LONDON CITY AIRPORT

30 years serving the capital

14 mins to Canary Wharf 22 mins to Bank 25 mins to Westminster

• Voted Best Regional Airport in the world*

• Only 20 mins from terminal entrance to departure lounge

• On arrival, just 15 minutes from plane to train

*CAPA Regional Airport of the Year Award - 27/10/2016

For timetables and bookings visit:

londoncityairport.com

FAST, PUNCTUAL AND ACTUALLY IN LONDON.

30 YEARS OF SERVING LONDON

00814_30th Anniversary Book_2x 177x240_Tower Bridge.indd 1 26/06/2017 13:22

LONDON CITY AIRPORT

30 years serving the capital

Malcolm Ginsberg

Foreword by Sir Terry Morgan CBE, Chairman of London City Airport 7

Now and Then 8

Introduction by Malcolm Ginsberg 9

Prince Philip and London City Airport 10

The Airport Directors 12

1 ReectionsonLondonCityAirport 13

2 HistoryoftheLondonDocklands 23

3 TheLondonDocklandsDevelopmentCorporation 29

4 AShortHistoryofBrymonAirways 33

5 LondonCityAirways(EurocityExpress) 39

6 TheDocklandsLightRailway 43

7 Canary Wharf 49

8 ExCeL London 55

9 The Airport Timeline 61

1981–1986 64

 HarveyElliott 67

Feature from The Times5November1987 68

The Historic Collection 70

1987–2017 London City Airport and World 72

10 TheAircraft 133

 BritishAerospaceBAe146andAvroRJ 134

 Brazil–AviationandEmbraer 139

 Canada–deHavillandandBombardier 143

The AIso Rans by Ian Harbison 148

11 AHeavySWISSLanding 151

12 New York from London City Airport 155

It’s All About Retail 160

13 LondonCityAirportPrivateJetCentre 161

14 CityAirportDevelopmentPlan 165

15 LondonCityAirportConsultativeCommittee 169

London City Airport Winter 2017–2018 Destinations 172

16 CorporateSocialResponsibility 173

17 The Future of the Royals 177

TheTop20Routes2016 183

Contents

A Very Big Thank You

My most sincere gratitude to Sharon Ross for her major contribution to the editorial and Alan Lathan, once of

JeppesenAirwayManuals,forhisknowledgeoftheindustryanddiligenceinproongthistome.Thislistisfar

fromcompletebutthesearesomeofthepeoplewhosereminiscencesandmemorieshavehelpedmecompilea

bookthatis,Ihope,atruereectionofaremarkableachievement.LondonCityAirport–LCYtoitsfriendsand

thetravellingpublic–isagreatsuccess,andforLondontoo.Mygratefulthanksgotoallthecontributorstothis

book, and in particular the following: Andrew Scott and Liam McKay of London City Airport; and the retiring Chief

ExecutiveDeclanCollier,withoutwhosesupporttheprojectwouldneverhavegotofftheground.

TomAppleton  Ex-deHavillandCanada

SirPhilipBeck  Ex-JohnMowlem&CoPlc(Chairman)

PatByrne  CityJetExecutiveChairman

Alison Chambers Emerald Media

DermotDesmond  PreviousownerofLondonCityAirport

DavidDorman  DorwayPublicRelationsonbehalfofBAeSystems

Guy Douglas Embraer

JohnGarwood  CanaryWharfPlc

Pandora George Bullet PR for Royal Docks Management Authority

RoyGrifns  Ex-LondonCityAirport(Chairman)

Ian Harbison Air Transport Publications

StuartInnes  Ex-LondonDocklandsDevelopmentCorporation

MikeJohnson  Ex-BrymonAirways

AlanLathan  Ex-Jeppesen

Mike Luddy The Royal Docks Ltd

DavidPeglar  ExCeLLondon

JamesRees  ExCeLLondon

Bob Schumacher Ex-Eurocity Express (now with United Airlines)

Andnally,IwouldliketothankmywifeLindawhohasfollowedmyinterestinLondonCityAirportfromthevery

beginningandforherpatiencewithmewhileIwascreatingthisbook.

Photographs

ManythankstoDaveWilliamsofExpressPhotoServiceswhohasrecordedLCYfromthebeginning,forover20

years,andhasbeenverygenerouswithhistimeinhelpinguslocatephotographsforthisbook.AlsoVicAbbott,

aNATScontroltowerengineer,alsowiththeairportvirtuallyfromthebeginning,andakeensnappertoo;plus

veteranphotographersMikeHooks,PeterMarchandBarryWheeler.

We are indebted to The Times fortheuseofitsextensivephotolibraryfortheTimelinechapterandLondon

CityAirportforitsarchives.OurthanksalsototheDocklandsMuseum,theRoyalDocksGroupandRoyalWharf

forthemaponpages184/5;andtheBruceMcClarenFoundationinNewZealandwhomanagedtondanimageof

ChrisAmonandhispalBillBryce.

Malcolm Ginsberg

PublishedbyBusinessTravelNewsLtd2017

POBox758,EdgwareHA84QF,UnitedKingdom

www.btnews.co.uk

ISBN978-1-900438-07-0

ProducedbyFortyEditorialServicesLtd

Printed at Short Run Press, Exeter, United Kingdom

Distributed by Crécy Publishing Ltd

www.crecy.co.uk

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outpriorwrittenpermissionfromthePublisher.

The information in this book is true and complete

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LOVE

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Foreword

I was delighted to be asked, and to accept the

position as Chairman of London City Airport in

March2017.Theairport,inmyview,istheheart-

beatofbusinessyinginLondon.

The fact that we are celebrating the 30th

anniversaryofLondonCityAirportisdownto

the dedication of its staff, past and present, who

maketheairporttickandhelpusdeliverwhat

I consider to be an industry leading customer

experienceforourpassengers.

My rst personal interaction with London

City Airport was just six years ago when I

tooka ightto Glasgow.LCYwas abusy ter-

minal but I was struck by the no fuss approach

to transferring me through check-in, security

and boarding the aircraft. No fuss to me as a

passenger,butobviouslybasedonattentionto

detail by the airport. I have travelled through

LCY a number of times since then, always on

businessandeverytimetheairportisbusy.Ilook

forward to my much closer relationship with

the airport as we continue our growth plans

basedonasignicantinvestmentinnewassets

but maintaining attention to the needs of those

usingtheairport.

As you’ll read in this book, it has not always

been easy for LCY – an airport in the Dock-

lands was a bold and pioneering concept, and it

hashadtoghtforitsexistenceanditsmarket

share.Iwouldliketousethisforewordtosaya

personal thank you to Mowlem Construction,

underthesteerageofSirPhilipBeck,andprevious

Chairmen, including Roy Grifns, who readied

the ground for growth and the dynamic business

youseeandusetoday.

Thosechallengeshavebeenbalancedinequal

measure with opportunities, so much so that

since the previous milestone of the 20th anni-

versaryin2007,thenumberofpassengersusing

the airport has almost doubled, most recently to

justover4.5millionin2016.

Looking to the future, what I see now for

LCY is potential; signicant potential for the

airport, and across the whole of East London,

which is experiencing incredible regeneration.

In the coming decade East London will be at the

centre of London’s growth, its new homes, its

newjobs,itsnewresidents.Andthankstoour

City Airport Development Programme, LCY

will play a key role in supporting that growth,

attracting investment and connecting London

businesses globally.As it once served Canary

Wharf, I see the LCY of the future continuing to

connect our traditional business hubs, but also

emerging ones in Stratford, Barking, Greenwich,

Bexleyandbeyond.

And as we grow, we’ll do so responsibly, con-

tinuouslyinnovatingsowebalancetheimpactof

ouroperationswiththebenetsofemployment

andeconomicgrowth.Wewillcontinuetoinvest

in our communities so the people and school

childrenof East London can takeadvantage of

theopportunitieswecreate.

It’s an exciting time to be part of London City

Airport. On behalf of myself, the shareholders

and management team I’d like to thank you for

yoursupportandcustom.Wenowlooktothe

future and to building an airport that not only

meetsyourexpectations,butexceedsthem.

July 2017

Sir Terry Morgan CBE

Chairman of London City Airport

Foreword • 7

8 • London City Airport Introduction • 9

2017

Canadian-led consortium owners

Newham Council

Runway length 1199m

AirbusA318(largestaircraft)

Embraer E Series (main aircraft)

Bombardier CS

BBC EastEnders map shows London City

Theresa May

Chris Grayling

RobSinclair–AirportCEO

18 airline operators

50 destinations from London City Airport

Maximum45runwaymovementsperhour

Policemen with guns

App

Docklands Light Railway

Oystercard

Body security scanner

LondonCitytoParisOrly

Greater London Authority from 2000

SadiqKhan–MayorofLondon

Onepoundcoin

European red biometric passport

Wi-

Shop till you drop at London City Airport

Smartphone

Electronicightbagforpilots

Drone

GPS

iPad

Lowvoltagechargers

Kindle

Smart screens

34.3millioncarsinBritain

United Kingdom population 66 million

Now and Then

30 Years of Travel and London City Airport

1987

JohnMowlem&Co

LondonDocklandsDevelopmentCorporation

Runway length 762m

Dornier 228 (smallest)

BAe 146 (ready to come in)

Dash 7

BBC EastEnders map (London City was refused)

Margaret Thatcher

Paul Channon (both Secretary of State for Transport)

JohnDouthwaite–AirportDirector

Two scheduled airlines

Three destinations from London City Airport

15runwaymovementsperhour

George Dixon style bobbie

Ticket coupon

North London Line

Bus ticket

Ticket inspection

London City to Paris Charles de Gaulle

Greater London Council (GLC) disbanded 1986

No London leader with the axing of the GLC

Onepoundnote

British printed blue passport

Fax

Single coffee shop at London City Airport

Telephone kiosk

Flight manual

Helicopter photo ship

Find your position on a map or use a compass

Notepad

Three (and two) pin plugs

Books(butwestilldohavethem)

Noticeboards

20.5millioncarsinBritain

United Kingdom population 57 million

March 1982. London

was its usual self. Wet,

dullandmiserable.Iwas

in my then City ofce.

I had resigned from

Lotus Cars and my rst

clients as a public relations

practitioner were Colin

Chapman’s Moonraker boat company, CSE-The

OxfordAirTrainingSchoolandPlymouth-based

BrymonAirways.

Thephonerang.ItwasBillBryce,theenigmatic

owner and Managing Director of Brymon. At

that time BC (our two letter airline code) was

an up and coming British regional carrier and

hadjusttakendeliveryoftherstUK-registered

50-seatdeHavillandCanadaDash7shorttake-

offandlandingaircraft.BillandIhadbothown

on the aircraft at the Farnborough Air Show in

1978andwereimpressed.SubsequentlyBrymon

operated a Plymouth to Heathrow service, as

well as basing a pair of aircraft at Aberdeen in

supportoftheoffshoreoilactivities.

‘Be a good fellow and pop down to Heron

Quays and see if we can land an aircraft there,’

Billsaid inhisNewZealanddrawl. HeronQuays

I thought to myself.That’s south ofWhitechapel.

Docklands. Or dying Docklands by then. ‘Some

crazy guy has called me to say the Dash 7 might

beabletogetdownonadisuseddock,’hesaid.It

seemedthatPhilipBeck,aprivatepilot,hadnoticed

in Flight International magazine a report of the

aircraft’sastonishingshorteldperformance.

What I saw was around 1,000 yards of

abandoned quay, freeofobstacles at each end.

Asaformerprivatepilotmyselfitseemedtome

that the Dash 7 might safely make a landing but it

was up to the professionals to take a proper look

andfortheCivilAviationAuthoritytoapprove

aight.Ialsodrovetotheproposedsiteofan

airportinthederelictKingGeorgeVDockand

visualisedwhatmighthappen.Butitdidseema

longwayfromtheCityofLondon.

This book will take you through the history

of what is now London City Airport and still the

only active purpose-built UK airport built since

WorldWarII.Noonepersonoreventcantake

theplauditsforitsundoubtedsuccess.Politicians

nearly wrecked it but those with vision and

enterprise stood by the project in its darkest

days. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) has

arrivedandhopefullytheElizabethLine(Crossrail)

forthefuture.Some4.5millionpassengersused

the airport in 2016 and it is part of the new

city that is CanaryWharf and the Isle of Dogs.

ExCeL, London’s leading exhibition centre, sits

adjoiningthesite,60destinationsareservedand

New York, Moscow and the Gulf states are now

withinthescopeofnon-stopscheduledights.

Do take a look at Heron Quays next time

youare at CanaryWharf.There is a plaque at

ground level as you enter the DLR station to

commemorate the test landing on 29

June1982.

Thingshavechangedsomewhatsincethen!

Created by Margaret Thatcher’s incoming

Conservative Government, the London Dock-

lands Development Corporation (LDDC) had

been tasked with rejuvenating a part of East

Londonthatappearedtohavenofuture.Under

the energetic leadership of Reg Ward, the LDDC

tookoveran8.5-squaremileareaofEastLondon,

nominally called ‘The Docklands’, including parts

ofNewham,TowerHamletsandSouthwark.The

task to turn it into a 21st century mini-city.

London City Airport is a lasting tribute to Reg

Wardandhisinnovativeteam.

Malcolm Ginsberg

London

July 2017

Introduction

10 • London City Airport Introduction • 11

Prince Philip and

London City Airport

FromthetimeofitsrstlandinginJuly1988the

British Aerospace (BAe) 146, and its successor

the Avro RJ, have provided the backbone of

aircraftoperationsatLCY.CityJetexpectstouse

the four-engined aircraft, with a capacity of up to

112passengers,intothenextdecade.

A one-time pilot Prince Philip, a keen

supporter of LCY and the 146, is seen here in

the BAe Hateld simulator before being put

throughhispaces.

As part of preparations for the 2017

anniversary, a special pamphlet from the

tenth anniversary of the airport in 1997 was

rediscovered which demonstrated that the

airporthadroyalapproval.

In a foreword Prince Philip, wrote:

‘The Queen opened London City Airport

10 years ago and I can only imagine that the

developers must have held their breath as

they waited to see whether this somewhat

unconventionalairportwasgoingtobeasuccess.

I think it was a brilliant idea, but then I found it

tobewonderfullyconvenient.Ioncemadeitin

19minutesfromBuckinghamPalace.’

Recently Buckingham Palace was able to

conrmtotheauthorofthisbook‘Thathe[His

Royal Highness] was in the cockpit for a number

ofightsinto,andoutof,LondonCityAirport’,

his Private Secretary noting that ‘This letter

comeswithPrincePhilip’sbestwishes.’

Above: Often seen for training purpose in the early days, on short nals at LCY, a No 32 (Royal) Squadron BAe 146.

Below: Ready to collect Princess Diana, a No 32 (Royal) Squadron BAe 146.

12 • London City Airport

Chapter One

Reflections on

London City Airport

THE AIRPORT

DIRECTORS

(ChiefExecutiveOfcers)

• 13

JohnDouthwaite(left).

1986–1988.Withsomeof

therstpassengers.

Bill Lindsell (left).1988–1990.SeenherewiththeDukeofKent.

BillCharnock.1990–1995

JohnHorne.1995–1996 RichardGooding,OBE.1996–2012 DeclanCollier.2012–2017

Reections on London City Airport • 1514 • London City Airport

Declan Collier

The selection of Declan Collier

as Chief Executive of London

City Airport in March 2012,

following the retirement of

Richard Gooding after 15 years,

was seen by both the City and

the air travel industry as a

determination by the airport

owner to make an appointment

of real standing in the international airport forum.

Previously Chief Executive of the State-owned Dublin

Airport Authority since 2005, and prior to that with

ExxonMobil, Declan is Chair of the World Board

of Airport Council International (ACI), the airport

equivalent body of IATA, and formerly Chair of ACI

Europe. He holds a Masters degree from Trinity

College Dublin.

Declan announced his decision to stand down in

April 2017, his post taken by Robert Sinclair from

Bristol Airport who joins London City exactly 30 years

after Queen Elizabeth ofcially opened the terminal.

Here he reects on his ve years in charge whilst

Robert Sinclair considers the challenges ahead as the

airport moves towards a new era.

‘InoneofmyrstinterviewsasCEOofLondon

City Airport a journalist from the Daily Telegraph

speculated that LCY would feel like an oasis

ofcalm aftertheDAA.Well, Icanhappilysay

it has been anything but, instead it has been a

time characterised by growth, by change and by

signicantachievement.

In early 2012 we were a business of around

1,400 staff, eight airlines and around three million

passengers.Wewereabusinessthatwasrightly

proudofthefast,efcientserviceitprovided,

in particular for the dynamic businesses of the

CityandCanaryWharf.Butwewantedtodo

moreandwehadthatpotential.

The CityAirport Development Programme

(CADP)wasavisionforourfutureairport;an

airport that could meet demand, welcome the

next generation of aircraft, connect to new

globaldestinationsandnotonlyserveLondon’s

nancial,businessandgovernmentdistricts,but

beacatalystfortheregenerationofEastLondon.

This was an ambitious programme, and one

that we undertook at the most challenging period

inUKaviation.Despitehavingacompellingcase,

thereweresetbacks,signicantones,whichat

timesledmetoquestionwhetherCADPwas

deliverable.

But, what inspired me was how steadfast

and committed our whole business was to

overcomingtheobstaclesthathadbeenplaced

in front of us. We knew we had a winning

case, and despite the headwinds of exiting

the European Union and a change in political

leadership,inJuly2016,CADPwasconsented

bytheUKGovernment.

We were vindicated, but moreimportantly,

it allowed us to plan for the future; a future in

which we would create another 2,000 new jobs,

addmuchneededcapacitytotheUKaviation

system and generate £1.3 billion for the UK

economyeachyear.

Change is part and parcel of any business

and LCY has had two owners in my time at the

airport.While sales processes are never easy,

whathasstruckmewasthebeliefourrespective

ownershaveintheairport,theirwillingnessto

investandtheircertaintyinourpotential.

“Faster,BetterJourneys”isourvision.Itisa

propositionthatIbelievesetsusapartfromall

otherUKandEUairportsandweinvestheavily

toprovidethebestpassengerexperience.

I would take up the rest of the book if I were

tolistallthatwehave done in this time, but

instead let me characterise how we embraced

changeandinnovationandbuiltanairportwith

ourcustomersatitsheart.

If you walked down our West Pier two years ago

you would be reminded of the days of 50-seater

aircraftserving the airport, so weinvested £24

million in an upgrade programme to handle 100-

seat+ aircraft, adding more seats, more space and

newconcessionsforourcustomers.

Alongside this we have constantly looked at

ways of not only maintaining our ‘20/15’ passenger

proposition.  It takes just 20 minutes from

disembarkingtheDLRtogettingtoyourgate.And

onarrivalsitis15minutesfromlandingtoarriving

attheDLR.Asweareasmall,agilecompanywe

have been able to workwith emerging London

and UK tech companies like CrowdVision and

Autonomawhohaveallowedustomeasuretrain-

to-gate real time passenger ows and embrace

Articial Intelligence solutions in the aircraft

turnaroundprocess.Passengerinsightallowsusto

make dynamic, informed decisions that in an LCY

context, means an ever quicker, better airport

experience.

And, most recently, we were able to announce

aUKrst,aDigitalRemoteControlTower.This

again demonstrated that LCY was resolutely

cutting edge and the Tower, once complete in

2019, will create a more reliable and resilient

service that by embracing new technology, will

make LCY even more efcient and directly

benetourpassengers.

As I look at the business now, we are an

airport that is building from a position of

strength.Anddon’ttakejustmywordforit,look

at the litany of awards and recognition the team

hasreceived,fromthebestairportintheworld

undervemillionpassengersin2017bySkytrax,

togainingstage3CarbonAccreditationStatus

from ACI Europe, to winning the inaugural UK

All Party Corporate Social Responsible Business

oftheyearaward.

What these successes say to me is that we

areanairportthatisreadyforthefuture.Weare

an airport about to embark on a £370 million

developmentprogramme,anairportthatispoised

to double its workforce to 4,500 by the mid-2020s

and an airport that is ready to welcome more

airlinesandthenewest,mostinnovativeaircraft.

We are also an airport that, just as when

weopenedon5November1987,issteadfastly

committed to investing in, and creating

opportunities for, our local community.This is

an East London business and it will continue

to create jobs for its residents, invest in their

education and continue to be an industry leader

innoiseandenvironmentalmitigation.

There is much to look forward to. London

City Airport, the only London airport actually in

London,issettoservethecapitalforafurther30

years,andbeyond.’

Robert Sinclair comes to London City Airport as Chief

Executive Ofcer after a similar position at Bristol

Airport since 2008. During his time Bristol Airport

has seen record growth in passenger numbers and

protability and the successful delivery of a £160

million development programme.

A native of New Zealand, Mr Sinclair is a qualied

chartered accountant and solicitor. Prior to taking on

the role at Bristol he was the Chief Financial Ofcer

of Auckland International Airport following a ten-year

career with UBS in investment banking.

‘I am delighted to be taking on the role of Chief

ExecutiveOfcerofLCYontheoccasionofits

30thanniversaryandatsuchanexcitingtimefor

theairport.

I would like to pay tribute to Declan and the

whole team for all their hard work in getting LCY

to where it is today – an award-winning, incredibly

popularairportrightintheheartofLondon.We

haveavery ambitiousdevelopmentprogramme

aheadofus–aplantoincreasecapacityto6.5

million passengers per year and 111,000 ight

movements, much needed capacity when the

rest of the London airport market is highly

constrained and congested, and at a time when

the City of London and the UK must protect and

growinternationalconnectivity.

While expanding the airport’s capacity, we

willcontinuetodeliveranoutstandingcustomer

experience both on departure and arrival, and

infuse our airport with a real sense of place,

recognising our very distinctive East London

heritage and location. It’s going to be a huge

challenge,butonethatIamveryexcitedabout.’

And a few words from

Robert Sinclair

Reections on London City Airport • 1716 • London City Airport

It was back in 1966 Tom Appleton joined the then

de Havilland Canada (DHC), now Bombardier,

becoming a senior development pilot famously

demonstrating the Dash 7’s remarkable runway

performance at Farnborough 1978. He served as

Vice-President of Customer Support of Bombardier

Amphibious and later VP for the sale of its products

around the world. As CEO of Piaggio Aero Industries

SpA he was much involved with the development

of the Avanti turboprop. He is a Director of Conair

Group Inc, the British Columbia company specialising

in airborne reghting. Tom Appleton is Chairman of

the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame.

In many ways without Tom Appleton’s guidance

Brymon Airways would not have survived serious

nancial problems. He reects on the past and looks

at the future.

‘Bill Bryce was a regular visitor to the de

HavillandplantatToronto(Canada)duringthe

lateseventiespurchasingoneaftertheother

of ourTwin Otter utility aircraftto be used

mainly on routes out of Plymouth. Like all

our guests he was impressed with the Dash 7

whenheewonitatFarnboroughandwhen

the opportunity to purchase the aircraft came

about shortly afterwards he quickly put a

packagetogether.

Perhaps too quick. In truth Brymon was in

noshapetotakeontheinvestmentrequiredof

suchadaringventure,bothanewveryadvanced

aircraft,andwhatwaseffectivelyanewairport.

Having purchased Dash 7s with nancing

in Dollars, the airline was soon faced with

a recession and the collapse of the Pound.

Repayment of its debt was impossible and in

1983deHavillandCanada,asthelargestcreditor,

calledintheauditorsPeatMarwicktodevisea

strategy.

DHC’s anxieties about the likely collapse of

Brymonweretwofold.Firstwasacommitment

to our good customers Chevron and Shell,

worldwide operators of DHC aircraft supporting

their exploration programmes, who relied on

Brymon Dash 7s to transport their North Sea

employees from Aberdeen to the Unst Heliport,

intheShetlandIsles.

DHC’s second concern was the embryonic,

but much longer term opportunity presented at

LondonDocklands.

As one of the test pilots involved in the

original development of the Dash 7, including

participation with the British contribution to the

certication standards created for short take-

offand landing(STOL)operationsofthe Dash

7, with its 7.5-degree approachslope approval,

I had maintained close contact with Brymon as it

expandeditsregionalservices.

When the company’s problems surfaced,

DHC President John Sandford dispatched me

overnighttoLondonwithinstructionsto“sort

it out”.With our advisors, we worked out a

plan to hold off on bankruptcy proceedings and

keep Brymon aoat on its cash ow to await

better business conditions, if the regulator could

be convinced to approve it.The CivilAviation

Authority was receptive to our proposal and

allowed DHC temporary dispensation to own

and operate the UK-based airline for a limited

period,tosave400jobsinPlymouthandperhaps

seetheDocklandsdevelopmentforward.

We immediately purchased the Brymon assets

from Bill Bryce (for just £100,000, if I remember

correctly) the night before bankruptcy would

havebeenunavoidable.

The rst task was to nd a professional

manager to run the airline, so DHC Chairman

“Barney”Danson,theformerCanadianDefence

Minister, arranged a meeting with Margaret

Thatcher’s “favourite businessman”, ICI and

BritishAirways’ChairmanSirJohn(laterLord)

King,inhisofcesintheCity.

WhenaskedifhecouldrecommendaCEO

to head up Brymon, Sir John responded from

behindhismassivedeskinacloudofsmokefrom

his Churchillian cigar: “You could do worse than

to read this morning’s Financial Times.”

