate jet movements has been hit hard by the turmoil in global financial markets, passenger traffic is still forecast to rise from 2.9m to 3.2m this year. Passengers are expected to be flat until 2010 but as growth in demand resumes the airport expects the higher limit on flight numbers to allow passenger numbers to rise to more than 3.9m with the number of jobs at the airport increasing by 1,000 to more than 3,000.
The airport has already invested heavily to create facilities to cope with higher numbers and in recent months has added four more aircraft stands. It has opened a new pier and has almost doubled the size of the departure lounge. It has a growing network of European and domestic short-haul destinations, as business travellers take the opportunity to avoid the congestion at the main London airports.
There are no plans to change the airport's operating hours, so it will continue to close at night and for 24 hours at the weekend. Newham council also rejected the airport's application to increase early morning movements.
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