BA had just red in spectacular fashion,

noted as “the night of the long knives”,

severalredundantexecutivesfromtheBOAC/

BEA merger that produced British Airways!

Amongst those names, although he had

resigned BA earlier in frustration, was Charles

Stuart, a former BEA executive who had

headed up the regional operations, including

Northeast Airways based in Newcastle. We

quickly formed a new board with myself as

Managing Shareholder, a way of satisfying

the British Government regarding overseas

ownership at the time. Over the next three

yearsCharlesandI,withthesamevisionfor

Brymon,neverhadadisagreementthatwasn’t

resolved privately and quickly!The Canadian

ownershipwassomethingthatwasneveraired

inpublic.

As Mowlem and the London Docklands

DevelopmentCorporationpressedonwiththe

development in the docks Brymon built up a

networkofservicesacrossthe UKand onmy

visits to Plymouth I could transfer with some

satisfactionintoTerminalOneandtheserviceto

DevonandCornwall.

At the very end of 1985 we entered

negotiations with Sir Colin (later Lord) Marshall,

ChiefExecutiveofBritishAirways,thatresulted

in DHC’s divestiture of the company to BA

and the Brymon management. The Brymon

investment cost BritishAirways just £500,000

foracompanythatincludeduptovepairsof

theHeathrowslots!

The Docklands airport was by now well on

itswayandinterestfromotherairlinesinevitably

followed when Sir Michael (also later raised to

the Lords) Bishop in 1987 established London

City Airways with new Dash 7s bought directly

fromDHC.

It can be argued that without the Dash 7 there

wouldbenoLondonCityAirport.

Today the Dash 7’s successor, the twin-

enginedBombardierQ400isamainstayofthe

airport and for the future the Bombardier C

Series will open up new non-stop routes thought

impossible30yearsago.Ihopeinthefutureto

be able to plan a trip from New York to London

City Airport, with an inspection, and then on to

MoscoworperhapsDoha.’

Tom Appleton

Toronto

July 2017

Tom Appleton

Reections on London City Airport • 1918 • London City Airport

‘When I became Chairman of John Mowlem

and Company in 1979, I was very aware that a

major area of work for Mowlem – based on our

maintenance contract for the Port of London

Authority (PLA) – was in steep decline largely

becauseofcontainerisationintheshippingindustry.

It was in that context that I met the newly

appointed Chief Executive of the London

Docklands Development Corporation, Reg

Ward, forlunch atarestaurantcalled L’Opera

nearCoventGarden.

At the end of this lunch, talking mainly about

the inner docks, St Katherine and Canary Wharf,

I asked Reg what his thoughts were for the most

easterlyoftheDocks,TheRoyalDocks.

Reg replied that he saw the Royal Docks

as a Transport Interchange and Hub, because

they were well equipped with existing rail

tracks and were close to the North and South

Circular Roads, together with the then proposed

construction of another Thames road crossing at

Beckton.

My immediate thought, which I expressed to

Reg was that in 1980 a full-function transport

interchange had to include an airport. He,

straight away, got the point and said he knew

exactly where it could and should go. On the

longpeninsulabetweentheKingGeorgeVDock

and the RoyalAlbert Dock.And that is where

LondonCityAirportistoday.

From that small beginning it took almost a

decade to get to the opening of LCY in 1987,

through planning, negotiation with the PLA, the

publicplanningenquiry,andthenitsconstruction.

We were very pleased to welcome HM The

Queentoopentheairport.

At rst growth was slow, but gradually

passengernumbersincreased.Thecondencein

ourLCY investment bymythencolleagues on

Mowlem’s board mostly relied on the experts

we had employed to tell us how many passengers

wecouldexpecttouseLCY.

I had always thought that an airport close to

the City would be a part of the natural monopoly

comprising the London airport system, and so in

themediumtermwouldinevitablyprosper.

We had long sought a partner in this airport

project, and the then nationalised owner of all

theotherLondonairportswaskeentoinvest,

but the Department of Transport forbade

it to do so. So, after I retired from Mowlem’s

chairmanship in 1996, the new Chairman and

Board decided to sell the airport and was only

able to realise a truly pathetic price from the

morefarsightedDermotDesmond.Tobefair,

Mowlem’ssharepricereactedfavourablytothe

newsofthesale.

Howeveradecadefurther on,thewhole of

Mowlem was sold for £350 million and LCY

aloneinthesameyearforover£700million.

I am proud to have been one of the main

instigators of London City Airport, but of course

there were others, even just within Mowlem,

who played a greater part in its becoming the

success it is today, such as Roger Sainsbury, Bill

LindsellandBillCharnock.

Whowouldhavethoughtin1988,whenwe

carried just 133,000 passengers, that this year

thatgurewouldreachtowardsvemillion.’

Sir Philip Beck

London

July 2017

‘My abiding memories of London City Airport

have their origin in 1988 when I chartered

a Dornier 228 to do “a proving ight” into,

what had been drawn to my attention by the

Chairman of the plc to whom I had recently sold

mynancialbusiness,as‘thatlittleairstripdown

thedocks’.

On reflection, we concluded it might be

besttofile the proving flightaway andthat

maybe it would best be revisited when the

runway was lengthened to take jets. Fast

forward to Autumn 1992, and the airport

came back on the horizon but this time in the

context of a plan for an airline with LCY as

thepivotalfocusof thebusiness.Workwas

well underway on building a tunnel which

would facilitate improved road access from

theCity.Butmymaininterestatthetimewas

looking across the river from theTerminal

building at the DLR Silvertown station and

wondering what would it take to bring that

link to the airport and by when?

Movethedialagainto10January1994and,in

thecompanyofRichardBranson,Iamhavingmy

phototakenaswelaunchedtheinauguralCityJet

scheduled service to Dublin from LCY. Mr

Branson was present because we agreed to rent

his brand on the tail to secure us early traction

asastart-upfromarelativelyequallyunknown

littleairportwitha“downtown”postaladdress.

As Murphy’s Law tends to work, that launch

day coincided with the Rotherhide Tunnel being

closedduetourgentrepairsbeingrequiredand

theMotherofalltrafcjamsensued.Unknown

to any of us, a number of Irish newspapers

had set up their own private“air race” with

journalists timing their access to the West End,

utilising all ve London airports, including of

course LCY.The headlines the next day were

not kind to us as we came in ‘Paddy Last’ in the

‘GreatAirRace’.

But being Irish we are familiar with reruns

(TheresaMaypleasetakenote!)soweconvinced

the Irish national radio station, RTE, to organise

another GreatAir Race a week later. On this

occasion wewon it bytheproverbial‘country

mile’ – breaking the winning tape by a full hour

overthenextplacedairport.

The rest, as they say is history; but what a

history–oneofdeliveringmillionsofpassengers

throughthisuniquegatewayintoLondon.Thatis

therealstory.

Over the subsequent 24 years, CityJet has

continued to operate services out of LCY to

European cities and the airline has played a major

partinplacingthisairportrmlytotheforefront

as the London airport of choice for not just the

businesstravellerbutalsothediscerningleisure

passengers who place sufcient value on their

time and their physical wellbeing to avoid the

scrum of other London airports and the endless

trekfromplanetoCity.

Ofcourse,oversuchalongperiodofactivity

at LCY we have experienced many challenges

whentheweatherhasnotalwaysfacilitatedtravel

and the restricted opening hours (in compliance

with the very demanding local environmental

sensitivities) have conspired to deny us access

toour“aircraftcarrier”intheThames Estuary

on a limited number of occasions. However,

ourregularpassengershaveremainedsteadfast

through the good times and the sometimes

challenging times because they know that LCY

still represents the easiest point of access to

Londonbyfar.’

Pat Byrne

Dublin

July 2017

Sir Philip Beck

Pat Byrne

Reections on London City Airport • 2120 • London City Airport

‘InJune1995,IwasapproachedbyCityJetChief

ExecutivePatByrne. He was seekingtoopena

new Dublin – Brussels route. I had no interest

ininvestinginanembryonicairlineduetotheir

high rate of failures, but I told Pat that if it were

possibleIwouldhappilyinvestinanairport.

I was a believer in airports as an investment

class from my years as Chairman of the Irish

AirportsAuthority(AerRianta).EquallyIbelieved

inthefutureofLondonDocklandsandtheever-

growingdemandforairtransport.

Pat told me that he felt Mowlem Plc was

considering a sale of London City Airport and

offeredtosetupameetingwithMowlem’sCEO

JohnMarshall.ImetwithMrMarshallaweeklater

and we agreed, subject to the usual conditions, a

dealtobuytheairportfor£30million.

Following a period of due diligence, led by

ArthurAndersenwhoadvisedagainstpurchasing

the airport, a revised deal was agreed with

MowleminSeptember1995.At the time, there

were only three airlines operating from London

Cityandthefuturefortwooftheselookedbleak.

Happily, CityJet continues to y through the

airporttothisday.

Equally,theonlypassengerjetcertiedtoland

atLondonCitywastheBAe146.Butagainthere

was uncertainty over its future.  Fokker had a

jet going through trials, the Fokker 70, but with

hindsight,Fokkerhadnotmuchofafutureeither.

Against this background, the deal closed on 28

October1995.

Bill Charnock, who had passed retirement

age, agreed to extend his stay for a year to

enable me to recruit a new Chief Executive. I

identied Richard Gooding, who was running

LutonAirport,andbetweenRichardandDavid

Thompson, the Finance Director, I had the

nucleusofamanagementteam.RayMacSharry

agreed to come on board as the Chairman and

my colleague Michael Walsh from International

Investment and Underwriting also joined the

BoardofDirectors.

Shortly after buying the airport I met with the

Reichman Brothers, British Aerospace and the

London Docklands Development Corporation

(LDDC)–allpivotalplayers

in the future of the airport

and Canary Wharf and

all were very supportive.

We were extraordinarily

fortunate in our timing.

The airport generated cash

from the day the purchase

was completed and, despite

the bombings in Canary Wharf, London City and

thesurroundingareahavedevelopedinparallel.

In2002weopenedtheJetCentretocaterfor

theincreaseinprivateaviationandIwaspleased

tobeoneoftheirmostfrequentcustomers!

In2006,Ireceivedanunsolicitedapproachto

buy London City Airport at a valuation which

appeared attractive. I decided that we should

exploreitstruevalueinconjunctionwithGavin

McDonaldandColmDonlonofMorganStanley.

Theyachievedaprice25%abovetheunsolicited

offerandIwashappytoaccept.Toputtheworth

in perspective, they realiseda value forLondon

CityAirportwhichequatedtoa50%interestin

Gatwick, an airport with circa ten times more

passengers.

Where do we go from here?

At all stages, my experience with London City

hasbeenpositiveandIamdelightedthatthenew

ownershavedevelopedtheairporttowhereitis

today, under the leadership of another Irishman,

andhasalsomanagedtoachieveanancialsuccess

fortheinvestors.

I was delighted to see that within days of his

appointment, the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Philip Hammond was able to visit London City

Airportandgivethego-aheadforitsexpansion.

Whenwetookovertheairport15movements

an hour were considered the maximum for the

runway. Forthe future45 movementsperhour

will be the maximum with no holding on the stand

whileanotheraircraftlands.Theparalleltaxiway

will be a real boon for the airport not just for

scheduledoperationsbutexecutivejetsaswell.’

Dermot Desmond

Dublin

July 2017

Chairman of London City Airport Ltd for ten years to

2017, Roy Grifns completed a long governmental

career mainly in the Department for Transport as

Director-General of Civil Aviation 1999–2004. He

was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in

the 2003 New Year’s Honours list.

‘Back in 2009 when a national newspaper

described London City Airport as ‘bijou and

startlingly well run’, I felt a certain pride because

less than three years before I had been brought

in by the airport’s then brand new owners to

chairtheBoard.

Actually, my personal connection with London

City had started 20 years earlier, when, in 1987, I

wasprivatesecretaryandbag-carriertothethen

Secretary of State for Transport as he (and I)

accompaniedHMTheQueenwhensheopened

London City Airport and then we all returned

toWestminsterPierintheroyalmotorlaunch.

I remember Her Majesty, characteristically

well-briefed, in animated aviation-oriented

conversation with myMinisterial charge as we

chuggedbackup theThames. London Cityhas

comealongwaysincethen.

I also remember the arguments in the late

eightiesamongstseniortransportofcialsabout

letting the presence of this interloper from the

aviationsectorinterferewithgrandplansfora

series of road bridges across the docks and the

river.An ambitious Highways Deputy-Secretary

and his staff really resented being thwarted by

the ‘Biggles’ team. Then there followed quite

a struggle to move on from the Dash 7 to

allow other aircraft types, and then jets(!) to

useLondonCity.Butithappened,becausethe

original concept of putting an airport where

LondonCityiswassound.

In September 2001, when New York’s twin

towers were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks and

ightssuspendedacrossthenorthAtlantic,Iwas

theDirectorofAviationwhosignedtheOrder

closingUKairspace.Iwellrememberhavingto

‘explain’ with some force to London City’s Chief

Executiveofthetimewhythebanhadtostaya

bitlongerthanhebelievedwasreasonable.

By then, Mowlem

had gone, and

Dermot Desmond

owned the airport.

When,veyearslater,

at the end of 2006, he

sold London City to

Global Infrastructure

Partners and AIG

for a sum which

most observers of

the aviation sector

thought ludicrously

high, that was the point where London City

Airport reallystarted growing up. Coming in as

Chairman, the one thing that I was clear about

was that London City needed to conduct itself

just like the much bigger European airports, across

the board – safety (of course), security, pricing,

schedules,slotallocation,airspaceuse,andmore.

Andwedidjustthat.

SowhenHMTheQueen,thistimewithPrince

Philip, came back to London City a quarter of

a century after her rst visit, to celebrate the

airport’s 25th birthday, I was more than proud

(of the place, not of myself) to accompany

Her Majesty again around a piece of aviation

infrastructure which indeed had grown to be one

ofthecountry’svitaltransportassets.

I admit to being a public transport geek, so

IalwaystraveltoandfromLondonCitybythe

DLR,tube,and/orOverground.Ilovetolisten

totravellersexpressing(pleasant)surpriseabout

theirexperiencesoftheairport.

I am tempted to bore them with my message

thatLondonCityisnotlikeotherairports.It

is simply better. It honestly does what it is

supposedtodo.Itworkswithitsneighbours,

with its customers (airlines and passengers),

with its regulators, with government (local

andnational).ItisaboontoEastLondon,the

capital,thecountry.IencourageLondonCity’s

currentownerstokeepitthatway.Iamglad

tohavehadasmallpartintheairport’srst

30years.’

Roy Grifns

London

July 2017

Dermot Desmond Roy Grifns

22 • London City Airport

A lifetime civil servant Stuart Innes was seconded

from the Department of Environment (DoE) to

help the then Chief Executive designate, Reg Ward,

establish a quasi-government organisation which then

did not have a name or an ofce or any staff! Thus

the London Docklands Development Corporation

(LDDC) was born.

He stayed with the Corporation throughout the

whole of its operational life working at different times

as the Chief Executive’s assistant, reorganising the

LDDC’s administration, social facilities, community

development, community services joint planning and

then nally in winding it all up in an orderly manner.

He left the DoE on ‘early retirement’ in May 1998

but continued his involvement with the airport as

Secretary of the London City Airport Consultative

Committee from a steering group in 1986 until

his nal withdrawal in 2015. Stuart Innes could

justiably claim he knew Reg Ward better than most.

Here he reects on Reg Ward and how perhaps

he would have viewed today’s London City Airport,

and the Docklands.

Reg Ward (1927–2011) was the son of a miner,

went to Manchester University and spent the rst part

of his career with Inland Revenue as a tax inspector.

A series of local government appointments followed,

culminating in him becoming Chief Executive of the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and

later of Hereford and Worcester County Council.

‘It is a strange world.  In fact it was I who

interviewed Reg for the job of Chief Executive

of what was to become the London Docklands

DevelopmentCorporation(LDDC)backin1980

recommending him to my boss Michael Heseltine

forthejob.Clearlyitwasatwo-wayendorsement

asoneofhisrststepsonsettinguptheembryo

organisation was to ask me to join him. The

relationshipwastobecomeveryfatherandson

overatumultuouseightyears.“Whymovetothe

middle of nowhere when you can move to the

middleofLondon?”wasasloganheconjuredup.

His approach was to seize opportunities

wheneverandwherevertheyarose.“Youcould

say that Docklands is a ‘happening’, a happy

coincidence of opportunity and accident,” Reg

usedtosay.“Therehavebeennomasterplansor

detaileddevelopmentframeworks.”

If Reg were here today and in charge of a much

politically changed area with the local councils

backincontrolhemighttakethelifttotheOne

Canary Wharf marketing suite and take a look at

the huge layout model of East London and ask a

fewquestions.“Whatisgoingonhere,hereand

here?”Hewouldcomeupwithafewideas.

CrossrailwasconceivedafterReg’sdemiseas

the LDDC leader but he certainly watched its

development inhisretirementand wouldhave

supportedtheproposedSW/NEexpansion.Reg

wasneverabletoyfromLondonCityAirport

toNewYork,which heregretted.Hewas able

to show his support for London City Airport

when in 2005 he came up from Stroud to

unveilatabletatHeronQuaysstationentrance

commemorating Captain Harry Gee’s rst

landing all those years earlier. It was a coming

together of the Docklands Light Railway, Canary

Wharf and London City Airport, three of his

nestachievements.

RegcultivatedateamwhichIwasproudto

bepartof.’

Stuart Innes

Wakeeld

July 2017

Chapter Two

History of the

London Docklands

Reg Ward

By Stuart Innes

• 23

History of the London Docklands • 2524 • London City Airport

What we now call the London Docklands

was once known as Plaistow Marshes. West

Ham United was born by the river asThames

Ironworks Football Club. Dick Turpin ruled

the roost in the early 1700s, but he was not as

romanticasweareledtobelieve,ahorsethief

executedin1739aged33.

Today the area that we now call Docklands is

thrivingonceagainbutithashadmorethanits

fairshareofupsanddowns.On5November1987

Queen Elizabeth ofcially opened London

City Airport, the catalyst for one of the most

successful regeneration programmes of modern

times. After centuries of changes in social,

economic and political conditions London to the

east was about to see as dramatic a change as at

anytimeinits2,000yearhistory.

The name Londonium, what we now call

London, was established by the Romans in 50

AD.Aroundwhere London Bridge nowstands

wastherstpracticalcrossingpointoftheRiver

Thames to England’s then capital Colchester.

Theportwashighlyvaluedasanimportcentre

bringinginsuchluxuriesasoilandwine.

London lost its energy when the Saxons

came to power (from 410 AD), who preferred

moreprovincialmajortowns.WiththeNorman

Conquest (from 1066) and the building of the

White Tower, what we now call the Docklands

begantoestablishitself.Buttheareareallybegan

toourishinthe‘goldenage’oftheElizabethan

period (1558–1603) with the advancement of

seaborne exploration leading to trade with

previously unchartered lands such as Russia,

India,FarEastandAfrica.

However,therise,fallandeventualriseagain

oftheriversideareastotheeastoftheTower

ofLondonwasnotstraightforwardandtheCivil

War (1642–51), Great Plague (1665–66), and

Great Fire (1666) meant that the Docklands was

inastateofruinandtradefellonceagain.

By the end of the next century the Docklands

had re-established itself as a major port and

tradewasdoublingevery30years.Whatwasto

become the British Empire was being established

at ports all around the globe supported from

London.Thedockswereburstingattheseams.

The increasing trade in the area had also

brought with it piracy and a large number of

unaccounted ships entering the port without

paying their import taxes. For this reason, and

alsoto competewith Bristoland Liverpool,an

encloseddockssystemwasgraduallyintroduced.

It is this dock area which we know as the London

Docklandstoday.

The virtue of the purpose-built docks was

that loading and unloading could take place at

anytimewiththewaterlevelalwaysthesame.

Its disadvantage was that the ships had to use

lockstoarriveanddepartfromthetidalRiver

Thames and only at specied times. It was to

prove to be both its virtue and undoing.The

massivecontainershipsandcruiselinersoftoday

havefoundotherportsastheirhomebases,the

rise of Tilbury, Harwich and later Felixstowe,

the home for the cargo carriers.Today Dover,

Britain’s busiest port, and Southampton, are the

maingatewaysforsea-goingholidaypassengers.

In all, 11 docks were built between 1802 and

1921withthenalthree,theRoyalAlbertDock,

theRoyalVictoriaDockandtheKingGeorgeV

DockknownastheRoyalDocks.LondonCity

AirportstandsontheKingGeorgeVDock.The

Royal Docks provided berths for large vessels

that could not be accommodated further up

river,andbecameLondon’sprincipalseaoutlet

duringthersthalfofthe20thcentury.

In 1851 the Great Exhibition was held at

what is now Hyde Park, the rst everWorld’s

Fair.Anastonishingsixmillionpeoplevisitedthe

CrystalPalace,thecentrepiece(latermovedto

Sydenham,SouthLondon,itburntdownin1936).

Manycamebytherailways,mostofthemnever

previously having ventured out of their small

townorvillage.

ThetrainsalsocametoDocklands.

By the 1850s, London’s port comprised a

number of docks owned by individual private

dock companies. Housing, industry and

commercial premisesquicklysurroundedthese

riverdocks,leavinglittleroomforanyexpansion

to meet the need of technological changes with

the introduction of steam-powered ships. Low

nancial returnsled to a lack of investmentin

new facilities and, at a time of rapid advances

in what we now call technology, the Port of

London’s facilities became increasingly out-dated

and inefcient. InWapping and Limehouse the

dockswerefarfrom t forpurposealmostas

soon as they were dug, unable to cope with the

ever larger ships made possible by the age of

steam.

In contrast, the Royal Docks were at the

forefront of technology for a good many years

and enjoyed a long period of prosperity.The

VictoriaDock(receivingitsRoyalprexin1880)

with its hydraulically-powered equipment and

direct access to the railway system being an

immediatesuccess.

By 1886 there were seven enclosed dock

systems within the Port of London, the West

India, St Katherine (1805–28) with narrow

entrance channels and very limited capacity

compared with the Royals, East India (1805),

Surrey (1807), Millwall (1868), and nally the

Royal Docks (1855–1921) themselves. Down

riverTilburyopenedin1886.

Although the Port of London grew rapidly

insizeinthersthalfofthe19thcenturyand

attractedevergreaternumbersofships,through

the 1860s there were simply too many dock

facilities competing for trade, and towards the

end of the century nearly all the dock companies

wereinseriousnancialdifculty.

By 1900 the situation had deteriorated to such

an extent that the Governmentwasforced to

interveneandestablishaRoyalCommissionto

studythemanagementofthedocks.Afteryears

of hot debate, the Bill that led to the creation

of the Port of London Authority (PLA) was

introducedby DavidLloyd George (Liberal) in

April1908asoneofhisnalactsasPresidentof

The London docks at Wapping in 1808.

The 20th

Century

Stevedores at work. (Museum of London)

theBoardofTrade.Thetaskofguidingitthrough

the House of Commons fell to his successor,

Winston Churchill, at that time a Liberal too.

TheBillreceivedRoyalAssentinDecember1908.

TheCommissionidentiedpoormanagementas

thecoreproblemandin1909theGovernmentin

effect nationalised the docks (an unprecedented

stepatthistime,nearly40yearsbeforethewave

of nationalisation introduced by Attlee’s Labour

Governmentinthelate1940s).

The new PLA began an immediate programme

of modernisation, dredging a deeper channel in the

riverandconstructingtheKingGeorgeVDock.

The outbreak of World War I brought

complete confusion to the dock and shipping

industries. The Government requisitioned

materials, ships and road and rail transport as

wellasdivertinglabour.

Overall trade continued as usual although

essentials,andnotluxuries,werepredominant.In

fact, with Antwerp and Rotterdam out of use, the

portinitiallybeneted.Thewarwasconducted

mostly without air attack by either side, the

only impact being that of the German U-boat

campaignin1917.Thissuccessfullydiscouraged

shipping from using London for fear of attack

and briey interrupted trade movement. The

port experienced minimal damage during these

yearsandbytheendofthewaritwasrelatively

easy to return to its continuing development,

remaining the world’s greatest port during the

1920sand1930s.

The PLA had had an inspiring period of

reconstructionbutevents,suchastheindustry’s

paralysing General Strike of 1926 and the Wall

Street Crash, were beginning to affect Britain and

othernations.

The result was Britain failed to recover its

place as the foremost manufacturing county in

theworld.Thisinturnimpactedonseacarriage,

docksandtrade.

However the general trade of the port

ourishedwithdevelopmentcontinuing.

With the outbreak of the World War II

imminent,theGovernmentneededtoensurethe

continuationofessentialportservices.Attheir

requestaschemeforthewartimeadministration

oftheportwasdrawnupwithotherdefensive

measures being implemented during 1938–39.

A civil defence scheme, which included the

creation of a River Emergency Service, was

planned and the necessary training of key men

took place, with equipment purchased and

storedinreadiness.

With the outbreak of the war on 2 September

1939 the Royal Navy established guard ships,

batteries were manned on both banks of the

lowerriverandinthemiddleofthereachesin

the dock and, in industrial areas, barrage balloons

wereinated.

Everyonewasawarethatatsome pointthe

RiverThames would become a target. Passive

defences in the port were ready with stringent

security measures in place enforced by the PLA’s

own police at the docks and by the Thames

DivisionoftheMetropolitanPoliceintheriver.

ItwasduringNovember1939 that the rst

German bomb fell on the Thames Estuary and

throughoutthewarthisareawasheavilytargeted.

The rst signicant attack on London came,

however,on7September1940when375enemy

planesstruckattheThamesanditsdocks.For57

consecutivenightsthetidewaywasundernear

continual attack with transport, communications,

shedsandwarehousesdestroyedordamaged.

Therivercameintoitsownduringthisperiod,

being used as the main highway into London as it

wasneverdisruptedbybombdebris,cratersor

re.Aserviceoftugsandlauncheswasprovided

by the Port Emergency Committee on behalf of

theLondonPassengerTransportBoard.

During the rst attack the docks and East

London were set ablaze, 436 Londoners were

killed and another 1,600 were badly injured.

Many raids were to follow, mostly by night but

theBlitzonLondonwasultimatelyunsuccessful.

Londonliterallysoldieredon.

Attheendof1941London’sshippingtrafc

had been reducedtoaboutonequarter of its

usualvolume,withmuchofthenormalshipping

trafcdivertedtoemergencyanchoragesinthe

Clyde.By1944warsupplieswerepouringinto

the port in large quantities and both before

and after D-Day trafc owed almost without

stoppingintoandoutofdockpremises.

Marshalling for D-Day began in London on

27MayandinTilburyon28May.Neverbefore

had the Thames seen such a eet of armed

merchantmenandshipsofwar.Oneofthemost

technically signicant moments in port history

took place as a steady owof deep sea ships,

coasters, tugs, barges, oilers and landing craft

RMS Rangitiki is seen berthed at Number 29 Shed, Royal

Albert Dock, in the 1950s.

V1 rocket damage in the Royal Victoria Dock, 1944.

28 • London City Airport

Chapter Three

The London Docklands

Development Corporation

(LDDC)

joined in the estuary. On 6 Junethe eet was

readyandtheD-dayarmadasetsailwith307ships

fromLondoncarryingsome50,000servicemen,

nearly 80,000 tons of military supplies and about

9,000vehicles.

Bombing of the port still continued. The

enemy had introduced the pilotless plane and the

rocket bomb which targeted the Docklands area,

causinghighcasualtiesanddamage.

Following the war the Port was now in a worse

state than it had been since the beginning of the

century.Nearly900missiles,aswellasthousandsof

incendiary bombs, had fallen on PLA property as well

asnumerousattacksonprivateriversideproperty.

The most damaging aspect at that time was the loss

ofsome50%ofthetotalstorageaccommodation.

Wartime reconstruction of the Thames

wascompletedby1950.ThePLAnowrealised

that long-term planning was essential for

developmentoftheportandtokeepaheadof

thedemandsmadeuponitsservices.Thenature

ofthebusinesswassuchthattheserequirements

could change at any time with revolutionary

developmentsforcingdockoperatorstomodify

orcompletelyaltertheirplans.

The Port of London was approaching its best

year in 1964 when trade exceeded 61 million

tonnes and the number of enclosed docks

reacheditspeak.However,itwasashort-term

boost.

Withtheadventofthecontainersystemand

otheradvancesintechnologyLondon,asanup

river port, had no real future.The bulk cargo

shipscouldbeofoadedin36hourswithlittle

human handling. Previously it had taken three

weeks. Stevedores (dockworkers) became part

of history and the mighty new freighters were

unable to pass through the locks.The number

of workers and vessels needed in the port

decreased dramatically. One by one the docks

closed with the three Royal Docks being the last

toceasecommercialoperationin1981.Thetrade

unionsfailedtorecognisewhatwashappening.

Theywerestillbackinthe1930s.Strikeswere

notgoingtochangethemarchofprogress.

As Tilbury developed the enclosed docks

weresteadilyshutandeventuallyturnedoverto

developersalongwiththeriversidewarehouses

withmostofthemgoneby1981.TheEastIndia,

London, Surrey and St Katharine Docks closed

inthelate1960sandearly1970s.Between1980

and1983theWestIndia,MillwallandtheRoyal

Dockswerealsoshut.

Tilburywasprivatisedin1992.ThePLAexists

today but does not own any docks and plays an

entirelydifferentrole.ThePLAactsmainlyasa

managing authority for the tidal stretch of the

RiverThames,ensuringsafenavigation, and the

well-beingoftheportanditsactivities.Ithasa

numberofstatutoryduties,includingrivertrafc

control, security, navigational safety (including

buoys,beacons,bridgelightsandchannelsurveys),

conservation (dredging and maintaining certain

river banks), encouraging both commercial

andleisureusesoftheriver,andprotectingits

environment.ItisnotresponsiblefortheThames

Barrier which is managed by the Environment

Agencyinitsoodmanagementrole.

Thewholearea,coveringnearlyninesquare

miles had become derelict and after much

discussiontheLondonDocklandsDevelopment

Corporation (LDDC) was created in 1981 with

the aim of regenerating the complex and largely

water-frontedexpanseofland.

London did not know it, but was ready for

somethingspecial.ThecatalystforLondonCity

Airporthadbeenset.

Now the runway. The King George V Dock in the 1960s.

• 29

The London Docklands Development Corporation • 3130 • London City Airport

In May 1979 following ‘The winter of discontent’,

JamesCallaghan’sLabourGovernmentcollapsed,

theresultofanocondencevoteintheHouse

ofCommons.

TheConservatives,ledbyMargaretThatcher,

took over. Britain was in decline.The‘swinging

sixties’ had become the 1970s, the age of the

AustinAllegro,aforgottencar.

With the new Cabinet Michael Heseltine was

appointedSecretaryofStatefortheEnvironment,

fully understanding the needs of a country ready

forrejuvenation.

With his publishing background he was not a

typicalcareerpolitician.Carryingaowingmane

he somehow symbolised ‘action man’ when it

cametonewspaperheadlines.

The revitalisation of Liverpool is a shining

example of Heseltine’s efforts, but his decision

to create the London Docklands Development

Corporation(LDDC)isnotsowellknown.Mr

Heseltine, as he was then, saw the task not only

to create jobs but to regenerate the land, turning

decaying ‘brown eld sites’ into prosperous

developments.

He described what he saw in his book Life in

the Jungle, a minor classic in its time taking in the

eventsashecameintopower.

‘I had found myself in a small plane, heading in

thatdirectionbywayoftheLondon’sEastEnd.My

indignation at what was happening on the South

Bank was as nothing compared to my reaction to

theimmensetractsofderelictionInowobserved.

The rotting docks – long since abandoned for

deep-water harbours downstream able to

take modern container ships – the crumbling

infrastructure that had once supported their

thriving industry and vast expanses of polluted

land left behind by modern technology and

enhancedenvironmentalism.Theplacewasatip:

6,000acresofforgottenwasteland.’

Between1978and1983over12,000jobswere

lostinthearea.Thetransportinfrastructurewas

verypoor.Theextentofderelictionwassohigh

that the cost of rebuilding was completely beyond

themeansofmostdevelopersandinvestors.

With this in mind the LDDC was established

in 1981.Appointed as Chief Executive was Reg

Ward, a one-time tax inspector but steeped

in the politics of local government, a former

Chief Executive of the London Borough of

Hammersmith and Fulham, and later of Hereford

andWorcesterCountyCouncil.

Ward’s appointment was inspired, although not

appreciatedbyeveryoneatthetime.Hefought

andbeatKenLivingstone,LeaderoftheGreater

London Council (GLC), who was opposed to the

airportandlaterhadtoeathumblepie,ofcially

opening the Docklands Light Railway (DLR)

extensionjustbeforeChristmas2005.

Onatleastoneoccasion,forexample,Ward

dodged phone calls from a secretary of state

forseveraldays,knowingthatiftheyspokeone

of his road schemes would be blocked.While

Michael Heseltine was a great admirer of his

gung-ho approach (as, apparently, was Prince

Philip),NicholasRidley,whobecameEnvironment

Secretaryin1986,waslessenthusiastic.

In itself the LDDC had very little money,

but it was given three main powers to deliver

regeneration. The rst was to acquire land –

compulsorilyifneedbe.Thismeantthatitcould

enter into commercial deals with developers.

Secondly, and controversially, it took planning

powers, but not powers of planning public

services,awayfromlocalauthorities.Thismeant,

for example, that it could react quickly with

outline planning permission, typied by Canary

Wharf.AndnallytheLDDChadthepowersand

resources to provide new or refurbish existing

infrastructure,suchastheDLR.Additionally,the

GovernmentsetupanEnterpriseZonecovering

theDocklands.

It became clear that the demand for large

industrialsitesinLondonwasnolongerrequired

– cheaper land and labour were available in

Manchester and Liverpool and other British

cities.ThereforetheLDDCbegantofocusonthe

fact that the Docklands was close to the City of

London and this made the area a good site for

secondaryofcelocation.‘Tooclose’wasthecall

fromTheSquareMileworriedthatitsdominance

ofthebankingscenewastobeeroded. In fact

the City of London was running out of space and

todaythetwocentresworkhandinhand.

IntherstyearsofitslifetheLDDCoversaw

severalofceandapartmentbuildingschemes

builtonHeronQuaysandSurreyQuaysaswell

asriversideaccommodation.Theheadquarters

was the redundant Dockmasters House and

for entertaining prospective investors a

catering barge was moored just across the

road. Its most speculator success was the

constructionofCanaryWharf,controversialat

thetime,andtohaveanextraordinaryfuture

storylineinitself.

CanaryWharf,thenameusuallygiventothe

whole complex, contains around 16,000,000

square feet of ofce and retail space, of which

around7,900,000squarefeetisownedbyCanary

WharfGroup.Somethingintheorderof100,000

plus people work in the complex today and it is

home to the world or European headquarters

ofnumerous major banks, professionalservices

rmsandmediaorganisationsincludingBarclays,

Citigroup, Clifford Chance, Credit Suisse, EY,

FitchRatings,HSBC,Infosys,J.P.Morgan,KPMG,

MetLife, Moody’s, Morgan Stanley, RBC, S&P

Global, Skadden, State Street, Mirror Newspaper

andThomsonReuters.

The project was conceived by Canadian

company Olympia & York, controlled by Paul

Reichmann, a refugee from Nazi Austria.

Reichmann may havemasterminded one of the

world’s great commercial developments but

preferredamodestlifestyle.

Construction began in 1988, and the rst

buildings were completed in 1991, including

One Canada Square, which became the UK’s

tallest building at the time and a symbol of the

regenerationofDocklands.Bythetimeitopened,

the London commercial property market had

collapsed,andOlympia&YorkCanaryWharfLtd

ledforbankruptcyinMay1992.

In December 1995 an international consortium,

backedbytheformerownersofOlympia&York

andotherinvestors,boughtthescheme.Thenew

company was called Canary Wharf Ltd, and later

becameCanaryWharfGroup.

InJuly2014CanaryWharfGroupwasgranted

planning permission for a major eastwards

expansion of the Canary Wharf estate including

shops, 1.9 million square feet of commercial

ofcesand3,100homeswiththerstbuildings

tobeoccupiedattheendof2018.

Canary Wharf had its problems but was not

the only project to venture into receivership,

the most spectacular being Lehman Brothers,

the tenants of 25 Bank Street, Heron Quays.

Facilitiesincludedatelevisionbroadcaststudio,

meeting rooms and a 400-seat auditorium,

massive data centre, four trading oors, 20

ofce oors, a gym and tness centre and

staffrestaurant. Lehman brotherscollapsed in

September2008.

The LDDC created a cheap rail scheme, the DLR,

runwithdriverlesstrainsandcostingonly£77million.

TheDLRarrivedin1987andtheJubileeLinein1999.

This in turn made the whole area more accessible

to the public and helped create the conditions for

further development.The derelict Custom House

area became ExCeL London which in turn led to the

developmentofhotelsandotherservicesinthearea.

Bycaritwaslessthan veminutes fromLondon

CityAirport.ItwasalsolinkedbytheNorthLondon

LinefromCustomHousestationtoSilvertownfor

London City Airport station, which closed in 2008

It came – it did – and it went

gracefully

32 • London City Airport

tomakewayforCrossrail.BythattimetheLDDC

washistory.

Duringthe1980sprivatehousingdeveloped–

atrstitwasanopportunityforthoseworking

in the area to buy property cheaply – on many

ofthedevelopmentslocalcounciltenantswere

given rst opportunities to buy at discounted

prices.Thenagaininthelater1990sLondonhad

a huge house price boom bringing the middle

classes to the area which in turn encouraged

shops,restaurantsandbars.Allinallduringthe

yearsoftheLDDCoperation£1.86billionwas

investedbythepublicsector,£7.7billionbythe

privatesector,25millionsquarefeetofindustrial

space was built along with 24,046 homes and

95,000jobs.

Withnoplanningpermissionrequiredinthe

manner we know now, speed of construction was

astonishing, almost anything could go ahead with

theresultthatthereweremanyvarieddesigns,

styles and layouts.Today the buildings look like

theyweredevelopedover a period, but in fact

wereallcompletedoveraveryshorttimescale.

Somewill disagreebut it worked.And many

of the original warehouses still stand, some

transformed into small workshops, others bars

andrestaurants.Noteverythingwaspulleddown.

Restraint was available if the LDDC thought

necessary.

Therewerevociferouscomplaintsfromthe

local community about the LDDC, arguing that

they were not satisfactorily consulted over

theDocklandsdevelopmentandthatthejobs

created from the various schemes were not

onesthatmatchedtheskillsoftheresidents.

The new populace were in fact economic

migrants drawn to what was increasingly being

seen as a revitalised area and the place to

seriously consider for ofce space.Without

thesenewpeople,theareawouldhavenever

expanded such as it did. In addition, the

amount of social housing in the area is now

much higher than had it been left for a local

boroughtodevelop.

The Canary Wharf shopping complex

comprisesof300shops,cafés,barsandrestaurants.

ThereisanEverymanCinema,slightlyup-market,

whereyoucanbeservedamealinyourarmchair

seat before the programme begins and plenty of

gardens and patio areas to sit outside and relax

onaniceday.Watersurroundsyou.Itisalively

and attractive multifunctional venue typied by

the East Wintergarden, the main hall capable of

seating500fordinner.Theplacebuzzes.

According to the Daily Telegraph: ‘Ward’s

greatest achievement was to persuade hard-

nosedCityandpropertyinvestorsthatDocklands

revival wasgoingto work.By1986,theLDDC

hadspentaround£300millionofpublicmoney,

but had succeeded in attracting £1.4 billion in

privateinvestment.’

His forthright style did not sit well with

his colleagues in central government. Ward’s

disregard for Civil Service protocol and rules

caused one colleague to remark: ‘The corns he

hassteppedonwouldllmoreshoesthaneven

ImeldaMarcospossessed.’Hewaseasedoutof

theLDDCin1988andwasnevergivenevena

minorhonourforwhathehadachieved,buthe

was certainly the Lord of the Manor of Docklands,

whichfewwoulddispute.

RegWardhadlearnttoywhendoingNational

ServicewiththeRoyalAirForce.Perhapsitwas

that experience that kindled the inspiration for

LondonCityAirport.

The LDDC was not set up as a permanent

organisation and with its task of development

by then successfully achieved it began a staged

withdrawal in 1994 and was formally wound up

on31March1998.

Chapter Four

A Short History of

Brymon Airways

The Ledger Building was for some time the headquarters

of the LDDC. It is now a Wetherspoons.

• 33

A Short History of Brymon Airways • 3534 • London City Airport

During its 25-year life Brymon Airways, based

at Plymouth City Airport, was one of the most

innovative of small British airlines. It opened

up Plymouth for scheduled air services, ew

to the most northerly airport in the British

Isles, and was the airline responsible for the

UK introductionof threede Havilland Canada

types–theTwinOtter(DH6),autility20-seater;

theDash7,ashorttake-offandlanding(STOL)

50-passengeraircraft;andthe Dash8,35seats

originally,andnowastheQ400abletocarryup

to80inits2+2cabin.

In 1981 Brymon took part in trials to consider

using a short cross runway at Heathrow, but

what brought it to national attention was ITN’s

News at Ten, Sunday 27 June 1982‘And Finally’

segment which showed a large passenger aircraft

landinginthemiddleoftheLondondocks.Peter

Sissons, the newsreader, was clearly intrigued.

Andastheysay‘Therestishistory!’

Brymon Aviation Ltd was incorporated on

26 January 1970, its name derived from its

creators’surnames,BryceandAmon.BillBryce

was a New Zealander, who had followed his

mates Chris Amon and Denny Hulme to Europe

totryandestablishthemselvesintheworldof

FormulaOne motor racing. Hulme became F1

World Champion in 1967 whilst Chris Amon

was Ferrari number one 1967–69, three seasons,

not actually winning a world championship

race.BruceMcLaren,anotherkiwi,hadasimilar

background and was the founder of the company

that bears his name which is still around today

makingsomeoftheworld’smostadvancedroad

goingcars.SadlyMcLaren himself was killed at

Goodwoodon 2June1970 aged32when the

Can-Am car he was testing crashed. Bryce

fancied himself as a racing driver but found

himself as a journalist reporting back home on

histhreemoreillustriousfriends.

ItwasasanaviationentrepreneurthatBryce

was to make his name, unconventional and

charismatic, a man for a particular time, and not

for the rules and regulations of air transport

thenortoday.

BrymonAviation initially operated a Cessna

dealership at Fairoaks and Southampton as well

as a ying school and an air taxi operation. In

1972asBrymonAirwaysitbeganyinganine-

seat Britten-Norman Islander between RAF

StMawgan,nowNewquay-CornwallAirport,and

theIslesofScilly.AnotherIslanderwasacquired

and in 1973 Bryce movedtheairline’s base to

Roborough Airport, Plymouth, then little more

thanagrasseldwithaportacabinforanofce.

Brymonquicklybuiltupanetworkofroutes

fromitsbasesatPlymouthandNewquayandin

1984introducedtherstDHCTwin Otteron

theBritishaircraftregister.Itwasabravestep.

The airline was eventually to operate eight

aircraftofthistype.

With the introduction of Gatwick, Plymouth’s

rstairlinktoLondon,thetinyCanadian-built

Twin Otters mixed in with Virgin Atlantic’s

Boeing 747s and other large aircraft. In those

daysthe‘Twotters’weresinglecrew,justapilot.

The spare seat up front was for a passenger to

use.Ifyouwerenotnervous,sittingontheight

deck on the Gatwick approach was great fun.

Downwind at low level you could see all that

wasgoingon.

A chance meeting between Bryce and British

Midland Airways boss Michael Bishop (now Lord

Glendonbrook) in September 1976 led to an

important change. A discussion between the

two men about BMA’s Heathrow service to

Newquay resulted in the sale of the complete

operation, including a Dart Herald aircraft and

routelicence,for£100,000.

Brymon had reached the big time and on a

Fridaysometimesoperatedthreereturnservices

betweenTerminal1andStMawgan.

BryceflewonthebrandnewdeHavilland

Dash 7 at Farnborough in September 1978

andwasimpressed.Hesawitastheanswerto

Plymouth Airport’s communication problems

with London.The railway service was poor,

thealternativewasa200-mileroadjourney.

With a proper concrete runway and the new

aircraft the city and Brymon could literally

take-off.

Financing such a project, and the introduction

of a technically advanced aircraft, could have

beenasteptoofarfortheairline.

Allwasnotlost.Buttheywerelucky.

TheChevronOilconsortiumwasseekingaway

ofcuttingthecostofmovingstafffromAberdeento

itsNorthSearigsintheUnsteld.Theanswerwas

Dash 7 to Unst, Britain’s most northerly airport,

and then by Bristow Sikorsky S-61N helicopters

forthenal65-milelegtotheplatform.

Bryce put in a bid, rumoured to be worked

out on the back of an envelope and, rather

typicaloftheman,winningthecrucialcontract.

25 years from start

to nish

Bill Bryce is interviewed by Thames Television at the

time of the Public Inquiry test landing at Heron Quays.

Bill Bryce (right) is seen here with fellow New

Zealander, Ferrari number one Chris Amon.

Veteran Fleet Air Arm and Korean War pilot Captain

Harry Gee led Brymon Airways’ technical team on the

development of London City Airport.

Brymon called its cabin service on the Dash 7

CITYCLASS but in fact it was economy.

A Short History of Brymon Airways • 3736 • London City Airport

Brymon Airways took on four Dash 7s, two to be

basedatAberdeen,butalsoapairatPlymouth.

Brycepersonallygotinvolvedwiththebuilding

of the runway at what at last was Plymouth City

Airport.A tractor operator became another

of his skills. Operating a converted milk oat

for baggage handling was also an occasional

occurrence.

A newterminalbuildingwaserected. Often

Bryce could be seen late in the afternoon

jumping on his motorcycle and belting off to

NewquaytocatchtheeveningHeathrowight.

Billlivedontheveryup-marketStGeorgesHill

estate, Weybridge, next door to comedian Dick

Emery.Thepairwereoftenseenattheweekend

burningupthelocallanesontheirbikes.

In1981 theDash 7sarrivedand withthese

popular aircraft the services from Plymouth

to Heathrow via Newquay and then back to

Plymouthourished.

Thelastightoftheday,thefourthrotation,

routed back from London via the Cornish

airport.Plymouthboomedandsoseeminglydid

theairport.Butitwasallsupercial.Brycehad

overreachedhimself.

By summer 1983 Brymon Airways was in

seriousnancialtrouble,yetwastheleadcarrier

for the proposed STOLPORT in the London

docks. If Brymon collapsed the whole scheme

couldbeinmortaldanger.

Mindful of the fact that with the proposed

new airport there could be more aircraft sales,

deHavillandCanadatookacontrollinginterest

in the carrier.TomAppleton, the chief Dash 7

developmentpilotandbythenaseniorexecutive,

became Chairman of Brymon Airways, albeit on a

temporarybasis.

By chance, a resident not that far from

Plymouth was Charles Stuart, a former British

Airways director, and the exact opposite of Bryce,

tall and urbane, softly spoken and very British,

unlikethesometimesbrashNewZealander.He

also knew his way around the airlines of Europe

and was media friendly. He quickly established

himself amongst the Plymouth elite sitting on

various boards and very much supporting the

cityinitsdrivetoattractbusinessinvestment.

Stuartquicklygainedthesupportofhisformer

colleague, the then Colin Marshall (later Lord)

CEOofBritishAirways,whenheaskedforahalf

million pound cash injection, possibly the best

moneyBAhaseverspent.ThepairofveBrymon

landingslotsatHeathrowthatBAwereeventually

toacquireareworthtensofmillionstoday.

On1January1986,sixseniorBrymonAirways

executives, led by CEO Charles Stuart, with

assistance from BA, and collectively known as

the Plimsoll Line Ltd, purchased the carrier from

deHavillandCanadawithBritishAirwaystaking

a40%interest.Bynowitalsoownedaverylong

leaseonPlymouthCityAirport.

Charles Stuart preached the virtues of

London City Airport during what might be called

itspregnancyandbirth.Hewasanedoctorfor

the project working well with Mowlem and the

LDDCteamunderRegWard.

Stuart’s wife Anne had been a pupil at the

CityofLondonSchoolforGirls.Shehadtakena

keeninterestintheventurewhichhadaworking

nameofSTOLPORT.Itwasduringasixthform

groupvisittowhatwasthenabuildingsitethat

the name London City Airport was suggested,

and it clicked. Mowlem to their credit agreed.

Thenewairporthadapropername.

Gloria Hunniford tried the service to Paris in the very

early days, ying to Charles de Gaulle airport and back

in the morning with plenty of time to spare for her 14:00

BBC Radio show from Broadcasting House.

Coffee and biscuits were served on the LCY waterbus

service.

Visitors inspect the Dash 7 at Heron Quays June 1983.

When Brymon Airways rst came to Heathrow from

Newquay in January 1977 it ew an ex-British Midland

Dart Herald.

38 • London City Airport

Chapter Five

London City Airways

(Eurocity Express)

In October 1992, Brymon Airways merged

with Birmingham European Airways to form

Brymon European Airways. This was bought

jointlybyBritishAirwaysandMaerskAir,in1993.

BritishAirways fully acquired BrymonAirways,

whilst Maersk Air purchased the Birmingham

EuropeanAirwayssection.CharlesStuartretired

and the new management cancelled the London

City operation citing losses. British Airways

foundmoreprotableusesfortheveBrymon

Heathrow slots, Brymon only using Gatwick for

itsLondonandairlineconnectingtrafc.Itwas

thestealofthecentury.

BA sold Plymouth City Airport to a local

propertydeveloper,SuttonHarbourHoldingsPlc,

who created a new airline, Air Southwest, at the

airport using some of the Brymon management

team. The carrier folded in 2011. Today the

airport itself lies moribund, Sutton Harbour is

keen to build houses, whilst a group called Fly

Plymouthhasseriousplansforitsreopening.

Bill Bryce returned to New Zealand and died

in2003.CharlesStuartpassedawayaged64in

1993.

Dash 7 G-BRYA of Brymon Airways getting airborne at

Plymouth City Airport.

Charles Stuart, Brymon Chief Executive, welcoming

the Queen at Plymouth City Airport.

• 39

London City Airways (Eurocity Express) • 41

Bob Schumacher, today United Airlines’

Managing Director UK and Ireland, was at

London City Airport from the beginning and

says that there was a real excitement across

the Eurocity team – assembled from British

MidlandAirways’(BMA)oldhands,ightdeck

and technical crew in the main, as the build-up

to the airport and the opening of its doors.

Later he was to join Continental Airlines at

GatwickandheadupthemovetoHeathrow

and amalgamation with United. Here he

recollectsexcitingtimesatEurocityExpress.

‘The airport brought a transport revolution

– and a local fascination to a part of London

whose connectivity with foreign shores had

beensolelylimitedtoseabornetrafc through

theLondondocks.Therewerealsoemployment

opportunitiesinwhatwas,atthetime,adeprived

partofEastLondon.Fireofcersdoubled-upas

baggage loaders and aireld operatives as the

airportbecamefullyfunctional.

LondonCityAirportwasrevolutionaryinbringing

aSTOL(shorttake-offandlanding)airportrightinto

theheartofEurope’slargestcapitalcity.Itwasequally

ahead of its day both in terms of the infrastructure –

orlackthereof,andtheredevelopmentofthelocal

area. CanaryWharf was, at that time, the eastern

edge of urban redevelopment and the immediate

vicinity was semi-derelict and unattractive. How

differenttotoday!’

Created in 1964 and headed by Michael Bishop

(now Lord Glendonbrook) British Midland

Airways (BMA and later bmi) had always been a

thorn in the side of British Airways (BA) and its

predecessors.BAitselfhadbeenfashionedasa

Stateenterprisein1974.Itwastheamalgamation

of British European Airways (BEA) and the British

OverseasAirwaysCorporation(BOAC).

WithheadquartersatthepalatialDonington

Hall near East Midlands Airport, BMA was

thought of as a Midlands airline, but in fact

Bishop, Manchester born, had been educated at

theprestigiousMillHillSchoolinNorthLondon.

Keenonaviationfromaveryyoungagehehad

joined the embryo airline from its beginnings

rising to General Manager in 1969 and Managing

Director in 1972. He was active with the

London-based d’Oyly Carte Opera Company,

which he chaired, and was a sometime resident

ofLondon’sSavoyHotel.Hehasalwaysbeena

keennon-residentLondoner.

In a strange twist of fate it was in 1977 that

Michael Bishop sold Bill Bryce of Brymon a

Handley Page Dart Herald aircraft for use on

theNewquay – Heathrowroutesignallingthat

airline’srisetoprominence.

Bishophadalwaysbeenamanofvision.He

was later to lead attempts to renegotiate the UK

– USA bilateral known as Bermuda 2, his success

being overtaken by the EU – US Open Skies

Agreement2010.

Bishop saw London City Airport as the sort

of innovation he wanted to get involved with and,

perhaps, to cross swords again with Charles Stuart,

hisadversaryatBritishAirwaysduringtheearly1980s.

Eurocity Express was incorporated in 1986

andpurchasedtwoDash7s.Itenteredintoabid

to secure a partnership with Air France, but lost

outtoStuartandBrymon.Itwastolatertake

thelastDash7everbuilt.

With Air France failing to come on board

for Eurocity Express it was always going to be

a struggle to compete in the Paris market. A

codeshare with the Belgian airline Sabena saw

greater success on the London City – Brussels

route.

In its early days London City Airport was

difculttogettobypublictransportordriving.

Noeasy drivefromtheA13 andA406(North

Circular Road) at the time then, a poor local

busservice,andwhilsttheNorthLondonLine

SilvertownStationhad‘forLondonCityAirport’

addedtoitsname,itwaslittleused.

Today the North London Line rail

infrastructure is the core of Crossrail (Elizabeth

Line) and the line itself has been transformed

intothehighlysuccessfulLondonOverground.

Whatwaspopular,butexpensivetooperate,

was a water bus service from Embankment,

stopping at nearby Blackfriars Station and

disembarking its passengers at a wharf just

upstreamfromtheThamesBarrier.Itwasthen

a ve-minute coach transfer to the airport.

Brymon promoted it actively, Eurocity Express

justtaggedalong.Itslimitationsweretheweather.

As soon as any kind of winds blew across the

Same owner, British Midland, same aircraft – Dash 7

G-BOAX – but seen on its rst Eurocity Express landing

in 1987 (below left) and now in London City Airways

livery (above).

Chapter Six

The Docklands

Light Railway

Thames services were cancelled. This kind of

river connectivity, so prevalent today, was to

someextent‘aheadofitstime’.

Operations began with the opening of

the airport with ights to Brussels and Paris.

Amsterdam was added in 1988. A summer

scheduletoJerseyandweekendadhoccharters

camealonglater.

Brymon’s decision to close the Paris route

forallegedairtrafcsafetyreasonsjustbefore

Christmas1987affectedbothairlines.Into1988

ightsusedtocomeandgowithjustahandfulof

passengers.LossesmountedquicklybutBishop

wascondentthattheairportwouldwork.

Later that year the airline was renamed as

London City Airways so as to identify more closely

withitsbase.Orderswereplacedforthreemore

deHavillandCanadaDash7s,thenalproduction

airframes of this type.The two original planes

weresoldwhenathirdaircraftarrivedbutin1988

a further Dash 7 was purchased from Maersk Air

toincreasetheeettofour.

Without the Air France contract, and no

continental gateway airline interested in a

partnership, London City Airways was doomed

to fail, closing in 1990 following sustained

nanciallosses.Theaircraftweretransferredto

theparentBritishMidlandAirways.

Bob Schumacher said: ‘The airline industry is

alwaysfullofinnovationandideas–andthiswas

oneambitiousexperimentinitstime.Itwasa

slow-burnbutnoonecandenyitssuccesstoday.

OnemightthereforearguethatBMAcapitulated

too quickly. Brymon was to follow and is also

no longer with us. But without London City

Airport would Canary Wharf be as prominent

andsuccessfulasitistoday?Wewillneverknow

theanswertothatbutIamproudtohavebeen

thereattheverybeginning!’

Michael Bishop, Chairman of Eurocity Express, LCY

Chairman Philip Beck and the Queen, on the occasion of

the terminal opening.

• 43

44 • London City Airport

With the inauguration of the LDDC times

changed. Public transport development was a

priorityifitweretosucceed.ThethenLondon

Transport (Transport for London – TfL – was a

Ken Livingstone idea from2000) wasasked to

evaluate a number of plans to develop a light

railway system connecting the Docklands to

CentralLondon.Itdidseemasensiblesolution,

with much of the permanent way still in existence

andexpensivetunnellingnotrequired.Theofcial

cost for stage one was just £77 million (£215

millionat2017prices),remarkablycheapevenby

thestandardsoftheday.

The chosen system, constructed by a

consortium called GEC Mowlem, consisted of

two routes; Stratford to Island Gardens on the

Thames, and Tower Gateway to Island Gardens,

connectingatWestIndiaQuayandthen south

through the Isle of Dogs via the developing

Canary Wharf. The Greenwich Foot Tunnel,

opened in 1902, still connects to the Cutty Sark,

acrosstheriverinitsGreenwichdrydock.

From the north bank of the Thames there are

notable views to the classical buildings of the

former Greenwich Hospital and the National

Maritime Museum, with Greenwich Park forming

a backdrop. The track was further extended

undertheThamestoGreenwichitselfandnally

Lewisham, where it connects with National

Rail, and completed in December 1999.There

are plans for a Greenwich cruise liner terminal

capable of taking ships up to 60,000 tons.At

present smaller cruise ships moor in the Thames

withtransferbytender.

The original route ran for eight miles (as

against 24 miles now), had 15 stations and 11

trains. The units were driverless, a rst for

London and controlled by a computer, with input,

whenrequired, fromaTrain Captain.The DLR,

running from both Tower Gateway and Stratford

to Island Gardens, was ofcially opened by

QueenElizabethon30July1987.

As the Docklands area developedit quickly

became apparent that the DLR had to increase

capacity.Sincethebeginningofthelinefourmain

developments and enhancements have taken

place, with plenty of further ideas originating,

Nearly two-thirds of London City Airport

passengersarriveanddepartbytheDLR,mostly

viatheCanningTownUnderground/JubileeLine

intersection, but an increasing number use

Woolwich Arsenal, on the southern side of the

RiverThames with its links to the South-East

andKent.

TheDLRwasalongtimeinitsmaking.While

the track itself is new, much of the infrastructure

isbuiltonVictorianviaductswhicharewellover

100yearsold.

During the second half of the 19th century

aproliferationofrailwaylinesdevelopedinthe

east of London mainly to support the ever-

expandingDocklands,andgivingconnectionsto

amuchwiderhinterlandtothenorth.Thepoorly

builtroadsweretheprovinceofsingleriderson

horses,orcarriagesofvaryingstandards,forboth

passengersandgoods.Thecoal-redtrainsmight

havebeensmelly,butwereamajorimprovement

onthereekingroadways.

OriginallycalledtheCommercialRailway,and

datingfrom1840,thelinewhichdevelopedinto

the London and Blackwell Railway became the

mainserviceproviderinthearea,runningfrom

the Tower of London area to North Greenwich

andalsotothesoutherntipoftheIsleofDogs.

Itnallyclosedin1966duetolackoftrafcbut

its legacy lives on.Take the DLR fromTower

Gateway to Poplar and you will see the remains

of many abandoned sidings and branch lines long

givenup.

Over the next 15 years various schemes

were suggested to resurrect the old track,

build a tramway, or even extend the London

Underground. It was recognised that a mass

people mover was a crucial requirement for

anyredevelopmentto succeedinEast London.

People had to get to and from work cheaply, and

withareliableservice.

Until the coming of the London Docklands

Development Corporation (LDDC) in 1981

there was no clear direction with both central

and local government having different ideas. A

needforatransportcarrierwasnotinquestion–

budgetary concerns being the major reason for a

lackofaction.Noschemeevergotofftheground.

In 2009 the nal DLR extension was completed to

Woolwich Arsenal.

There is a train at least every 10 minutes to Bank taking

22 minutes.

The Docklands Light Railway • 47

from as far aeld as NewYork and be at the

Olympic centre within 30 minutes of actually

touchingdown,agoldmedalachievement.

Currently trains run westbound from London

CityAirport about everytenminutesto Bank,

a major intersection with the Northern and

Central Lines, and the non-stop service to

Waterloo station. Some services go toTower

Gateway.Trains fromLondon CityAirport run

every ten minutes to Stratford International

(adjacent to Queen Elizabeth II Stadium).

JourneytimeissevenminutestoCanningTown

to interchange with the Beckton branch of the

DLRandwiththeJubileeLine;12minutestothe

Poplar interchange for the Canary Wharf and

Lewisham branch, and 22 minutes to Bank in the

CityofLondon.

Trains run eastbound every ve minutes to

WoolwichArsenal.

KeolisAmey Docklands Ltd (KAD) operates

the trains and stations and maintains much of

the network. KAD took over the franchise

from Serco Docklands Ltd in December 2014

followingacompetitivetenderingprocess.

In 2016, 117 million passengers used the DLR

with just over three million passing through

London City Airport, making it possibly the

busiest single platform station in the entire TfL

network,aremarkableachievement.

The DLR does not directly connect with the

new Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) except at Custom

HouseandtheBecktonextension.Itispossible

to link at Woolwich and Canary Wharf but a

walkisinvolved.

Year Number of

stations

Number of

passengers

(millions)

Number of

trains

Length

(miles)

1988

15 10 11 8

1998

29 28 70 14

2006

38 64 94 19

2016

45 117 149 24

mainly in respect of where to extend from Bank,

north to Kings Cross, or south to The Strand

area.Stillnodecisionshavebeenmade.

The rst set of enhancements took place

between1991and1994.Itincludedextending

the line to Bank, doubling the trains to two units,

vastlyincreasingthecapacityofCanaryWharf

station to include six platforms and integration

intothemallsandofcetowersaround,anda

routefromPoplartoCanningTown,avitalpiece

oftheEastLondonlightrailwaydevelopment.

Canning Town was the gateway to London

CityAirportwiththenextstepanextensionvia

theairporttotheDLRstationatKingGeorgeV,

oppositetheeasterlyrunwaytouchdownpoint.

Theairportstationwasbuiltwithacoveredway

straightintotheterminal.Itwashighprole.Ken

Livingstone,thethenMayorofLondon,opened

the extension in December 2005, much to

his chagrin, as he was opposed to the airport.

Indeed, the DLR connection to London City

Airportcouldhavebeenpartoftheinitialplans

for the system if it was not for his total lack of

interestor,somewouldsay,unhelpfulness.Also

attending the opening ceremony was Lord Coe,

ChairmanoftheLondonOrganisingCommittee

oftheOlympicandParalympicGames2012,and

ColinJackson,Olympicsilvermedallistandtwice

worldchampion.

At the same time a branch from Canning

Town to Beckton was inaugurated including a

station at Custom House on the North London

Line, since that time the main transport access

forExCeLLondon.

With the strong backing of the Lewisham

Borough Council the line was further extended

inJanuary2009undertheThamestoWoolwich

Arsenal connecting to National Rail and the Kent

lines.Woolwichquicklyprovedprotable.

With the build-up towards the London

Olympics,manyof the stationswereextended

andthree-cartrainsintroduced.TheDLRroute

from the airport to Stratford was a key element

of the transport infrastructure for the London

Olympics.Thebranchcostnearlytwicethatof

theoriginalscheme,£140million.

Thelastextension,fundedfromtheOlympic

2012 budget, was the line from Canning Town

to Stratford and Stratford International with

throughtrains starting atWoolwich and giving

airportpassengersdirectQueenElizabethPark

access. During the Games, the DLR carried

aroundtwicetheusualaveragenumberofdaily

passengers, with up to 500,000 people on the

busiestdays.PassengerscouldnowyintoLCY

LCY to Stratford completed well in time for the Olympics

(left to right) Transport Minister Karen Buck, Colin

Jackson, Lord Coe, Ken Livingstone, Denise Lewis.

Canary Wharf station is by far the busiest on the

network.

FLYING HIGH TOGETHER

Chapter Seven

Canary Wharf

• 49

Canary Wharf • 5150 • London City Airport

Canary Wharf, the London headquarters of

manyoftheworld’smajornancialinstitutions,

professionalrmsandbusinesses,liesontheIsle

ofDogs,evolvingfromhumbleorigins.

It became known as the Isle of Dogs when

HenryVIII’s dogs were walked on it regularly

duringhisreignatthestartofthe16thcentury.

Until the 18th century the Isle of Dogs

was mainly agricultural land on the edge of a

burgeoningmetropolis.

Canary Wharf, on the other hand, takes its

name from the Canary Islands from where

bananas were imported to the West India

Docks.CharlesDickensdescribedtheDocklands

in the 1860s as a place where ‘accumulated scum

of humanity seemed to be washed from higher

grounds,likesomuchmoralsewage’.Untilthe

1960s, the Isle of Dogs was, however, a hive

of activity – thousands were employedon the

docksandinrelatedindustries.

During the early Industrial Revolution

British industry rapidly expanded, creating

a huge demand for imported raw materials

andtheexportofmanufacturedgoods.Ship-

owners and traders fought successfully for

the creation of the world’s rst deep water

encloseddocksonrelativelyopenlandeastof

the City, downstream of London Bridge.The

West India Docks opened in 1802 and very

quicklybecameprotable.

The introduction of containerisation and the

increasinglylargevesselsemployedtotransport

them required much larger wharves than

London’s 19th century docks could provide.

PortactivitiesmoveddownrivertoTilburyand

75,000 direct jobs were lost in London’s historic

docks. Inevitably during the period from the

mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, trade in the docks

collapsed.Theimpactonthelocaleconomywas

devastating. By the 1980s the site of what has

become Canary Wharf lay abandoned within an

areaof1,000hectaresofvacantandderelictland

anddocksinLondon’sEastEnd.

Access by road was poor and there was

virtually no public transport.The Docklands

areawasperceivedtobeadangerouswasteland

of isolated council estates and abandoned

buildingsanddocks.TotherestofLondon,the

Docklands area was remote and difcult to

reachandhadlittleinitworthvisiting.Tolm

makers and television producers the legends

ofJacktheRipperandtheKraybrotherslived

on.Takentogetherthesefactorsprovedahuge

disincentive, especially to British institutional

investors.

In1981theLondonDocklandsDevelopment

Corporation (LDDC) was charged with the

formidable task of regenerating Docklands, and

key to this was a programme of enhancing the

then bleak prospects of much of the area by

restoring some key buildings and landscaping the

mostprominentderelictsites.

Much of the early debate about the area’s

future rightly focused on replacing the jobs

lost by the closure of the docks but this

provedtoonarrow.Aresponse,acknowledging

thepastbutlookingtothefuture,wassought.

Howeverwhilenewhousingcouldbeachieved

relativelyeasilyduetoahugepent-updemand,

providingnewjobswouldproveproblematic.

In 1982 an Enterprise Zone was created on

theIsleofDogstoaddressthis.Thescheme

allowed planning permission for most forms of

development,subjecttocertainconditionsand

controls.

After a poor initial response, interest surged

in1983whentherstphaseoftheDocklands

Light Railway (DLR) was announced, linking the

Isle of Dogs to the edge of the City of London

andinvestorsbegantorealisethearea’spotential.

Low-rise warehousing and small business units

followed and although modest, this prompted

widerinterest.Itwastoopenon30July1987,

just three months before London City Airport,

passing through what is now Canary Wharf to

IslandGardens.

In1986thederegulationof‘nancialservices’

in the UK created a huge demand for large

ofces,butatthattimenewdevelopmentinthe

City of London had been frustrated by extended

planninginquiries.

Land in and around the West India Docks was

available for development, but it was thought

too remote from London’s historic business

centre and difcult to reach. After several

aborted possibilities by potential developers

and entrepreneurs the LDDC at last found a

developerwithtruevision.

Canada’s Olympia & York, headed by the

Reichmann Brothers, had a track record of

delivery, most notably having builtTheWorld

FinancialCentreinNewYork.Italsohadahighly

skilled marketing and construction team seeking

newopportunities.

The company’s research in 1987 indicated

that up to 85% of the City’s ofce spaces

were technologically obsolete and unsuited for

modern requirements. Floor plates were too

smallandtheabilitytoretrotwaslimited.

It was not encumbered by the same prejudices

about East London harboured by many in the

City and it is perhaps not surprising that it was

anoverseasdeveloperthathadthecondence

tocommittosuchanambitiousundertaking.

In 1988 George (today Sir George) Iacobescu

came to London as Senior Vice-President of

Olympia&Yorktooverseeconstruction,budget

anddeliveryofCanaryWharf.HebecameChief

Executivenineyearslaterandtodayheremains

atthehelmofCanaryWharfGroup.

EventhoughLondonCityAirportwasopen,

lack of access was quickly identied as one of

the most signicant problems that required a

solution.TheDLRwouldhavetobeextendedto

the heart of the City (Bank station) and to the

airport,andplansfortheJubileeLineextension

and Docklands Highways, originally proposed by

the defunct Greater London Council, needed to

beresurrected.

Although the Canary Wharf site, like most of

thelandinDocklands,washeavilypollutedand

hadlittlecommercialvalue,theLDDCdemanded

specic performance from Olympia & York,

requiring4.5millionsquarefeetofdevelopment

tobecompletedby1991.ItwasPaulReichmann’s

visiontocreatea‘totalenvironment’.

Olympia &York wanted to create a cluster

of buildings to provide critical mass. In time

even the most ardent critics of tall buildings

in London came to accept the spatial and

aesthetic logic of Canary Wharf’s cluster of

‘skyscrapers’. Occupants could specify their

preferred architects who, within the constraints

of the Building Agreement, could ensure their

client’s needs werefullymet. It was conceived

as a mature city district with different architects

commissioned for the design of each building.

Everydetailofthenewdevelopmentneededto

achievethehigheststandards.

Sir Roy Strong, then the Director of the

VictoriaandAlbertMuseum,wascommissioned

The Canary Wharf complex in 2017 looking towards LCY.

Canary Wharf • 5352 • London City Airport

to advise on the design of Canary Wharf’s

squaresand streets.As the strategy developed

with the expansion of the estate, care was

taken to endow each open space with its own

distinct character; the contemplative, peaceful

environment of Westferry Circus with its

immaculate lawn and dense shrubbery contrasts

withthehardgranitepaving,waterfountainand

sculptured ventilation drums of Cabot Square,

different again to the green sward of Canada

SquarewithitssummerfestivalsandChristmas

skating and the sylvan enclavesof JubileePark,

ideal for sandwich lunches and summer picnics

awayfromthehustleandbustleofdailybusiness.

Caesar Pelli, architect of Olympia &York’s

World Finance Centre in New York City, was

commissioned to design the centrepiece, One

CanadaSquare,London’srstmodernskyscraper

with50oors.UntiltheopeningofTheShardit

wasthe tallestbuildingin London. (TheHilton

ParkLane,builtin1963,onlyhas28storeys.)

Olympia&Yorkcommitted£100millionfor

theextensionoftheDLRtotheCity.TheCanary

Wharf DLR station was rebuilt, fully integrated

intothemallsbelow.

Despitethecompletionoftherstphasein

1991 the institutions of the City of London were

resistanttochangeandwerereluctanttomove

east. Moreover, just as the rst buildings were

being completed in 1989 and 1990, the British

economywasmovingintoadeeprecession.

InMay1992,followingdifcultieswithsome

of its NorthAmerican investments and in the

context of the worldwide recession, the group’s

UK development company, Olympia & York

CanaryWharfLtd,wentintoadministration.

In1993witha workingpopulationof7,000

people and construction of the Jubilee Line

extension just beginning, a consortium of

banks that were owed£500 million took over

the project and succeeded in bringing it out of

administration.CanaryWharfwasbackontrack.

As the economy recovered and the much

delayedconstructionoftheJubileeLineextension

movedahead,thefortunesofthedevelopment

brightened and in 1995, Paul Reichmann, leading

agroupofinternationalinvestors,acquiredthe

estateoncemore.By1999,withthedevelopment

of the second phase complete, the working

population had increased to 25,000 people and

HSBC had nalised contracts for a 1.1 million

square feet headquarters building. Transport

infrastructure had dramatically improved with

signicantnancialsupportfromCanaryWharf

Group.The CanaryWharf Jubilee Line station

wasduetoopenontheeveoftheMillennium,

and the DLR extension to Lewisham was

complete.InMarch1999CanaryWharfGroup

PlcwasoatedontheLondonStockExchange

to become one of the largest publicly quoted

propertydevelopersintheUK.

At the turn of the century the growth of

Canary Wharf was dramatic. Citigroup and

Clifford Chance agreed to let signicant new

onemillionsquarefeetofbuildingsandMorgan

Stanley and Credit Suisse both signed leases to

extend their existing occupation in new 500,000

square feet of buildings. In 2001 Lehman and

Barclays Bank both agreed to lease separate one

millionsquarefeetofbuildingsastheirEuropean

and global headquarter buildings. By 2002 the

working population had more than doubled to

over55,000.

In September 2008 Lehman Brothers went

into administration sending an earthquake

through the nancial system and the banking

sector in particular.At this time between 70–

80% of occupiers at CanaryWharf werefrom

the nancial sector. Despite difcult market

conditions, in 2010 J. P. Morgan purchased 25

Bank Street in the heart of the Canary Wharf

complex,makingittheirEuropeanheadquarters

in2012.Thisdealpushedtheworkingpopulation

above 100,000 for the rst time. However, as

demand generally stalled, thoughts at Canary

WharfGroupbegantoturntothevariationof

theCanaryWharftenantbase.

Reectingsignicanttenantdiversicationon

the estate, agreement was reached the following

year on a new 20-storey tower to be constructed

at25ChurchillPlace.Initiallyhalfwaslettothe

EuropeanMedicineAgencyandsubsequentlythe

balancelettoEY(ErnstandYounguntil2013),

the accountancy group. Canary Wharf Group

had until then never undertaken residential

developmentbutin2012itacquiredtheWood

Wharf site to the east of Canary Wharf with

potentialforover3,000homes.

Itwasclear fromthe very earlydaysthat

occupants of Canary Wharf would need

muchmorethansomewheretoliveandwork

together in a pleasant and safe environment

– they would want places to eat, shop and

socialise.Inthe earliest daysofdevelopment

there were more market stalls than shops, and

stall-holders would close early as business was

so slow. As the working population started

to grow so did the range of cafés, bars and

restaurants,withaselectionofshopsproviding

essentialservices.

The necessary extension of the ‘retail offer’ was

initially met by the 100% pre-let opening of the

Canada Place Mall in 2000, anchored in 2002 by the

arrivalofthe100,000squarefeetWaitroseFoodand

Homestore.Todaythisremainsthemostsuccessful

store in the Waitrose group which has its best day’s

trading on a Saturday. Transport infrastructure at

CanaryWharfhasimprovedsothatlessthan5%of

peopleworkingatCanaryWharfnowarrivebycar.

There are now over 300 shops, bars and

restaurants at Canary Wharf, which includes the

newElizabethLinestationcomplex,andcovers

almost1millionsquarefeet.Uniquely,itisalllet.

The retail offering has been complemented

by an increasingly ambitious Arts and Events

programme of mainly free exhibitions, concerts,

performances and premier events open to

visitors,residentsandworkersalike.

The shops, bars and restaurants of Canary

Wharf attract people from a much wider

area beyond the estate, across the whole of

East London, and have an annual footfall of

over 43 million with around 100,000 people

regularly visiting at weekends. Canary Wharf

isnowaweek-day, eveningandweekend retail

destination. The public art programme, which

has been a feature of Canary Wharf throughout

itsdevelopment, hasbeen constantlyexpanded

and is now the largest open air corporate art

collection in London, comprising around 70

pieces, all ofwhichareavailable to be enjoyed

freeofchargebyvisitorstotheestate.

Over the years the character of Canary

Wharfhaschanged dramatically.  Itsoccupants

havemovedfrombeingaround20%non-nancial

– 80% nancial to today’s approximately 45%

non-nancial–55%nancial

Recent leasing transactions on the estate

reectthisdiversicationwithtechnology,media

and telecommunications leasing transactions now

exceedingbankingandnanceinnumberandsize.

As well as Canary Wharf Group, current

tenants include Bank of New York Mellon,

Moody’s, Euler Hermes, the Medical Defence

Union and Trinity Mirror Group (Daily Mirror,

Sunday Mirror, Sunday People and The Wharf).

Othertowerblocksonthesiteembracethe

one million square feet headquarter buildings

occupiedbyHSBC,CitigroupandBarclays.Anew

715,000squarefeetbuildingalreadypartiallylet

to Société Générale and a 60-storey residential

tower called Newfoundland will also shortly be

addedtothechangingCanaryWharfskyline.

Due to be opened in December 2018, Canary

Wharf railway station on the Elizabeth Line

(Crossrail) will add a direct train to Heathrow

fromthecomplex.DesignedbyFoster+Partners,

its above-ground oors are already open with

retailunits,toppedbyaroofgarden.

In 1980 there was one person employed

full time at Canary Wharf – the security guard

on the dock gate.Today there are more than

115,000 people working on the site which is

morethan in the heyday of the docks. Canary

Wharfhasexpandedtoover16millionsquare

feet of commercial space with ambitious plans

for further growth in an additional 11 million

squarefeetearmarkedfornewdevelopment.

ThefutureofCanaryWharfisassured!

Cabot Place Mall within the Canary Wharf complex.

Chapter Eight

ExCeL London

• 55

ExCeL London • 5756 • London City Airport

WouldExCeLLondonhavebeenbuiltwithoutthe

presence of London City Airport? It is a good and

fairquestion.AndinitsturntheLondonOlympics

of2012–wouldthesitehavebeen considered

without the opening of ExCeL London in 2000?

Whenthe bidwas woninJuly2005, ExCeL

Londonandtheairportwereprovingthatthere

wasnewlifetobehadinEastLondon.

By the end of the 20th century, London

had a dearth of large scale exhibition and

meetingcentres.EarlsCourt,a1930’sconcrete

mausoleum, was too small, and in much the

same area Kensington Olympia, dating from

Victoriantimes,stillonlyexistedbecauseitwas

not destroyed during World War II and was a

listedstructure.Thethreehallswhichmakeup

Olympiaarelessthanhalfamillionsquarefeet

of cluttered space.The area around the Royal

Victoria Dock remained desolate, a wasteland

ripeforredevelopment.

In July 1994 the LDDC short-listed four

rmstoputinbidsforalarge-scaleexhibition

centreon the northsideoftheRoyalVictoria

Dock noting it was just over a mile from an

international airport. By January the following

year they announced that London International

Exhibition Centre Ltd (LIECL) had been chosen

tobringtheschemetofruition.

Theideatooktimetodevelopandnanceand

itwasnotuntilJanuary1998thatitnallygotthe

greenlight.Bythistimeadevelopmentcompany,

HighpineLtd,hadbeensetuptobuildthecentre.

This was owned 68% by Malaysian nancial

interestsand24.5%byLIECL’sshareholders.The

balanceof7.5%wasinthenameoftheLDDC,

this share transferred to English Partnerships in

March1998.

The centre was constructed by Sir Robert

McAlpineLtdandopenedinNovember2000.

The exhibition building itself consists of

two column-free, rectangular, devisable halls of

approximately479,493squarefeeteach,oneither

side of a central boulevard containing catering

facilitiesandinformationpoints.Therearealso

three sets of function rooms, one overlooking

thewater,anotherabovethewesternendofthe

central boulevard, and the third on the north

sideofthebuilding.Theseareusedforsmaller

meetings, seminars, presentations, and corporate

hospitality.Thereare now eight hotels offering

over1,700roomsbetweenthem,morethan30

barsandrestaurants,plus3,700 parkingspaces

onthecampus.

One of the early problems associated with

ExCeL London was the lack of quality hotel

accommodation. This was alleviated in 2002

bythe arrival of the rst SunbornSuperYacht

Hotel. (A larger replacement Sunborn was

openedin2014offering130suites,arestaurant

andconventionfacilities.)

The centre’s ‘coming of age’ could be

considered to be 2004 when the Docklands

Light Railway (DLR) opened at Custom House

station(nowCustomHouseforExCeL)givinga

directrailservicetoBankandalso,viaCanning

Town, to the London Underground system.

Previously, CustomHousehadbeenastopon

theunderusedNorthLondonLine.

In2008,ExCeLLondonwasacquiredbyAbu

DhabiNationalExhibitionsCompany.

AlthoughtheRoyalVictoriaDockclosedto

commercialtrafcin1981,itisstillaccessiblefor

smallshipsandforthe2008WorldTravelMarket

a20-seatTwinOtteroatplaneewin!

On2April 2009,the annualG-20Leaders’

Summit on Financial Markets and the World

Economy, commonly called The London Summit

2009,washeldhere.Itwasthelargestgathering

of world leaders London has seen since the

rstGeneralAssemblyoftheUnitedNations

in1946.

TheLondonInternationalConventionCentre

(ICC),London’srstandonlyICC,wasopened

by Mayor Boris Johnson on 20 May 2010. A

self-contained complex, ICC London includes a

huge, exible, auditorium and London’s largest

The Connaught Bridge lies between the airport and

ExCeL London.

Aerial view showing proximity of LCY at left to ExCeL

London in centre.

ExCeL London • 5958 • London City Airport

banqueting room, the ICC Capital Hall, which

canhostover3,000foraformaldinner.Aseries

of conference rooms – the ICC Capital Suite – is

also available, comprising 17 individual meeting

rooms with the exibility to host breakout

sessions for 50 to 1,200 delegates, alongside

receptionandregistrationareas.

The eastern entrance of the facility is connected

to Prince Regent station and is also served by

abustoLondonCityAirport.Thisentranceto

ExCeLLondon givesaccesstothe International

Convention Centre (ICC at ExCeL). During

majorshowswithlargevisitorattendances,extra

shuttle trains are run between the venue and

Canning Town station, with interchange at London

Underground’sJubileeLine.

For the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics

ExCeL London was a key centre hosting the

boxing, fencing, judo, taekwondo, table tennis,

weightliftingandwrestling.Alegacywallfeatures

hand prints of the athletes that won Gold at

the venue plus the former Mayor of London

BorisJohnson.OnSunday16Decemberofthe

same year the centre played host to the BBC

Sports Personality of the Year – the award was

won by Bradley Wiggins, the Tour de France

and Olympic cycling time trial champion and

a Lifetime Achievement award went to Lord

(Sebastian)Coe,headoftheOlympicOrganising

Committee. 16,000 people watched at ExCeL

Londonand10.8millionUKtelevisionviewers.

SinceJune2012,theEmiratesAirLinecable

carnowlinksExCeLLondontoTheO2onthe

Greenwich Peninsula. It was estimated to cost

£60millionand1.5millionjourneysweretaken

onitin2016.

ExCeL London welcomed its 20 millionth

visitoron18June2014.

In 2015, ExCeL London announced the

opening of CentrEd at ExCeL, a dedicated

training and meetings space located close to

thewesternentranceofthevenueoverlooking

RoyalVictoriaDock,thusaddingtoExCeL’swide

rangeofexiblespaces.Onofferare29training

roomswithexiblewallstocreatespacesfor20

to400delegates.

Another water-borne hotel opened in 2016,

the oating Good Hotel, originally sited in

Amsterdam, it is now moored close by the

EmiratesAirBridge.Thisuniqueconceptoffers

148 rooms, a range of meeting rooms, four-

star accommodation and incorporates a social

awareness business concept – its singular aim

is to extensively train long-term unemployed

localsinvariousjobsinthehospitalityindustry.

Following successful conclusion, participants

will be offered a three-month contract at Good

Hotel, followed by professional mediation in the

city’s hotel business. The entire process gives

participants a real chance to get off welfare,

integrateintotheeconomyandbuildthemselves

anewfuture.

ExCeL London hosts numerous industry and

show business events. Just one example is the

2016 Doctor Who Celebration convention, a

truecarnivalforthe50thanniversaryoftheBBC

televisionseries,Doctor Who.

TheVirgin Active LondonTriathlon is held

at ExCeL London on an annual basis, with the

cycling and running legs taking place within and

aroundthevenueandtheswimmingtakingplace

intheRoyalVictoriaDock.

The Triathlon celebrated its 20th year at

ExCeL London in summer 2016. It is also the

organising centre for the London Marathon

where 40,000 athletes checked in over three

daysinApril2017.

A regular feature in the ExCeL London

calendar is the annual London Boat Show.

The annual World Travel Market is a major international

event, much supported by London City Airport.

The ExCeL London convention centre entrance.

Highlights of the 2017 show included the

boating lake, where you could try out kayaking

and zorbing, talks by yachtswoman Dee Caffari

andOlympicmedallistSaskiaClark,theDream

Lodge Marina featuring super yachts, Marine

Fashion Week catwalk and dance shows, as well

asmorethan300exhibitors.

The sheer size of ExCeL London makes it

ideal for the annual London Classic Car Show

and Historic Motorsport International, open to

thepublic.Hundredsofnotablevehiclescanbe

seen,andalsothegreatracingcarsofyesteryear.

Justaslarge,rathermoreprivate,andanannual

event,isDSEI,aworldleadingsecuritytradefair.

ExCeL London also provides space free of

charge for local schools and sports teams, in

additiontohostinganannualeventcalled‘ExCeL

intheArts’forlocalchildrentoattend.

In 2018, the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail), will

bringLondon’smainlinestationLiverpoolStreet

(for Stansted) to within ten minutes of ExCeL

London andTottenham Court Road only ve

minutesmore.

Chapter Nine

The Airport Timeline

Events at ExCeL London: cycle racing is an indoor

event (above left), Olympic table tennis (above) and

conferences (below).

• 61

62 • London City Airport

On31May1987thersteverlandingtookplace

atLondonCityAirport.

Through the following pages the history of

LCY is traced, coupled to what was going on in

theoutsideworld.Notalltheroutesandairlines

are noted, just the most important or unusual

ones, and when it comes to happenings which

occurredatthetimeintheworldwehavebeen

selectiveinmentioningevents,personalitieswho

havehittheheadlines,majorsportingoccasions,

andpeoplepassingonthathavecaughtoureye

andperhapshavebeenforgotten.You,thereader,

will have your own memories and opinions

and this can be challenged on the London City

Airport page www.facebook.com/londoncityair.

Right: The rst ever landing at London City Airport.

The Airport Timeline • 6564 • London City Airport

1981

September: The newly created London

Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC)

ChiefExecutive,RegWard,discussedwithPhilip

Beck, Chairman of construction company John

Mowlem & Co Plc, the idea of a heliport for

Docklands.

1982

February: Mowlem contacted Brymon Airways’

owner Bill Bryce, having seen a piece in Flight

Internationalmagazine,regardingthedeHavilland

Canada(DHC)Dash7aircraft.

27 June: BrymonAirways’ Chief Pilot, Captain

Harry Gee, accompanied by Captain Charlie

Beilby,landedaDash7onHeronQuaysinthe

West India Docks to demonstrate the feasibility

of the STOLPORT (short take-off and landing)

project.

Mowlem and Brymon Airways submitted to

the LDDC an outline proposal for a Docklands

STOLPORTcitycentregateway.

August:LDDCpublishedafeasibilitystudy.

October:Opinionpollamongresidentsshowed

two-to-oneinfavourofthenewairport.Mowlem

submittedanapplicationforplanningpermission.

Brymon Airways provided Dash 7 trips to

Plymouth for key stakeholders, community

leadersand themediatoexperiencethe quiet

airlinerinoperation(albeitfromHeathrow).

1983

Mowlem reached agreement with the Port of

London Authority (PLA) to lease land in the

RoyalDocks.

8June:ThePublicInquirylasting63daysbeganin

aformerPLAofcebuildingintheAlbertBasin,

broughtbackintouseforthepurpose.

30June:CaptainHarryGeereturnedtoHeron

Quayswitha Dash7todemonstrate itsquiet

STOL capability to the Inspector at the Public

Inquiry. Captain Richard Saw was the second

personinthecockpitonthisoccasion.

1984

August:SecretaryofStatefortheEnvironment,

Patrick Jenkin, indicated that he was disposed

to agree the application for outline planning

permission but asked for additional work on

the framing of the conditions and especially on

a more easily understood system for controlling

noise.

1985

March: Greater London Council (GLC) Leader,

KenLivingstone,failedinhisHighCourtbidto

securethereopeningoftheInquiry.

May: Outline planning consent was granted by

theSecretaryofState.

1986

February: Detailed planning consent given by

LDDC.

ConstructionworklaunchedbyAviationMinister,

MichaelSpicer.

29 May: The Prince of Wales laid the foundation

stoneoftheterminalbuilding.

BrymonAirwayscancelleditsmiddayightout

of Heathrow to Plymouth and Dash 7 G-BRYA

madealowlevelpassdowntheKingGeorgeV

Dockandstoletheshow.(G-BRYAwastherst

aircrafttolandattheairportin1987.)

August:LondonCity’srstAirportDirector,

JohnDouthwaite,tookuphisappointment.

1981–1986

This was to become the apron. Now buried under the terminal, the dry dock in 1986.

Prince Charles reads the foundation stone

plaque.

1986 London City prior to opening with shorter runway. Mowlem

had provided for the extension.

Brymon Airways Heron Quays, 1983.

The Airport Timeline • 67

Harvey Elliott

Harvey Elliott was

born 16April 1942. He

died after a long illness

9 March 2017, aged 74. The following article

published5November1997isbalancedandasks

alltherightquestions.Itisattingtributetoa

lovelyman.

When Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over

Lockerbie at around 19:00 on the evening of

21 December 1998 with 259 people on board,

Harvey Elliott, the specialist air correspondent

on The Times, took the lead role in producing for

the following morning’s edition one of the most

dramaticfrontpagestoriesever.

Overthenextfewdaysheexclusivelyrevealed

therstevidence,includingthediscoveryofheat

damage on the plastic lining in one of the cargo

bays,pointingtoamassivebombexplodinginthe

hold before the airliner crashed to the ground,

killingafurther11people.

Elliott worked in Fleet Street as a reporter

andspecialistcorrespondentfor30years,rstat

the Daily Mail and then at The Times. He dabbled

in another career, as Press Ofcer for British

Caledonian Airways, but two years away from

theprofessionhelovedprovedtoomuchforhim

andhereturnedtothereportingworld.

A friend, who was still a reporter in the

provinces,recalledareunionafterhehadmoved

to Fleet Street when Elliott splashed out with

a bottle of Meursault burgundy, costing more

thanhisfriendwasearninginaweek.Itwasvery

muchpartofElliott’sstyleasaFleetStreetman.

When he joined The Times, in September

1986,Elliotthadmorethanprovedhisworthas

a tough competitor in the reporting world after

18 years with the Daily Mail under the editorship

ofSirDavidEnglish,whooncewrotetohim:‘IfI

had an extra ten people like you on the staff, the

Mailwouldbeunstoppable.’

On the Daily Mail as Air Correspondent he

became an authoritative chronicler of the ups

and downs of Sir Freddie Laker, the private

airline entrepreneur whose Laker Airways went

bankrupt. Later, as Defence Correspondent,

hecoveredtheFalklandsconictin1982from

Whitehall,writing21outof24splashes.

Aloverofcricket,inthe1990sElliottfounded

the Fleet Street Exiles, a mixed bag of fellow

journalists and friends who could swing a bat or

bowl an imperious ball, playing in the Caribbean,

Australia,SriLankaandotherexoticlocations.It

wasamasterstroke.ForoneCaribbeantourhe

arranged for the whole team and their partners

totravelbetweenislandsbycruise ship. Once,

after a match in St Lucia, the players got so

carried away by the beauty of the island that they

returnedlatetothecruiseshiptondafuming

captain. He had missed his departure slot and

hadtopayanotherhour’smooringfee.

Rejoining The Times from British Caledonian

Elliott eventually combined the roles of Air

Correspondent and Travel Correspondent,

which provided extensive opportunities for

globetrotting.Itwashisclosecontactswiththe

travel industry that helped him to orchestrate

the sumptuous itineraries for the Fleet Street

Exiles.

The London City Airport story was the

culmination of an interest he took in the project

since its inception, visiting the site during Ken

Livingstone’sHighCourt attempt to derail the

schemeandlateryingonaDash7toPlymouth

tointerviewCharlesStuart.

His article (see overleaf), published on the

morning that HM The Queen opened the

terminal, was accurate and as things turned out

trulyperceptive.Henishedwiththewords.‘All

thatisneedednowisaninuxofpassengers’.He

wasrightbutittooktime!

The opening of the terminal on 5 November 1987.

The Queen arrived by Rolls-Royce and departed

on the Royal Nore barge, operated by Thames

Waterman on behalf of the PLA. Brymon Airways

and Eurocity Express mounted a ypass.

The Airport Timeline • 6968 • London City Airport

Today the Queen opens the London City Airport,

built in Docklands to serve executives requiring a

swift, easy route to the Continent

Taxi drivers have not yet included it in ‘the

knowledge’. Much of the immediate area still

resembles a bombed site. There is still confusion

over the name. And only a fraction of its intended

market in Europe has been opened up.

But London City Airport, or Stolport, depending

on your preference, is in business.

All those involved – especially the developers

Mowlem, and the airlines Brymon and Eurocity

Express – believe they could be on the threshold of

bringing a revolution to the way businessmen travel

between London and Europe.

If they are right, the thousands working within

the City of London, or within striking distance of

the burgeoning East End, could be ready to turn their

backs on the crowded Tube journey to Heathrow, or

the battle through the backpacking holiday-makers

at Gatwick, and simply take the short taxi journey

to LCY, as the airport has been ofcially designated.

Already some doubters are predicting that the

early nancial analysis is, to say the least, optimistic.

They claim that, even with the landing fees as high

as those at Heathrow, Mowlem will nd it difcult to

make a return on its £30 million investment for many

years. Most people, it is argued, travel on business

trips from their homes rather than making spur-of-

the-moment decisions to go from their ofces.

So are they really likely to hail a cab, run the

risk of the driver not knowing where the new airport

is, ght through the heavy Docklands trafc and

board a small 50-seat turbo-prop aircraft that is

slower than a jet and which, on arrival in Paris or

Brussels, will have no different facilities from the

mass of scheduled ights coming from Heathrow

or Gatwick?

Yes they will say the airlines condently. And

they also claim that, more importantly, thousands

of businessmen from the Continent will want to use

London City. In fact, Plymouth-based Brymon believes

that at least 60 per cent of its passengers will originate

in European capitals, attracted by ying to an airport

within easy reach of their destination, probably the City.

Both airlines will be watching their results closely

during the next few months, hoping they have even

underestimated the demand and in the expectation that

they will at least live up to their pre-launch publicity.

The story of the Docklands airport development

is one of the almost unparalleled private optimism

and enterprise. The London Docks have been at the

heart of the capital’s industrial life for more than 500

years. Huge ships bringing vital supplies to millions

living in the South-East unloaded their cargoes on

the quaysides, giving employment to thousands of

dockers, shipping agents and related industries.

By the late 1970s container ships and bulk carriers

had replaced the cargo carriers and despite desperate

and bitter attempts by the dockers to keep them open,

the London Docks were doomed.

In 1981 the up-river docks nally closed, throwing

28,000 men out of work and resulting in a gradual

decay and dereliction that blighted the entire area.

But the Government decided to rejuvenate the

area through the London Docklands Development

Corporation, which had the power to cut through red

tape and bring new industries into the 5,000 acres of

wasteland. At about the same time a new breed of

ultra-quiet short take-off and landing aircraft were

being developed, especially in Canada, where the

de Havilland Dash 7, four-engined turbo-prop was

being built.

Reg Ward, head of the LDDC, saw the

signicance at once. He was keen to maintain some

form of transport in the docks and when he began

talking to Philip Beck, chairman of Mowlem, who

was a private pilot and aviation enthusiast, an idea

gradually began to take shape.

They contacted Bill Bryce, then the owner of

Brymon, who had taken delivery of his rst Dash 7,

capable of carrying 50 people around 400 miles, and

asked if it could land on 2,500 ft of runway. It could.

The project was born.

From their rst formal meeting some near

miracles have been achieved in winning approval for

the scheme, overcoming local opposition, proving

the operation was both safe and potentially viable,

building the actual airport itself and ending with an

ofcial opening by the Queen.

The airport itself lies to the east of

the Isle of Dogs on 667 undeveloped

acres that are larger than the City

and the West End combined. Within

that area a nger pier between the

Albert Dock and the King George

V Dock is a site tailor-made for

the construction of a runway, from

which the Dash 7 can operate.

Once the project was clearly on

course a whole range of airlines

showed an interest in ying from

there and the Civil Aviation

Authority began a series of

route licence applications in which each had

to prove its worthiness and operational capabilities.

From the six on the short list of potential operators

just two now remain – Eurocity Express, a purpose-

made offshoot of Michael Bishop’s highly successful

and slick British Midlands Airways, and Brymon,

run by the former BEA boss Charles Stuart.

They will y from land that is actually owned by

Port of London Properties, originally the property

division of the Port of London Authority, and leased

to Mowlem, which has designed and built the airport

and will operate it.

They fought through a full public inquiry, during

which local objections were answered with detailed

explanation, and received nal planning consent in

February last year.

Work on the airport itself actually began in April

that year, the main concentration being on the 92-acre

site itself, just north of the Thames. Working with R.

Seifert & Partners as the architects and engineers

Donald Butler Associates, Mowlem drew up a tight

construction programme, guaranteed to complete the

construction in just 18 months.

Warehouses on the site were demolished and

the dock measuring 250 x 30 metres had to be

decked over in an astonishing operation. The dock

was dammed and drained, and 128 steel columns

were built from the dock base and were capped

with a giant slab of concrete that now forms the

aircraft apron.

Two other dry docks were lled in to form part of

the at area at each end.

The alignment of the runway itself was dictated

by a tall mill building to the west of the site and a

proposed bridge over the Thames to

the east. Through a trick of clever design the runway

is actually two overlapping runways in one, and is

tted with the latest navigation and landing aids. It

was ready for the rst Dash 7 landing in May this year.

One of the airport’s most obvious and vital

features is the 8,000 square metre terminal, which is

covered in a striking blue aluminium and will enable

passengers to pass easily through to aircraft parked

alongside the 300-metre-long pier.

Waiting passengers will have a clear view of the

docks and aircraft movements, while the interior

design is deliberately kept simple and classic to

enable fast departure – it is claimed that a passenger

can be airborne within 15 minutes of arrival at the

airport – and yet the terminal is designed to be an

extension of the ofce.

This basic belief – that the passenger should be

able to use the airport as easily as he does his own

ofce – dominates the design and philosophy behind

the entire concept. The airport will not be for the man

or woman who is looking for the cheapest way to y

and is targeted almost exclusively for the business

passenger.

But the most important of all is the business

centre which, when it is opened in December,

will be on the rst oor and will be open from

7.30am to 8.30pm.

It seems that everything is now in place. All that is

needed now is an inux of passengers.

Harvey Elliott

Air Correspondent

Reproduced from of 5 November 1987

The slick City yers of

the future

The Airport Timeline • 71

THE HISTORIC

COLLECTION

Wedevotethistwo-pagedouble-spread

to some of the famous and not so

famous aircraft that have met both the

CAAandtheairport’srequirementsand

have graced London CityAirport over

the 30 yearsmainlyonthe‘Fundays’ at

the weekend on a Saturday afternoon

and Sunday morning, when the airport is

normallyclosed.

Above left: Lady wingwalkers. At one of the

open days the Utterly Butterly team gave a

display with their Boeing Stearman PT-17.

Left: Lufthansa’s Junkers Ju 52/3m D-AQUI

rst ew in 1936.

Below: The 2011 ‘Funday’ with some of the

aircraft in the line-up. Note at back P-51D WZ-I

Big Beautiful Doll. More than 15,000 North

American Mustangs were built, many serving

with the RAF.

Above: With a 40m wingspan

the largest ever aircraft to

land at London City Airport

was a military Hercules

bringing in the RAF

Regiment Band.

Right: British Eagle was an

early independent competitor

to BOAC. Douglas DC6

G-APSA is still around and

visited LCY on an Open Day.

Right: Two-seater Spitre

trainer at an Open Day.

Right: Polly Vacher gained

an MBE for the disabled

air scholarship work. She

also ew this Piper Dakota

around the world. Fun Day

July 2007.

The Airport Timeline • 7372 • London City Airport

1987

Terry Waite (right) was kidnapped in

Beirut. He was to remain captured for

1,763 days before being reunited with

his mentor Lord Runcie, Archbishop of

Canterbury.

The year that London City Airport opened

was also the same year that British Airways

wasprivatised andlistedon theLondon Stock

Exchange. Sir John (later Lord) King was

Chairman and wasted no time in acquiring

BritishCaledonianAirways.(Dan-Airfollowedin

1992andBritishMidlandin2012.)

British stories of note included the Zeebrugge

ferry disaster, the Hungerford Massacre, the Great

Storm,BlackMondayandtheKing’sCrossre.

On6

March the car ferry MS Herald of Free

Enterprise, which started its journey in Dover,

capsized off Zeebrugge harbour in Belgium,

killing193people.Althoughtheimmediatecause

of the sinking was found to be negligence by the

assistant boatswain, the ofcial inquiry placed

more blame on his supervisors and a general

cultureofpoorcommunication.

In August Michael Robert Ryan shot and killed

16peopleatvariouslocations,beforecommitting

suicide in the Hungerford massacre – at the time

theworstBritishmassshooting.

TheGreatStormof15–16Octoberbrought

hurricane-force winds of up to 120 miles per

hour hitting much of southern England, and killing

22people. JustthreedayslaterBlackMonday

sawstockmarketlevelsfallsharply–thecrash

began in Far Eastern markets the morning of

19 October, but accelerated once the London

Stock Exchange opened. London had closed

earlyonthepreviousFridayduetothestorm.

By 09:30 the London FTSE100 had fallen over

136points.

The King’s Cross re of 18 November on

theLondon Undergroundkilled31 peopleand

injureda further100. The inquiry determined

thattherehadstartedduetoalitmatchbeing

droppedontothewoodenescalator.Asaresult

oftheinquirywoodenescalatorswereeventually

replacedwithmetalones.

TerryWaite,thespecialenvoyoftheArchbishop

of Canterbury in Lebanon, was kidnapped in

Beirut; Margaret Thatcher was re-elected as Prime

Minister; the Docklands Light Railway (DLR),

therstdriverlesspassengertrainserviceinthe

UnitedKingdomwasformallyopenedbyQueen

Elizabeth and on 8 November, 12 people were

killedbyaProvisionalIrishRepublicanArmybomb

ataRemembranceDayserviceatEnniskillen.

In news around the world, President Reagan told

the American people that he took full responsibility

for the arms-for-hostages crisis, otherwise known

as the Iran Contra Affair – although to this day

Reagan’sroleinthetransactionsisnotdenitively

known. It was also the year that 18-year-old

West German pilot Mathias Rust evadedSoviet

air defences and landed a private plane on Red

SquareinMoscow.InentertainmentThe Simpsons

cartoonrstappearedasaseriesofshortsonThe

Tracey Ullman ShowandMichaelJacksonreleased

his Badalbum.

InsportNelsonPiquetofBrazilwontheF1

World Championship, Pat Cash won Wimbledon

andEvertonwereFirstDivisionchampions.The

rst Rugby World Cup was co-hosted by

New Zealand and Australia with New Zealand

eventuallywinningthecup.

Famous people that died included Andy

Warhol, artist; Fred Astaire, dancer; Rita

Hayworth, actress; Danny Kaye, actor; Dean

Martin, actor; Rudolf Hess, Nazi Deputy Führer

and Eamon Andrews, radio and television

presenter best known for This Is Your Life.

Passenger total 15,000

February: London City Airport was ofcially

namedbytheLordMayorofLondonSirDavid

Rowe-Ham. LCY was conrmed as the ofcial

designator of the International Air Transport

Association (IATA), the trade association of

most of the world’s international airlines. Not

all airlines are members, however, including

several low-cost carriers such as easyJet (UK),

Ryanair (Ireland), Wizz Air (Hungary) and

Southwest Airlines (USA). The International

Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) code for

London CityAirport is EGLC. Montreal-based

itisaspecialiseddivisionoftheUnitedNations

focussingonstandardsandsafety.

April: Brymon Airways and Eurocity Express

weregrantedroutelicencesbytheCivilAviation

Authority (CAA) with Brymon Airways winning

alucrativepartnershipwithAirFranceforaParis

CharlesdeGaulleservice,mainlyduetoChief

ExecutiveCharlesStuart’sperfectFrenchanda

good relationship with the higher echelons when

at BritishAirways. (Air France was the airline

with the longest continuous London City Airport

involvement,untilMarch2017,whentheyclosed

theroutetoParisOrly.)

31 May: Brymon Airways Dash 7 (G-BRYA)

landedandbecametherstaircrafttooperate

inandoutofLondonCityAirport.

26 October: Brymon Airways and Eurocity

Express start commercial ights with Dash 7s.

The rst inbound was Brymon Airways from

Plymouth CityAirport and the rst outbound

Eurocity Express to Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Eurocity Express also introduced Brussels

NationalAirport.

5 November: Ofcial opening by Queen

Elizabeth,whoarrivedinherRolls-Royce,much

appreciatedbythelocalresidents.

Charles Stuart and Eurocity Chairman Michael

Bishop (later Lord Glendonbrook) were standing

at the bottom of the steps of their respective

airline’s aircraft waiting to be presented to

Queen Elizabeth.When she came to speak to

CharlesStuartheinvitedhertoclimbthestairs

andtakealookinsidetheaircraft.HerMajesty

took up the offer and disappeared from sight for

afewminutes.MrBishopwasirked,whichwas

obvioustoallinvolvedwatchingtheproceedings.

What was unusual was Queen Elizabeth’s

departure from dockside London City Airport

on the Royal Nore, via the King GeorgeV lock

into the Thames and down to Westminster

Pier. Itis notknownwhatshesaidpassingthe

Tower of London but it is rumoured that she

was absorbed by the airport and passed on her

experiencetoPrincePhilip.HisRoyalHighness,

alwaysanaviationfan,accompaniedherontwo

subsequentvisits.

18 December: Flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle

were suspended by the CAA because of air

trafcconictsafetyfearsoverKent.

In those early weeks getting to London City

Airport was not easy. There was no direct

surface access from the City or theA13 and

the all-important North CircularRoad(A406).

Arrivals by train needed to take the grim

NorthLondonLinerailwaytoSilvertown(later

renamed Silvertown for London CityAirport)

andndtheirwaythroughalocalhousingestate.

Taxis were not keen to deliver clients to the

airport,becausetheycouldhavealongwaitfora

return fare, but the introduction by Mowlem of a

freecoffeeshopseemedtodothetrick.

The Airport Timeline • 75

1988

George H. Bush becomes US President.

TerroristattacksweremajornewsintheUK.

During the funeral in Northern Ireland on

16 March of three Irish Republican Army (IRA)

members killed in Gibraltar, loyalist paramilitary

Michael Stone murdered three mourners and left

70wounded.Stonewaseventuallyoverpowered

and arrested by members of the Royal Ulster

Constabulary.

On the morning of 12 December, a crowded

passenger train crashed into the rear of another

train that had stopped at a signal, just south of

Clapham Junction railway station in London, and

subsequently sideswiped an empty train travelling

intheoppositedirection.Atotalof35peoplewere

killed in the collision, while 484 were injured.The

subsequent investigation found that the collision

was the result of a signal failure caused by a wiring

fault.BritishRailwasned£250,000forviolationsof

healthandsafetylawinconnectionwiththeincident.

On 21 December all 243 passengers and

16 crew were killed on PamAm Flight 103, a

transatlanticight fromFrankfurt toDetroitvia

London and New York – the attack later became

knownastheLockerbiebombing.Largesections

of the aircraft crashed onto residential areas of

Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 11 more people on

theground.ALibyanintelligenceofcerwasjailed

for life in connection with the bombings – the

only person ever to be convicted. However, in

2003 Libyan leader Muammar Gadda accepted

responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and

paidcompensationtothefamiliesofthevictims

–althoughhemaintainedthathehadnevergiven

theorderfortheattack.

In British politics the Liberal Democrat Party

was formed, a merger between the Liberals and

the Social Democrats, after disappointing results

inthe1987elections.PaddyAshdownwaselected

itsleader.Itwasthesameyearthatthe£1note

ceasedtobelegaltender.

George H.W. Bush became the rst sitting

Vice-PresidentoftheUnitedStatesin152years

to be elected as President in 1988.The other

major story in the USA was the trial of Lieutenant

Colonel Oliver North and Vice-Admiral John

Poindexter for their part in the arms for cash

scandal,otherwiseknownastheIran-Contraaffair.

Otherinternationaleventsincluded:al-Qaeda

being formed by Osama bin Laden; the end of

the Iran-Iraq War; François Mitterrand being

re-elected Prime Minister of France and Benazzir

BhuttotothesamepositioninPakistan.Aconcert

was held at Wembley Stadium to mark Nelson

Mandela’s 70th birthday, which had an estimated

globalaudienceof600million.

Sport news was dominated by the Summer

OlympicsinSeoul,SouthKorea.TeamGBwon

ve golds (including golds for Steve Redgrave

in rowing, Adrian Moorhouse in swimming) ten

silverandninebronze.CanadianBen Johnson

won the 100-metre nal with a new world

record,butwaslaterdisqualiedafterhetested

positivefortheillegaldrug,stanozolol.

Other major sporting events included the

WinterOlympicsinCalgary,Canada;theUEFA

football cup was won by West German team

BayerLeverkusen (English teams were barred

following the 1985 Heysel disaster); and the

RugbyWorldCupwonbyitshosts,Australia.

FamouspeoplewhodiedincludeRoyOrbison,

singer; Roy Kinnear, actor and comedian (and

father of actor Rory Kinnear), and Kenneth

Williams,comedyactor.

Passengertotal133,000

20 January: Brymon Airways resumed its six

times daily service to Paris Charles de Gaulle,

in conjunction with Air France, with among the

passengers BBC presenter Gloria Hunniford who,

on the spur of the moment, thought it would be

agoodpiece.Catchingthe07:00outbound,she

was back at Broadcasting House for her 14:00

radioshow.

The airport launched a 35-minute Riverbus

service to and from Embankment. Airport

passengers disembarked at the Charrington

Pier on the RiverThames with a short coach

connectiontotheterminal.Itwaspopularwith

passengers but less so with Mowlem, who lost

money.Radioconnectionconrmedpassengers

andights.Aircraftwereknowntowait.

Eurocity Express changed its name to London

CityAirwaysandinOctoberconcludedadealto

codeshare with the then Belgian national airline

Sabena on a new route to Brussels National

Airport.

19June:BillLindsellwasappointedLondonCity

AirportDirector.

24 July: Successful demonstration ight by a

LoganairBAe146.

A poll noted 83% of local residents were in

favouroftheBAe146jet beingallowedtoy

fromLondonCityAirport.

At the original Heron Quays Docklands Light

Railway (DLR) station platform there was a small

plaqueunveilingceremonytocommemoratethe

trialDash7landingstherein1982and1983.

ConstructionstartedatCanaryWharf.

Privatejetsbegantousetheairport.

Above: Scottish airline Loganair brought in a BAe 146

to demonstrate to the public how quiet a jet could be.

Below: This was the aircraft that did not make LCY.

An artist impression of the BAe 146 in Brymon Airways

colours.

The Airport Timeline • 77

1989

Stef Graf takes Wimbledon for the

second time – She eventually gained

seven victories.

In Britain two disasters, both health and safety

related,werethefocusofBritishmediaattention.

On 15 April the crush of supporters at the

Hillsborough Stadium, the home of Shefeld

Wednesday, during an FA Cup semi-nal match

betweenLiverpoolandNottinghamForestleft96

LiverpoolFootballClubsupportersdead.Andon

20 August, 51 people died when the Marchioness

pleasure boat collided with a barge on the

RiverThames. Long and complex investigations

occurred after both disasters and the conclusions

led to improvements in safety both at football

groundsandontheriver.

Other British news included the release on

19 October of the ‘Guildford Four’, who had

been convicted of bombings carried out by the

ProvisionalIrishRepublicanArmy.

It was a historic year internationally as the

‘Revolutions’oftheoldEasternBlocsawthe

beginning of the end of the Cold War and the

settingupofdemocraticstatesin previously

communist countries. Major protests took

place in East Germany (Leipzig – 300,000

people) and Czechoslovakia (Letná Square –

800,000people).

Against a backdrop of an unstable economy and

limitedpoliticalfreedomoveronemillionpeople

protested in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China.

The protests were forcibly suppressed after the

governmentdeclaredmartial law in what became

widelyknownastheTiananmenSquareMassacre.

The year also saw changes in the way that

Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and

Yugoslaviawerepoliticallyrun.On23December

visa-free travelling was nally allowed between

EastandWestGermanyafterseveralgapswere

madeintheBerlinWallbyprotesters.

In other steps for democracy, the President

of SouthAfrica P.W. Botha (who had just been

elected) met the imprisoned Nelson Mandela face-

to-face;Brazilhelditsrstpresidentialelectionsin

29 years (won by Fernando Collor de Mello of

the now-defunct National Reconstruction Party)

and France celebrated the 200th anniversary of

theFrenchRevolution.

On8January–theKegworthairdisaster:a

British Midland Boeing 737 crashed onto the

M1 motorway on the approach to East Midlands

Airport,killing44people.On8September–a

Partnair Convair 580 disintegrated over the

NorthSea.Althoughthecausewasdisputed,the

owners claimed that a USAF F-16 Fighting Falcon

hadownpastatsupersonicspeedcausingshock

waves.Theaircraft’sservicerecordswerepoor.

Also in 1989, Surinam Airways Flight 764 crashed

in Paramaribo, Surinam, killing 176 people and

United Airlines Douglas DC-10 which made

a (semi) controlled crash landing at Sioux City

Airport after the tail-mounted engine had failed,

killing 112 people; 184 on board survived. (In

somewaystheyingwasevenmoreremarkable

thanthemiracleontheHudsonRiver,NewYork,

in2016.)

Chelsea beat Portsmouth in the FA Cup,

Stef Graf and Boris Becker ofWest Germany

wontheirrespectivesinglestitlesatWimbledon.

England held Sweden to a 0–0 draw in Sweden,

qualifyingforthe1990FIFAWorldCup.

Itwastheyearofthedeathofthreesignicant

political gures:  Hirohito, Emperor of Japan;

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader

of Iran; and Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanian

dictator, together with his wife Elena, who were

both executed. Other notables who died were

Irving Berlin, composer of White Christmas

who passed away at the age of 101; Bette

Davis, actress; Daphne du Maurier, author; Lord

(Laurence)Olivier,actoranddirector,andSamuel

Beckett, Irish writer and Nobel Prize laureate.

Passengertotal216,000.

Passenger increase of 62% on the previous year.

Number of ights 10,764, up 30%.

Brymon Airways Chief Executive, Charles

Stuart, called for a DLR link to the airport.

In the spring, Flexair (later to become VLM)

introduced a service to Rotterdam with a

Dornier 228 turboprop. It had started as a

weeklycharterightbringinginlabourtowork

ontherebuildingofLiverpoolStreetstation.It

was noisy and cramped but did the job and with

thewordgettingaroundbecameadailyservice.

Aberdeen-based Business Air Centre arrived

withan18-seatDHCTwinOtterutilityaircraft

available for charter. (Bought later by British

MidlandAirways).

BrymonAirwaystookdeliveryofa35-seatDHC

Dash 8 twin turboprop. (This would later be

developedintothe78-seatBombardierQ400).

October: London City Airport submitted a

Planning Application to extend the runway,

allowing the airport to serve more distant

destinationswithabroaderrangeofaircraft.

A London Underground connection for

the airport was highlighted at Highbury

& Islington Station. This was part of the

North London Line which stopped at the

renamed Silvertown for London City Airport

station on its way to North Woolwich.

The airport terminal, closed on a Saturday

evening, hosted a concert by the Docklands

Sinfonietta.The performance was restricted to

200, tickets costing £75 each. Prots went to

Barnardo’schildren’scharity.

London City Airport won a competition for ‘Loo

oftheYear’.

TheEasternAccessroadwasopenedinOctober

linking the A13 to North Woolwich and the

airport.(ThiswouldlaterjointheRoyalAlbert

Dock Spine Road and connect to the new

Connaught Crossing Bridge to the west of the

airport.)

Brymon Airways was joint runner-up with British

Airways in the UK Domestic Airlines category

at the Executive Travel awards held at London’s

GrosvenorHouseHotel.Inacceptingtheaward

Charles Stuart called for London City Airport to

be replicated on land between Heathrow and the

M4asaquickwayofincreasingprovincialslotsat

Heathrow (then the world’s busiest international

airport).

London City Airport is unique in that it is closed from

lunchtime Saturday until lunchtime Sunday offering

an opportunity for social events in the terminal. An

orchestral concert was held in the early days, and seen

here, a party for the locals.

The Airport Timeline • 7978 • London City Airport

1990

Margaret Thatcher resigns after 11

years as Prime Minister.

In Britain 200,000 people protested against the

PollTaxon31March,acounciltaxbasedonthe

numberofpeoplelivinginapropertyratherthan

theproperty’svalue.Theprotestledtoriotingand

theunpopularpolicywasasignicantfactorinthe

ConservativePrimeMinisterMargaretThatcher’s

resignationon22November.Shewassucceeded

byJohnMajor.

Other British news included the riot at

Strangeways prison, Manchester, in April which

lastedoverthreeweeks–thelongestriotin

Britishhistory.Oneprisonerdied,147prison

ofcers and 47 prisoners were injured and

theriot causedover£50million indamages.

On 30 July the Irish Republican Army blew

up Member of Parliament Ian Gow with a car

bomboutsidehishome–thereasontheygave

was because he was a ‘close personal associate’

ofthethenPrimeMinisterMargaretThatcher.

Alsoin1990,therstwomenwereordained

asAnglicanpriests.

Following the mostly peaceful revolutions in

1989,over25countries,mostlyfromtheoldSoviet

Bloc,haddemocraticelectionsforthersttimein

recenthistory.ThesetookplaceinCzechoslovakia,

East Germany, Hungary, Russian SFSR, Serbia and

Ukraine.EastandWestGermanymergedandwith

itthedestructionoftheBerlinWall.

MikhailGorbachev,thePresidentoftheSoviet

Union, was honoured for his efforts to bring

peace to the region by winning the Nobel Peace

PrizeandWesternleadersmettoofciallymark

theendoftheColdWar.Freeelectionswerealso

heldinBrazilandChile.

On 6 March a Lockheed SR-71, known as

the Blackbird, crossed North America in 1 hour

7minutes54secondsatanaveragespeedof2,242

miles per hour, an air speed record, which as of

July2017stillholds.

In other international news the United States

invadedPanamaon3January.NelsonMandela

was freed after 27 years behind bars on 11

February; the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

was launched into low earth orbit on 24 April;

the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, on 2 August

(whicheventuallyledtotheGulfWar);andon

1 November Mary Robinson became the rst

femalePresidentofIreland.

In sport Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson

by a knockout in round ten to win the world

heavyweighttitle,inwhatmanyconsiderboxing’s

biggestupsetever;WestGermanywontheFIFA

World Cup in Rome in its nal tournament

beforenationalreunication,defeatingdefending

championArgentina1–0 in thenalandAyrton

Sennawasworldmotorracingchampion.

The Hollywood stars Greta Garbo, Ava

GardnerandSammyDaviesJnralldiedalongwith

RoaldDahl,thefamouschildren’sauthor.

Passengertotal230,000.

Passenger increase of 6% on the previous year.

Number of ights 13,135, up 22%.

Airport Director Bill Lindsell retired and was

succeededbyWilliam(Bill)Charnock.

July:A Public Inquiry opened into jet services

to operate concurrently with the turboprops

alreadylicensed.Itwastolast,withsummerand

Christmasbreaks,untilJanuary1991.

London City Airways was absorbed into British

MidlandAirwaysandlefttheairport.

Published fares for the Riverbus service from

LondonCityAirportwere£4.80tobothLondon

Bridge City on the south side of the Thames and

SwannLaneonthenorthbank,and£6.00from

EmbankmenttoCharingCross.Atthistimethe

service was up to threeper hour and 26% of

BrymonAirways’passengersusedit.

There were further awards for Brymon Airways

at the Air Transport World ‘Commuter Airline

of the Year’. The carrier, with its Air France

partnership, made much of its early 07:00

departure to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

complete with Champagne breakfast. Brymon

Airways’ Charles Stuart, and a small press party,

were offered by Air France the 10:00 Concorde

departure from Paris to New York to collect the

trophy.SadlyParisfoggedinandthey(just)made

the 10:00 British Airways' Heathrow departure,

inthosedaysfromTerminal4.

Brymon Airways added Lille, Nantes and

StrasbourgattherequestofAirFrance.

Above: Before trains. An early visitor was Michael

Portillo (right), with his Secretary of State for Transport

hat on, seen here with Robert Hardless, then with

Brymon Airways.

Left: The original check-in area with natural lighting

through the transparent roof. Seen left is John Horne,

later to be Airport Director, and far right Nicholas

Hopkins, Mowlem PRO.

The Airport Timeline • 81

1991

Robert Maxwell fell off his yacht

Lady Ghislaine – his body was later

recovered.

TheProvisionalIrishRepublicanArmy(IRA)were

thefocusofseveralmajornewsstories.

On7FebruaryabombstruckDowningStreet

whilstacabinetmeetingwastakingplace.Dueto

bomb-proof windows none of the cabinet were

hurt, though four other people received minor

injuries.Elevendayslateronthe18Februarythe

group attackedPaddington andVictoriastations,

killingonepersonandinjuring38.

The Provisional IRA were in the news for

a different reason on the 14 March when the

‘Birmingham Six’ were released after being

erroneously imprisoned for 16 years for the

‘Birmingham pub bombings’, in which 21 people

died.Theirconvictionsweredeclaredunjustand

unsatisfactory and were quashed by the Court

ofAppeal.The six were awarded compensation

rangingfrom£840,000to£1.2million.

InotherBritishnews,on5NovemberRobert

Maxwell, the media proprietor and former MP,

made his last contact with the crew of the Lady

Ghislaine, his yacht which was cruising off the

CanaryIslands.Hewasfoundtobemissinglater

in the morning and his body was subsequently

recovered fromtheAtlantic Ocean.Suicidewas

ruled out and the inquest found that his death

was caused by a heart attack combined with

accidental drowning. He was presumed to have

fallenoverboardfromthevessel.

In international news, the initial conict to

expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an

aerialandnavalbombardmenton17Januarythat

continued for ve weeks. It was followed by a

groundassaulton24Februaryandwasadecisive

victory for the coalition forces, who liberated

Kuwaitanddeclaredaceasere100hoursafter

the groundcampaign started.Aerial and ground

combatwasconnedtoIraq,Kuwaitandareason

SaudiArabia’sborder.

Another major story was the dissolution of

theSovietUnionon26December.Thiscreated

theCommonwealthofIndependentStates(CIS).

On the previous day, Soviet President Mikhail

Gorbachev resigned, declared his ofce extinct,

andhandedoveritspowers–includingcontrol

oftheSovietnuclearmissilelaunchingcodes–to

RussianPresidentBorisYeltsin.

FormerPrimeMinisterofIndia,RajivGandhi,

was killed by a suicide bomber at a public meeting

on 22 May; Bank of Credit and Commerce

International became the focus of a massive

regulatorybattlein1991,and,on5Julyofthatyear,

customsandbank regulatorsin seven countries

raided and locked down records of its branch

ofces.InJulytheboxerMikeTysonwasarrested

and charged with the rape of Miss Black America

contestantDesireeWashington.On6Augustthe

rstwebsite,inventedbyTimBerners-Lee,went

online.American journalistTerryAnderson was

releasedaftersevenyearsofcaptivityinBeiruton

4December.

In sport Mike Powell broke Bob Beamon’s

23-year-oldlongjumpworldrecordwithamark

of 29 feet 4½ inches which stands to this day;

LosAngeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson

announced that he had HIV, effectively ending

his NBA career, and Manchester United won the

EuropeanCupWinners’Cupwitha2–1winover

FCBarcelonainRotterdam.

Notable deaths included Freddie Mercury, lead

singerofQueen;MilesDavies,thejazzmusicianas

wellasRobertMaxwell,publisher.

As a result of the Gulf War and the loss of

London City Airways, passenger numbers fell

dramatically.BrymonAirwaysstruggledonwith

joint Air France services to Paris Charles de

Gaulle,LilleandStrasbourg.

SecretaryofStatefortheEnvironmentMichael

Heseltine approved London City Airport’s

expansionplans.

BusinessAir Centre commenced a short-lived

servicetoFrankfurtusingaBAe146.Itwasthe

endoftheirinterestintheairport.

Canary Wharf, at the time Europe’s tallest

building,wascompleted.

AmericanAirlines arrivedatHeathrowAirport

buying the TWA slots and Delta took over

muchofPanAm.USinboundpassengersmaking

for Europe were not even made aware of the

existenceofLondonCityAirport.

TheBAeJ41Jetstreamturbopropmadeitsrst

ightbutthe29-seaterwasreallytoosmallfor

London CityAirport and had no impact.The

much larger BAe 146 jet, capable of carrying

112passengers,wasapprovedforLondonCity

Airport; and Brymon Airways organised a high-

prolepressbriengtoannounceitsinterest.

British Air Ferries (later to become British

World Airlines) said it was coming into London

CityAirport,butitneverhappened.

Passengertotal172,000.

Passenger numbers were down by 25% on the previous year.

Number of ights 9,631, down 27%.

Above: The original rst oor landside brasserie.

Below: The river boat service from Charing Cross

proved very popular in spite of a short coach ride at the

airport end.

The Airport Timeline • 8382 • London City Airport

1992

Betty Boothroyd became the rst

woman elected Speaker of the House

of Commons.

QueenElizabeth described 1992asher annus

horribilis. It was the year when two of her

children, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew,

separated from their wives and, another,

Princess Anne, divorced. In addition to this

therewas amajorreatoneof her beloved

homes – Windsor Castle – with repairs costing

£36.5million.

Inpolitics,theConservativeParty,ledbyJohn

Major, narrowly won the General Election on

9AprilbeatingNeilKinnock’sLabourParty.On

27AprilBettyBoothroydbecametherstwoman

electedSpeakeroftheHouseofCommons.

Other British stories included the Freddie

Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS research on 20

April,whichwasheldatWembleyStadium.On

25October150,000minersmarchedinLondon

toprotestgovernmentplanstoclosemorethan

half of Britain’s coal mines, but the decision was

nal.On3DecembertherstSMSmessagewas

sent over theVodafone GSM network in the

UnitedKingdom.

Europe also featured strongly in the news.

On 7 February the Maastricht Treaty was

signed, creating the European Union and on

16 September or ‘Black Wednesday’, sterling

was forced out of the European Exchange Rate

Mechanism because the Bank of England was

unabletokeepitabovetheagreedlimit.

Racism hitAmerican headlines on 3 March

in Los Angeles when a passer-by videotaped

fourofcers surrounding Rodney King, a black

taxi driver, after a high-speed chase – several

of them striking him repeatedly whilst other

ofcersstoodby.Thevideowashandedintoa

local news station and shown around the world

and raised concern about the police treatment

ofminoritiesintheUnitedStates.Allfourwere

acquitted.Theacquittalsaregenerallyconsidered

tohavetriggeredthe1992LosAngelesriotsin

which55peoplewerekilledand2,000injured.

Beginning on 9 December about 25,000

United States forces were sent to Mogadishu,

Somalia as part of an effort to restore peace to

theregion.

Othernewsstoriesincluded theopening of

Euro Disney in Paris on 12 April and the end of

satirical British magazine Punch.It published its

nalissueafter150yearsduetofallingsalesand

subscriptions.

In sport the Barcelona Summer Olympic

Gameswereheld.SouthAfricawasallowedto

competeforthe rst time since 1960 and the

Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

contested the games, 1936 being their last

appearance.GreatBritainwonvegoldmedals

with Linford Christie (100 metres), Sally Gunnell

(women’s 400 metres hurdles), Chris Boardman

(cycling), the men’s coxless pairs in rowing with

Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave and the

SearlebrothersGregandJohnny,coxedbyGarry

Herber.

Famous people who died included Isaac

Asimov,author;BennyHillcomedian;Menachem

Begin, Prime Minister of Israel and recipient of

the Nobel Peace Prize; and Marlene Dietrich,

actress.

Passengertotal186,000.

Passenger numbers were down by 25% on the previous year.

Number of ights 9,631, down 27%.

5March:Diana,PrincessofWalesvisitedLondon

CityAirporttoopenthenewly-extendedrunway.

March:BAe 146jetightsbegan with therst

CrossairscheduledoperationtoZurich.Moritz

Suter, Managing Director of the Swiss airline,

wasverymuchafanofLondonCityAirportand

welcomedSirColinMarshall,ChiefExecutiveof

BritishAirways,onanearlyservice.

Away from the airport, but a more serious

casualty, was the collapse of Olympia &York

CanaryWharfLtdinMay.Therstbuildingswere

completedin1991,includingOneCanadaSquare,

which became the UK’s tallest building at that

dateandeventuallyasymboloftheregeneration

ofDocklands.Bythetimeitopened,theLondon

commercialpropertymarkethadcollapsed.

June:Bromma,theStockholmcitycentreairport,

became another London City Airport destination,

twoightsdailywithaMalmöAviationBAe146,

ying as Cityair Scandinavia. The airline’s UK

Director Robert Hardless came out strongly in

favouroftheproposedJubileeLineextensionto

CanaryWharf.

October: Mowlem announced its intention to

sellpartofitsstakeinLondonCityAirport.

German airline Conti-Flug introduced twice daily

BAe146servicestoBerlinTempelhof.(Laterin

the decade the famous city centre airport was to

close to make way for Berlin Brandenburg, which

atthetimeofwritingisstillnotopen.)

RotterdamstartswithFlexairandaDornier228.

Flight numbers continued to decline but the

actual throughput of passengers rose with the

arrivalofmoreBAe146aircraft.

Princess Diana ofcially opened the extended

runway and then departed in a No 32 (Royal)

Squadron BAe 146.

The Airport Timeline • 85

1993

Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk

jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize.

British news was dominated by the murders of

StephenLawrenceandJamieBulger.

On12FebruaryJamieBulger,atwo-year-old

boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, was murdered after

twoten-year-oldboys,RobertThompsonandJon

Venables,abductedhimfromashoppingcentre

inBootle.Theybecametheyoungestconvicted

murderersinmodernEnglishhistory.

On22AprilStephenLawrence,ablackman,

wasmurderedinaraciallymotivatedattackin

Plumsted, South London. Five suspects were

arrestedbutnotconvicted.Itwasoneofthe

highestproleracialkillingsinUnitedKingdom

history and its fallout included profound

cultural changes to attitudes on racism and

the police. (After reviewing the case it was

found that the Metropolitan Police Service

wasinstitutionallyracist.Almost20yearslater

twojuvenileswerefoundguiltyofLawrence’s

murder.)

In other British news, British Airways’

Lord King admitted liability and apologised

‘unreservedly’ for a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign

against Virgin Atlantic.  On 24 April the

Irish Republican Army detonated a truck in

Bishopsgate, a major thoroughfare in London’s

nancialdistrict,killingoneperson,injuring44,

andcausing£350millionindamages.

Relations between Iraq and the United

Statesdeterioratedin1993.TheUnitedStates

accusedSaddamHussein,thePresidentofIraq,

of moving missiles into southern Iraq. Allied

planes and ships destroyed the missile sites, as

wellasanuclearfacilityoutside Baghdad.The

United States learned of a plot to assassinate

the former US President, George Bush, and in

response, US ships attacked Iraqi intelligence

headquartersinBaghdad.

Notable events included a terrorist attack

on the World Trade Centre, New York – a

truck bomb detonated below the North Tower,

killingsixpeopleandinjuringoverathousand

more; the Oslo Accord was signed between

the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)

leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister

YitzhakRabin.

NelsonMandelaandF.W.deKlerkjointlywon

the Nobel Peace Prize; the Waco Siege in Texas,

which started on 28 February, saw 76 people die

after a 51-day stand-off between American forces

and Branch Davidians who were suspected of

weapon violations; the North American Free

Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed on

8 December between the United States, Canada

andMexico. ThelmJurassic Park was the big hit

–ittoppedtheboxofcechartsbutdidpoorly

intheOscars–Schindler’s List, the holocaust epic,

wasalsoreleased.

In sport the 1993 FA Cup nal between

Arsenal and Shefeld Wednesday atWembley

nished1–1withtheGunnerswinningthereplay

2–1 after extra-time. They became the rst

English side to achievea domestic cup double,

havingalsowonthe1993FootballLeagueCup

nal.TheEnglishPremierLeaguewascreatedthe

previousyear,withManchesterUnitedbecoming

therstwinners.

Famous people who died in 1993 included

Audrey Hepburn, actress; Ferruccio Lamborghini,

founder of the car company; Bobby Moore,

footballer;andWilliamGolding,author.

Passengertotal245,000.

Passenger increase of 30% on the previous year.

Number of ights 11,663, up 14%.

March: Brymon Airways left London City Airport

following a management sale giving 100%

ownershiptoBritishAirways.Itsvaluewasupto

vepairsofslotsitheldatHeathrow.

The Limehouse Link and other Docklands

highwaysopenedfortrafc.

End of the Riverbus service.The problem was

that it did not reach the airport, the King George

V Dock only accessible via a lock. (For the

2012OlympicGamestwocruiseshipsmoored

oppositetheairporttoserveasoatinghotels.)

Charles Stuart, the much respected Chief

ExecutiveofBrymonAirwayswhentheairport

opened, passed away suddenly (aged 64). At

one time with British Rail, Stuart had instigated

the British Airways shuttle and was an elegant

spokesman for the airportduringitsgestation.

His contacts at British Airways gained the airport

supportbythenationalcarrier.

April:Conti-FlugextendeditsBerlinserviceto

Venice.

A three times per hour bus service was

introduced between the airport, Canary Wharf

andLiverpoolStreetstation.

October: Canary Wharf emerged from

administration.

AlsoinOctoberanewairlineVLMarrivedatthe

airportwithaservicetoAntwerp.(Takenover

byAirFrancein2007itwaspartofCityJetuntil

2014.)

November:Conti-Flugannouncedthatitwould

start services to Hamburg, Riga andVilnius. It

never happened, the airline folding during the

FarnboroughAirShow1994.

Early days – then a choice of stations.

The Airport Timeline • 8786 • London City Airport

The Channel Tunnel opened – French

President François Mitterrand and the

Queen.

In February British police began excavations at

25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, the home of Fred

andRosemaryWest.TheWestswereaccusedof

multiple murders and it was found that sexual

assault, torture, as well as dismembering of bodies

hadtakenplace.Remainsofsomeofthebodies

were found in their cellar and garden, leading the

mediatocalltheirhomethe‘HouseofHorrors’.

Fred West was later found guilty of at least 12

murdersandRose10,althoughtheactualgures

aresuspectedtobemuchhigher.

In other British news, on 26 January a man

redtwoblankshotsatPrinceCharlesinSydney,

Australia;on13JunetheChannelTunnelopened

and with it the introduction of train travel

between London and both Brussels and Paris; the

Sunday Trading Act 1994 came into full effect on

5July,permittingretailerstotradeonSundays;

Tony Blair gained the Labour Party leadership after

an election and the Camelot Group consortium

won the contract to run the United Kingdom’s

rstNationalLotterywiththeinitialdrawtaking

placeon19November.

It was also the year that the Irish and

British Governments announced the end of a

15-yearbroadcastingbanontheProvisionalIrish

Republican Army and its political arm Sinn Fein

meaningthattherealvoicesofJeremyAdamsand

his comrades could be heard by audiences for the

rsttime.

In international news O. J. Simpson, the

American football player, was arrested for

the murders of his ex-wife and her friend on

13 June.  He was later acquitted but in 1997

was convicted of numerousfelonies, including

armed robbery and kidnapping.The case has

been described as the most publicized criminal

trialinAmericanhistory.

In other international news, on 27 April Nelson

Mandela was inaugurated as SouthAfrica’s rst

blackPresident;on25JulyIsraelandJordansigned

the Washington Declaration peace treaty which

settled relations between the two countries,

adjusted land and water disputes, and provided

for broad cooperation in tourism and trade; and

on 11 December Russian President Boris Yeltsin

orderedtroopsintoChechnya.

Two major worldsporting eventstook place

– theWinter Olympics in Lillehammer and the

FIFAWorldCuphostedbytheUnitedStates.In

theOlympics,JayneTorvillandChristopherDean

wonacontroversialbronzemedaliniceskating

forTeamGB.IntheWorldCup,BrazilbeatItaly

by3–2inpenalties.Englandfailedtoqualifyforthe

competition.ItwasalsotheyearthatManchester

UnitedachievedaLeagueandCupdouble.

There were many notable deaths including,

Richard Nixon, President of the United States;

JohnSmith,leaderoftheLabourParty;SirMatt

Busby, Manchester United football manager;

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady of the

UnitedStatesandAyrtonSenna,F1racingdriver,

killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand

PrixinImola,Italy.

1994

Passengertotal480,000.

Passenger increase of 96% on the previous year.

Number of ights 16,845, up 48%.

The airport was now into a steady period of

growth.

Passenger numbers nearly doubled over the

previousyearwithairlinestryingnewroutesand

the word getting around that the airport had a

lottooffer.CrossairintroducedGeneva.

11 January: Richard Branson turned up at the

airporttowelcometheinauguralVirginCityJet

ightfromDublin.OnboardwasCityJetCEO

PatByrne.

CityJet arrived from Dublin with a BAe 146,

initially in partnership with Virgin Atlantic

Airways. This relationship quickly oundered.

(CityJethasbeenastalwartoftheairportever

since and is now (2017) back with the original

owners and under the chairmanship of Pat Byrne,

thefoundingChiefExecutive.)

5 July: The SundayTrading Act comes into full

effect, permitting retailers to trade on Sundays.

The planning restrictions for the airport do not

allow landings or take-offs between the hours of

06:30and12:30onaSaturday

and 12:30 and 22:00 on a

Sunday unless an emergency.

(This remains in force, although

for practical reasons the doors

of the terminal actually open to

thepublicat11:00onSundays.)

14 November: The start of

a new rail service – Eurostar

– linking London’s Waterloo

station with Brussels (and

Paris) in only just over two

hours, made the air service

toBrusselsunviable.(Therail

journey is now under two

hours but from St Pancras.

Paris ights continued until

2017.) London City Airport

is now the only UK departure

point for Paris Orly, which

serves the Left Bank and is

some way from Gare du Nord

theterminalfromLondon.

Virgin had a short-lived relationship

with CityJet who repainted a

BAe 146.

The Airport Timeline • 89

Fred Perry (right) died – he won

Wimbledon three times 1934–1936

(seen here with Bunny Austin).

This was the year the United Kingdom’s oldest

investment banking rm – Barings Bank –

collapsed after securities broker Nick Leeson

lost $1.4 billion by speculating on theTokyo

StockExchange.HewasarrestedinFrankfurt

and extradited to Singapore and later sentenced

tosixandahalfyearsinprison.

OthernewsincludedJohnMajorresignation

as leader of the Conservative Party on

22Juneinordertotriggeraleadershipbattle

sothathecouldfacethecriticsofhisParty.He

wasre-electedon4Julybeatingtheonlyother

candidate, former Secretary of State for Wales,

John Redwood. On 20 November Princess

Dianagavea revealingtelevisioninterviewon

BBCOne’sPanorama show where she candidly

discussedheradultery,depressionandbulimia.

1995wastherstyearthatBritishsoldiers

were not patrolling the streets in Belfast since

1969.

In Europe, Austria, Finland and Sweden

joinedtheEuropeanUnionandJacquesChirac

waselectedPresidentofFrance.TheSchengen

Agreement, which invoked a European-wide

passport free area, came into effect between all

countries in the European Union excluding the

UnitedKingdomandIreland.

The biggest news story of the year in the

UnitedStateswastheOklahomaCitybombing.

On 19AprilTimothy McVeigh murdered 168

people, including 8 federal marshals and 19

children;680peoplewerealsowounded.McVeigh

was motivated by the Federal Government’s

handling of the Waco siege and the bombing

coincided with the second anniversary of

the deadly re that ended the siege. Found

guiltyof11FederaloffencesMcVeighwaslater

executed by lethal injection. Terry Nichols

and Michael Fortier were also convicted as

conspiratorsintheplot.

Onthewiderinternationalstage,theWorld

TradeOrganization(WTO)wasestablishedon

1JanuarytoreplacetheGeneralAgreementon

TariffsandTrade(GATT).

In July, the worst crime on European soil

since World War II took place in and around

the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.  It was

perpetrated by units of the Bosnian Serb Army

ofRepublikaSrpska(VRS)underthecommand

of General Ratko Mladić, together with the

Scorpions, a paramilitary unit, participating in

the massacre of more than 8,000 Bosniak men

and boys together with the forcible transfer and

abuse of between25,000 and 30,000 Bosniak

women, children and elderly. The besieged

enclaveofSrebrenicahadbeendeclareda‘safe

area’under United Nations ProtectionForce.

HoweverUNPROFOR’s370Dutchbatsoldiers

failedtopreventthetown’scapturebytheVRS.

The United Nations tribunal on human rights

charged up to 60 Bosnian Serb commanders

withgenocideandcrimesagainsthumanity.

In football the UEFA Champions League was

won by AFC Ajax when they beat AC Milan 1–0

attheErnstHappelStadiuminVienna.Itwillalso

be remembered as the year that Eric Catona,

of Manchester United, infamously ‘Kung Fu’

attackedafootballfanatCrystalPalace.Catona

received an eight month ban from playing

footballcompetitively.Inrugby,SouthAfrica,the

hosts of the World Cup won the competition

whentheybeatNewZealand15–12.Inboxing

FrankBrunowontheWBCworldheavyweight

championshipafterdefeatingOliverMcCallata

packedWembleyStadium.

Famous people that died included Fred Perry,

tennischampion;KennyEverett,comedian;Lord

(Harold) Wilson and Lord Hume (Alex Douglas-

Hume), Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom;

EvaGabor,actress;andPaulEddington,actor.

1995

Passengertotal555,946.

Passenger increase of 15% on the previous year.

Number of ights 18,562, up 16%.

March:JonHornepromotedtoAirportDirector

onatemporarybasis,BillCharnockdeparting.

The airport introduced the rst ticketless air

travelintheUKandAirJetwaslaunchedonthe

Paris Charles de Gaulle route with a prepaid ‘jet

card’ system which also eliminated multi-folio

papertickets.Theairlinedidnotlastlong.

Carriers came and went and 12 points

were served. These included City Air Bus to

Humberside Airport (south of Hull) with four

ights. It ew for just a few weeks with the

company going into liquidation. Air Engiadina

was to become another short-lived airline to

Bern, but the route remains to this day operated

overtheyearsbyseveraldifferentcarriers.

Interot arrived with a Dash 8 fromAugsburg.

Starting off as a company aircraft owner using

two Beech aircraft in support of its printing paper

manufacture, Interot later became Augsburg

AirwaysoperatingallfourversionsoftheDash8

and Embraers as ‘Team Lufthansa’, until Lufthansa

pulledtheplugin2013.

Sir Philip Beck retired as Chairman of John

Mowlem&CoPlc,thedeveloperofLondonCity

Airport, and just a few weeks later the airport

was sold to Irish businessman Dermot Desmond

forareputed£23.5million.

Left: At one time VLM operated up to 20 Fokker 50s.

Below left: Interot was predecessor to Augusburg Airways.

The Airport Timeline • 91

Germany won the European

Championship with England’s Alan

Shearer the top scorer.

The year was marked with Irish Republican Army

terroristactivity.TheIRAendedtheirceasereon

9FebruarywhenabombnearSouthQuaystation

in the Canary Wharf, London, exploded.  Two

people were killed and £150 million of damage

caused. A few weeks later on 18 February a

further IRA bomb killed one person and injured

anotherintheWest EndofLondon.On7June

anIRAgangkilledDetectiveGardaJerryMcCabe

during a botched armed robbery in Adare, County

Limerick.InManchesteron15Juneatruckbomb

detonated in the city centre causing over 200

injuriesbutnofatalities.Itwasthebiggestbomb

detonated in Great Britain since World War II

causingdamageestimatedat£700million.Finally

on 13 July a bomb exploded outside a hotel in

Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, disrupting a wedding

receptionandinjuring17people.

In a deadly attack of a different nature, gunman

Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and one

teacheron13MarchatDunblanePrimarySchool

nearStirling,Scotland,beforekillinghimself.The

attack, which became known as the Dunblane

School Massacre, was the deadliest mass shooting

in the United Kingdom’s history. Public debate

about the killings centred on gun control laws,

including public petitions calling for a ban on

privateownershipofhandguns.Inresponsetothis

debate,twonewrearmsactswerepassed,which

greatlyrestrictedprivateownershipofrearmsin

GreatBritain.

On20MarchtheUKGovernmentannounced

that Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also

known as BSE or mad cow disease, had likely been

transmittedtohumans.ThisledtotheEuropean

Union banning exports of British beef, a ban

whichlasted tenyears. Estimatessuggested that

from 1986–1998 more than 180,000 cattle were

infectedand4.4millionwereslaughteredduring

theeradicationprogramme.

The Scott Report was published, in effect a

judicialinquiryinvestigatingarmssalestoIraq.The

examination, conducted by Sir Richard Scott, then

a Lord Justice ofAppeal, was partially redacted

andneverpublishedinfull.

In the United States the First Lady Hillary

Clintontestiedbeforeagrandjuryforherrole

intheWhitewaterScandal.Althoughneithershe

norherhusbandPresidentBillClintonwereever

charged with any crime, the scandal about their

involvement in the Whitewater Development

Corporation, a failed business venture into real

estateinvestments,puttheClintons’reputationat

risk.Fourteenpeoplewerelaterconvicted.

Alsoin1996theSiegeofSarajevoended,having

lasted 1,425 days. The Serbs nally withdrew

theirblockageleavingthecityinthehandsofthe

Croatians.

Football ‘came home’ when England hosted

Euro1996.Thesongchosenforthetournament

was Three Lions by the Lightning Seeds, with music

by the band’s Ian Broudie and lyrics by comedians

DavidBaddielandFrankSkinner.Englandreached

thesemi-nalsbutwerebeatenbyGermanywho

went on to beat the Czech Republic 2–1 in the

nal.

TheSummerOlympicsalsotookplace.They

were held in Atlanta, United States, with

MohammedAlidramaticallylightingtheOlympic

ame whilst clearly suffering from Parkinson’s

disease. Britain won a single gold medal, once

again the reliable pairing of Matthew Pinsent and

SteveRedgraveintheMen’sCoxlessPair.

Famous people that died included François

Mitterrand, President of France; Gene Kelly, actor

and dancer; Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer; and P. L.

Travers, who was best known as the author of

Mary Poppins.

1996

Passengertotal726,000.

Passenger increase of 41% on the previous year.

Number of ights 27,059, up 31%.

Amongthevisitingaircraftduringtheyearwasa

Royal Air Force Hercules transport carrying the

Band of the RAF Regiment which played on the

apron.ASpitrewasanothernewtypetoland.

Appointment of new London City Airport

Chairman,RayMacSharry.

RichardGooding,previouslyManagingDirector

of Luton Airport, was appointed Managing

Director.

World Airlines came on the Amsterdam route

andquicklywentbust.

A new baggage screening system, said to be as

good as anywhere in the world, was installed at a

costofover£1million.

Also good news was the growth in passenger

numbersto4,000aday.

The two routes to Paris were not that far

apart in terms of numbers, Charles de Gaulle

at43,000andOrly34,000.AirFrancedecided

that the south Paris airport made more sense for

business travellersthan CDG and closed what

was London City Airport’s original international

route.Incomparison150,000usedDublin.

By this time, the Netherlands had also begun to

take an interest in the airport, Rotterdam with

75,000 and the newly reconstituted Amsterdam

CityJetservice48,000.Frankfurtgrewby10%to

47,000.NewwereEdinburghandEindhoven.

March: Fokker Aircraft based at Amsterdam

Schiphol Airport nally went bankrupt and

ceased manufacturing the F-50 (turboprop) and

F-70 and F-100 (jet turbine).This followed the

withdrawal of DASA (Daimler-Benz) from the

partnership. This had no immediate effect on

Amsterdam as one of Europe’s largest scheduled

airports but it meant an uncertain future for the

Fokkeroperators.Thanks,however,tosubsidiary

Fokkercompaniesnotaffectedbytheupheaval,

more than 20 years on Fokker passenger aircraft

arestillinairlineservicein2017.

Richard Gooding (left) seen here with Reg Ward and

TfL’s Ian Brown at a 2007 ceremony to unveil a plaque

for Harry Gee’s rst landing at Heron Quays.

The Airport Timeline • 93

Floral tributes to Princess Diana.

On 31 August the world was in mourning

following the tragic untimely death of Princess

Diana, in the well-documented car accident in the

Pontdel’AlmaroadtunnelinParis.DodiFayed,

herboyfriend,togetherwithHenriPaul,thedriver,

alsodied.

Around one million mourners lined the

streets of London for the funeral at Westminster

Abbey. Worldwide coverage was estimated

to be 2.5 billion people. Famous gures from

allover the globecametopaytheirrespects

to the ‘People’s Princess’ including Hillary

Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Henry Kissinger and

LucianoPavarotti.EltonJohnperformedanew

version of his song Candle in the Wind at the

serviceandEarlSpencer,Diana’sbrothergavea

controversialeulogy.

On 5 September, one day before Princess

Diana’s funeral, Mother Teresa of Calcutta,

Nobel Peace winner, passed away at the age

of87.In1950TeresafoundedtheMissionaries

of Charity – a Roman Catholic religious

congregation which went on to be active in

133 countries. Its work included managing

homesforpeopledyingofHIV/AIDSandother

socially excluded illnesses such as running soup

kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics as well

as children’s and family-counselling programmes;

orphanages,andschools.Howeverherpassing

was rather subdued because of the coverage

receivedbythedeathofDiana.MotherTeresa

wasgivenastatefuneral.

The British political system changed

dramatically in 1997. On 1 May the Labour

Partyreturnedtopowerforthersttimein18

years, with Tony Blair becoming Prime Minister,

inalandslideelectionvictory.On11September

both Scotland and Wales held referendums in

favourofdevolutionwhichledtotheformation

oftheScottishandWelshassemblies.

In the trial of British au pair Louise Woodward

was found guilty of the shaking of eight-month

old baby Matthew Eappen to death in the

US. Media coverage of the case was intense,

nowheremoresothaninBritain.Afterappeal

shewasconvictedofinvoluntarymanslaughter

and her sentence reduced to 279 days, the time

shehadspentinjail.Yearslaterresearchseemed

tosubstantiateherpleaofinnocence.

Israel handed Hebron, the last Israeli-

controlled West Bank city, back to the

Palestinians, in an important step for peace and

afterintensenegotiations.

In business news 1997 was the year that Boeing

and McDonnell Douglas completed its merger.

The result created the world’s second largest

defencecompanyandthelargestaerospacegroup.

The Douglas DC-9, by then renamed the MD80

series,becametheBoeing717.

In entertainment news Bloomsbury paid

J.K.Rowlingapaltry£2,500forherbookHarry

Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.Therewasan

initialprintrunof500.(By2017itwasestimated

that450millioncopieshadbeensold.)Britain’s

otherachievementwaswhenKatrinaand the

Waves won the Eurovision Song Contest

with Love Shine a Light.The classic lm Titanic

was released, with stars British Kate Winslet

and American Leonardo DiCaprio, winning 11

Oscarsandgrossing$1.84billion.

Famous deaths included Belfast born Chaim

Herzog,PresidentofIsrael;JamesStewart,actor;

GianniVersace,fashiondesigner(murderedby

serial killer Andrew Cunanan); Viktor Frankl,

neurologist and psychiatrist; Billy Bremner,

Scottish footballer; and Michael Hutchence,

Australiansinger-songwriter.

1997

Passengertotal1,165,318.

Passenger increase of 60% on the previous year.

Number of ights 33,000, up 26%.

The airport topped the one million annual

passengerthroughputforthersttime.

In April, some 20 years after the USA had

deregulatedairtravel,Europetookthesame

path,usheringinaneweraofcheaperights

forall.Anytechnically qualied airline in the

European Union (plus Norway and Iceland)

could from now on operate services from

within any other European country. EasyJet

advanced into France but no European

mainland airline has offered point-to-point

serviceswithintheUK.

Planning approval was granted to increase

London CityAirport movements at weekends.

As part of its tenth birthday celebrations the

airportputonapartyfor4,000localresidents.

LondonCityAirportcelebratedthisanniversary

withtwosouvenirpublications.

New arrester beds, an important safety feature

usedtostopaircraftoverrunningarunway,were

incorporatedateachendoftherunway.

TheAvroRJ70arrivedinthecoloursofLufthansa

CityLine.

Sabena overnights an aircraft at London City

Airport–arstschedulednight-stop.

With the refurbishing of the original departure

loungenewretailshopswereadded.

British Airways adopted a controversial new

livery: a revised logo and around 20 different

ethnictailnsfeaturingartanddesignsofmany

countriesaroundtheworld.BobAylingwasChief

Executive when they were introduced but in

2001 incoming boss Rod Edington, an Australian,

replaced them with the Chatham Dockyard

UnionagalreadyseenonConcorde.Thetailns

wereneverseenatLondonCity,sinceBAwas

absentfromtheairportduringthisperiod.

The rst annual one million passengers called for a

celebration.

The Airport Timeline • 95

Bill Clinton admits to an improper

physical relationship with Monica

Lewinsky, seen here at a London book

signing.

IrishpoliticswasafocusofBritishnews.On10

April the Good Friday Agreement was signed by

all political parties in Northern Ireland and the

Republic of Ireland, with the notable exception

of the Democratic Unionist Party. The

central issues of the Good Friday agreement

were sovereignty, civil and cultural rights,

decommissioning of weapons, justice and

policing.On22Mayareferendumtookplacein

each jurisdiction with both peoples supporting

theagreement.

However, in response to the agreement, a

car bomb exploded on 15 August in Omagh,

County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, killing 29

people (including a woman pregnant with twins)

as well as injuring some 220 others. It was

carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army, a

ProvisionalIrishRepublicanArmysplintergroup

whoopposedtheIRA’sceasereandtheGood

FridayAgreement.Nobodyhasbeensuccessfully

convictedforthemurders.

On16OctoberBritishpoliceplacedGeneral

Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean dictator, under

house arrest whilst he was receiving medical

treatment. (He was held for a year and a

half before being released in 2000, when he

returned freely to Chile.) The house arrest

wasthersttimethatseveralEuropeanjudges

appliedtheprincipleofuniversaljurisdictionand

declaredthemselvescompetenttojudgecrimes

committed by former heads of state, despite

localamnestylaws.

August was a busy month in terms of high

proleAmerican news stories.  On 7 August

the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam,

Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya were bombed, killing

224peopleandinjuringover4,500.Theywere

linkedtoterroristOsamabinLaden,anexileof

SaudiArabia.

And then on 20 August in retaliation for

the embassy bombings the United States

military launched cruise missile attacks against

alleged al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and

a suspected chemical plant in Sudan. The

al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum was

destroyedintheattack.

On19AugustPresidentBillClintonadmitted

in taped testimony that he had an ‘improper

physical relationship’ with White House intern

Monica Lewinsky. He also admitted before the

nationthatnightinanationallytelevisedaddress

that he ‘misled people’ about his sexual affair with

Lewinsky.(Hewaslaterimpeachedformisleading

theAmericanpeopleandthenacquittedforany

wrongdoing.)

In other stories, 120 countries voted to

create a permanent International Criminal

Court to prosecute individuals for genocide,

crimes against humanity, war crimes, and

the crime of aggression; the Kosovo war

began between the then Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia andaKosovoAlbanianrebel group

with air support from the North Atlantic Treaty

Organisation (NATO), and ground support

from the Albanian army; the Second Congo War

beganwith3,900,000peoplebeingkilledbefore

itendingin2003,makingitthebloodiestwar,

todate,sinceWorldWarII.Thewardirectly

involvedninecountriesaswellasapproximately

20separatearmedgroups.

In sport France won the FIFA World Cup on

itshometerritorybeatingBrazil3–0.TheWinter

Olympicstook place in Japan.TeamGB wona

bronzemedalinthebobsleighevent.

Famous people that passed away included

Linda McCartney, activist and musician; Ted

Hughes, poet; Catherine Cookson, author; Sonny

Bono, singer and politician; Frank Sinatra, singer

andactor;andPolPot,dictator.

1998

Passengertotal1,358,774.

Passenger increase of 17% on the previous year.

Number of ights 37,912, up 14%.

Signs were incorporated at both ends of the

Connaught Bridge to the west of the airport

saying‘Beware of low ying aircraft’, not that

anyone could miss the fact that there were

aviationactivitiesintheRoyalDocks!

The North London Line to North Woolwich,

stoppingatSilvertownforLondonCityAirport

service,wasreducedfromthreetrainsperhour

to two, which did not go down well with the

airportnorlocalresidents.Thestationclosedin

2004.

Theairportstafnglevelhadnowreached1,200.

31March:TheLondonDocklandsDevelopment

Corporation passed into history. The local

authority from now on would be the London

BoroughofNewham.

New routes to Gothenburg and Stockholm were

saidtohavesettleddownwell.

April: Nick Raynsford, Minister for London,

opened the refurbished departure lounge.

Approval was given for an increase in the

maximumnumberofpassengerights.

Thecarparkwasenlargedandresurfaced.

ShefeldCityAirportopenedthisyear,virtually

a copy of London City Airport, on disused

industrial land in a city once known for its steel

works. Flights were initiated by KLM andAer

Arann among others and included a London City

route.(Thehighestpassengerthroughputcame

in 1999, but this was only 75,000 and by 2008

ShefeldCityAirport had closed.)TheAirport

ManagerforaperiodwasJohnHornewhohad

held that post, on a temporary basis, at London

CityAirport.

BAe faith in LCY is rewarded with 146/Avro the most

popular aircraft with airlines for over a decade.

The Airport Timeline • 9796 • London City Airport

TV presenter Jill Dando was murdered

in a London street.

Three murder stories dominated British media –

Dr Harold Shipman’s ‘Doctor Death’ cruel murder

of his patients, the London nail bombings and the

murderofJillDando,thetelevisionpresenter.

Britain was horried to learn the previous

year of the actions of Dr Harold Shipman,

a General Practitioner, from Hyde, Greater

Manchester.Policehaddiscoveredapatterntohis

administering lethal doses of diamorphine, signing

patients’ death certicates, and then falsifying

medical records to indicate they had been in poor

health.Histrialbeganon5Octoberandhewas

found guilty of 15 murders (although it was later

estimated that he murdered up to 250 patients)

andhewasgiven15recurrentlifesentences.

During April David Copland, a Neo-Nazi,

placed homemade nail bombs in holdalls that he

leftinpublicspacesovera13-dayperiodaround

London.Thebombsplacedinblack,SouthAsian

and gay communities resulted in three deaths and

over100peoplebeinginjured.

Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son Prince

Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones on 19 June

in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. He

was created Earl of Wessex hours before the

ceremony.

In international news in 1999 both the

European Commission and the United States

FederalTradeCommissionapprovedthemerger

of Exxon and Mobil oil companies which created

the Exxon Mobil Corporation, at that time the

world’slargestcompany.

Many events took place across the world

for the entry of the 21st century. In London,

attention focussed around Big Ben, the

Millennium Dome and the reworks display.

This was called the‘River of Fire’ and went

alongseveralmilesoftheThames.InNewYork,

a newTimes Square Ball made ofWaterford

Crystalwascommissionedandovertwomillion

attended celebrations. South Africa’s Nelson

Mandela lit a candle in his former cell at Robben

Islandatthestrokeofmidnight.TheEiffelTower

in Paris was the focal point of celebrations in

France – 20,000 strobe lights were installed for

theeventandtheystilloperateeachnight.

During 1999 the whole world was preparing

for what became known as the ‘Y2K problem’ or

the Millennium bug that was predicted to take

place on 1 January 2000. Nothing happened –

either due to the preparation for the event or

becauseaproblemwouldnothaveariseninthe

rstplace.

The major British sporting achievement was

Manchester United’s defeat of the German side

Bayern Munich 2–1 in the UEFA Champions

LeagueFinalheldinBarcelona,Spain.

On 26 April the much respected presenter

of BBC’s Crimewatch, Jill Dando, was murdered

outside her home in Fulham in broad daylight.

Barry George, a local who had a history of sexual

offences, was charged with her murder but was

lateracquitted.AsofJuly2017thecrimeremains

unsolved.

Other famous deaths included Dusty

Springeld, singer; Joe DiMaggio, baseball player

and one-time husband of Marilyn Monroe; Ernie

Wise, comedian; Lionel Bart, composer – most

famous for the musical Oliver, Sir Alf Ramsey,

World Cup winning football manager and Dirk

Bogarde,actor.

1999

Passengertotal1,388,481.

This was a nominal increase on the previous year.

Number of ights 44,195, up 17%.

Suckling Airways arrived with a four times

daily Dornier 228 service to Glasgow and

alsoinstigatedaDundeeroute.Itwassoonto

become Scot Airways and graduated to the much

sleekerDornier328.

The airport was gaining acceptance as a major

gateway to London with the Jubilee Line

extensiontoStratfordstoppingatCanningTown.

Thiswasvitalfortheairportwithjustashort

taxi ride or public transport connection to the

LondonUnderground.

A covered walkway was installed from the

terminalbuildingtowardsthecarparks.

The airport administration moved from the

terminal to the new City Aviation House.

Originallyitwasintheareathatisnowthesite

ofthemainsecuritysearchzone.

The Business Centre, a left turn at the top of the

escalatortotherstoor,wasrefurbishedand

on the technical front a new Instrument Landing

System(ILS)wasinstalled.

Provingabigsuccess,theLondonCity

Airport Consultative Committee

wasnowmeeting fourtimes a year.

Normally the attendance was around

20 at the airport, with airlines and

the local interests, the Association

of British Travel Agents (ABTA)

and the Docklands Forum always

represented.

The actual passenger numbers only

improvedmarginally.

Scot Airways took over Sucking (top) and

replaced its Dornier 228s with the larger,

faster and far more comfortable 328

(bottom).

The Airport Timeline • 9998 • London City Airport

The Dome was doomed but the British

Airways London Eye was a success.

Therewerethreehighprolecasesofmurder

andmanslaughterinBritain.

The rst was the abduction and murder

of eight-year-old Sarah Payne by a convicted

paedophile, Roy Whiting, on 1 July.  The

News of the World, along with Sarah’s parents,

subsequently,lobbiedfortherightsofparents

tohavecontrolledaccesstotheSexOffenders

out when Tony Martin was sentenced to life

imprisonment for the murder of a 16-year-old

burglarheshotdeadathisNorfolkfarmhouse.

His sentence was later reduced to manslaughter

andtheincidentprovokedaercedebateover

therightofhomeownerstoprotectthemselves

andtheirproperty.Finallyon27November, ten-

year-old Damilola Taylor, a Nigerian schoolboy

wholivedinNorthPeckham,wasmurderedby

agangofboys.Severalyoungboyswerecleared

of murder charges after a lengthy trial, and later

twobrotherswereconvictedofmanslaughter.

The new Millennium saw the opening of

several important structures in London. First

came the Millennium or ‘Wobbly’ Bridge, linking

BanksidewiththeCityofLondon.

Soon after, with pedestrians feeling an

unexpected swaying motion, it closed for

two years whilst the problem was sorted

out.Adjacent to the bridge theTate Modern

was revealed after a £134 million conversion

of the Bankside Power Station. Also on the

South Bank of the RiverThames the London

Eye opened – Europe’s tallest ferris wheel and

atthe time offered thehighestpublic viewing

pointinLondon.By2015,60millionpeoplehad

visitedit.

In political news on 4 May the independent

candidate Ken Livingstone was elected Mayor

of London, defeating the ConservativeParty’s

SteveNorris.

Furtheraeldon26MarchinRussiaVladimir

PutinwaselectedasPresident.

On 7 November the United States held

elections:RepublicanGeorgeW.Bushdefeated

Democrat Al Gore in a very tightly fought

contest–the focusof the electioneventually

centred on the State of Florida with a dispute

over how votes were counted. This election

also saw Hillary Clinton become the Senator

forNewYork–becomingtherstformerFirst

LadyoftheUnitedStatestowinpublicofce.

In business news, AOL purchased Time

Warnerfor$164billion,althoughnalapproval

wasnotgivenuntil2001.Itwasthelargestever

corporate merger. Other business news saw

BMWselling theRoverGroupandTheRoyal

Bank of Scotland taking over NatWest Bank

aftersuccessfullydefeatingarivalofferbythe

BankofScotland.

In sport the Olympic Games were held in

Sydney,Australia,withTeamGB’sSteveRedgrave

winninghisfthconsecutivegoldforrowing.In

football France become European Champions

after defeatingItaly2–1 in the nal;Wembley

Stadium closed after 77 years to be completely

reconstructed and Sven-Göran Eriksson, the

Swedish coach, became the England football

manager.

Famous people that passed away included

Dame Barbara Cartland, novelist; Sir John

Gielgud, actor; Lord (Robert) Runcie,

Archbishop of Canterbury; Sir Robin Day,

political broadcaster; Sir Stanley Matthews,

footballer;PaulaYates,televisionpresenterand

CharlesM.Schulz,creatorofPeanuts.

2000

Passengertotal1,580,234.

Passenger increase of 14% on the previous year.

Number of ights 52,126, up 18%.

Real-time ight information became available

online.

TheGovernmentannounced£30millionfunding

foraDLRlinktotheairportandacrosstheriver

toWoolwichArsenal.

The one-millionth passenger of the year was

welcomedearlierthaneverbefore–28August.

Newbaggagereclaimareacompleted.

ExCeL London opened, the western entrance

exactly one mile, or 20 minutes’ walk across the

Connaught Bridge.The 473 bus ran every 15

minutes.

TheMillenniumDome(nowO2)openedonthe

Greenwich Peninsular amid scenes of transport

chaosonNewYear’sEve.Thevenuewasofgreat

benettotheairportcommerciallywithLondon

CityAirporttakingaVIPbox.

Ken Livingstone, an opponent of London City

Airport,becametherstMayorofLondon.

Work started on theA13 road improvements

(whichwerecompletedin2004).

Planning applications were submitted for the

Operational Improvements Programme for an

increaseinightmovements.

The Millennium Dome, now the O2, is a familiar sight

for LCY passengers.

The Airport Timeline • 101100 • London City Airport

Lord (Jeffrey) Archer, politician and

writer, was found guilty of perjury and

sentenced to four years.

On 11 September two US passenger planes

were hijacked by members of the terrorist group

al-QaedawhoewtheplanesintotheWorldTrade

Towers.AthirdplanecrashedintothePentagon

and a fourth was steered toward Washington

DC but dived into a eld near Shanksville,

Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to

overcomethehijackers.Theattackskilled2,996

people,injuredover6,000others,andcausedat

least $10 billion in property and infrastructure

damage and $3 trillion in total costs. United

States President GeorgeW. Bush subsequently

declared a war on terror and Britain’s Prime

Minister Tony Blair pledged to stand ‘Shoulder to

Shoulder’withtheUnitedStates.On7October,

the United States, supported by the United

Kingdom,invadedAfghanistan,withparticipation

fromothernationsatalaterdate.Theaimofthe

invasionwastodismantleal-Qaedaandremove

theTalibanfrompower.

In Britain Marie-Thérèse Kouao and Carl

Manning were found guilty of torturing and

murderingeight-year-oldVictoria Climbié.They

were sentenced to life imprisonment. Many

organisationsincludingsocialservices,policeand

the NHS were aware of her case and noticed

signsofabusebeforeshedied.Thejudgeinthe

trial described it as ‘blinding incompetence’, that

allfailedtoproperlyinvestigatethecaseandthat

littleactionwastaken.

Also the foot and mouth crisis began.This

epidemic saw 2,000 cases of the disease in farms

across most of the British countryside. Over

ten million cows and sheep were killed in an

eventuallysuccessfulattempttohaltthedisease.

Inpoliticson7JuneTonyBlair’sLabourParty

won a second successive General Election

landslide victory. William Hague resigned as

Conservative Party leader with Ian Duncan

Smithtakinghisplace.Laterthenextmonth,and

stillinpolitics,JeffreyArcher,the politician and

writer,wasfoundguiltyofperjuryandperverting

thecourseofjusticeduringhislibeltrial.

On the international stage on 18 February

Robert Hanssen was sentenced after being found

to have been selling United States secrets to

theSovietUnion.Hisactivitiesweredescribed

bytheDepartmentofJustice’sCommissionfor

theReviewofFBISecurityProgramsas‘possibly

the worst intelligence disaster in US history’.

AttheG8summiton20–22JulyinGenoaan

anti-globalisation movement protest drew an

estimated 200,000 demonstrators. Dozens

were hospitalized following clashes with police

andonedemonstratorwasshotdead.

On 2 December Enron, one of the world’s

largest electricity, natural gas, communications and

pulpandpapercompanies,ledforbankruptcy.

Itwas laterrevealedthatitsreportednancial

condition was sustained by institutionalized,

systematic, and creatively planned accounting

fraud. It was the largest bankruptcy in United

Stateshistory.

Wikipedia, the free content encyclopaedia,

wentonlineandKoAnnan,HeadoftheUnited

Nations,gainedtheNobelPeacePrize.

In sport Manchester United won the FA

Premier League title for the third season in

successionandLiverpoolwontheFACup.

Famous people who died included Stanley

Kramer, lm director and producer; Douglas

Adams, English author; Jack Lemmon, actor

and director; Mary Whitehouse, television

campaigner; Sir Nigel Hawthorne, actor and

George Harrison, musician and member of The

Beatles.

2001

Passengertotal1,624,015.

Passenger increase of 3% on the previous year.

Number of ights 57,005, up 9%.

ThenewArrivalsHallwascompleted.

Planning approval was granted

for extension of the apron, a new

runwaylinkandaholdingpoint.

The airport closed for two days

following the terrorist attacks in

New York on 11 September, with a

knock-on effect resulting in a distinct

dropinpassengernumbers.

TheDassaultFalcon900EXexecutive

jet among others was certicated

foroperationsattheairport.

Embraer rolled out the E170 with

Crossair CEO Moritz Suter at

the ceremony which featured the

aircraft painted in the Swiss airline’s

colourschemeononeside.

Above left: LCY is not immune to the

diversities of London’s weather.

Left: October – the E Series rollout at Säo

José dos Campos with Mauricio Botelho

(left), Embraer President and Moritz Suter,

Crossair CEO.

The Airport Timeline • 103102 • London City Airport

On 7 November all but 2% of

Gibraltar’s population voted to stay

British.

QueenElizabethhadaverymixedyearin2002.

Both her sister and her mother died but she

celebratedherGoldenJubilee–theanniversary

of50yearsofascendingthethrone.

Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister, died

attheageof71fromastrokeandjustseven

weeks later her mother, Queen Elizabeth the

Queen Mother passed away at the age of

101. The Queen Mother’s state funeral was

attendedbypresidentsandroyaltyfromallover

the world.  The Golden Jubilee celebrations

included the Prom in the Palace concert, the

Party at the Palace concert (which commenced

with Queen Guitarist Brian May playing his

arrangement of God Save the Queen from the

roof of Buckingham Palace), and street parties

throughoutBritain.

Three murders of British children hit the

headlinesofBritishnewspapers.AmandaDowler,

13,wentmissingonherwayhomefromschool

on 21 March and she was found dead on

18 September. (It was not until 2011 that Levi

Belleld,whowasalreadyinprisonfortwoother

murders,wasfoundguiltyofmurderingDowler.)

HollyWells and Jessica Chapman, two ten-

year-old girls from Soham, Cambridgeshire,

went missing on 4 August and their bodies

werefoundon17August.IanKevinHuntley,a

caretaker at the local secondary

school, was found guilty of their

murders and sentenced to a

minimumof40yearsinprison.

Other high prole British

news stories included the case

of Diane Petty, who suffered

from the terminal illness

motor neurone disease.  She

took her case to end her life

by euthanasia to the European

Court of Human Rights, but

did not succeed and she died

because of her illness later that

year. On 10 May seven people

died in the Potters Bar rail

crashandon7November98%

ofGibraltar’spopulationvotedtostayaBritish

overseasterritoryinareferendum.

InEuropetheEurowasofciallyintroduced

in the Eurozone countries on 1 January.The

former currencies of all the countries that

used the Euro ceased to be legal tender on

28February.

It was the year in which the war crimes

trial of Slobodan Miloševićbegan.The former

President of Yugoslavia faced 66 counts of

crimes against humanity, genocide and war

crimescommittedduringtheYugoslavWarsand

faced trial at the International Criminal Tribunal

for the formerYugoslavia. However Milošević

committed suicide before the trial ended and

thecourtdeliveredanoverdictresult.

InIsraelaPalestiniansuicidebomberkilled30

and injured 140 at a hotel in the South triggering

Operation Defensive Shield – a large-scale

counter-terrorismoperationintheWestBank.

In sport the World Cup took place in South

Korea and Japan. Brazil won the tournament

beating Germany 2–0 and England reached the

quarternals.TheWinterOlympicswereheld

in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Manchester hosted

theCommonwealthGames.

Famous people who died included Peggy Lee,

singer and actress; Spike Milligan, comedian;

Dudley Moore, actor; Billy Wilder, director and

JimmyCarter,PresidentoftheUnitedStatesas

wellasPrincessMargaretandQueenElizabeth

theQueenMother.

2002

Passengertotal1,604,773.

Passenger decrease of 1% on the previous year.

Number of ights 56,102, also down 2%.

The most signicant events were the airport

celebrating its ten millionth passenger since the

1987openingandtheGovernmentapprovalof

theDLRextensiontotheairport.Fromthenon,

London City Airport began to appear on all the

London Underground maps and truly became

partofLondon’sintegratedtransportnetwork.

On the negative front, London City, like all

airports, suffered from the aftermath of 9/11

with the loss of routes, in particular Inverness

andMunich,whicharenotservedatJuly2017.

Work was completed on improvements at

the west end of the apron including remote

aircraftstands and a newre simulatorwas

commissioned.Thenoiseinsulationprogramme

for the local community progressed well with

80%ofthe872propertiestreatedwithdouble

glazing.

April: Air Wales started routes to Cardiff and

Swansea three times weekdaily. (They did not

last long but were resurrected in 2016 to Cardiff

byFlybe.)

July: City Hall opened opposite theTower of

London,therstoccupantwasKenLivingstone.

September: London City Airport owner Dermot

DesmondopenedthenewPrivateJetCentrefor

corporateaviation.

October:Wi- internet was introduced in the

airportterminal(Itisnowfree).

November: The airport celebrated its 15th

birthdayandvaletparkingwasintroduced.

All part of the LCY offering – free wi- and a concierge

service.

The Airport Timeline • 105104 • London City Airport

The London Congestion Charge was

introduced.

On20MarchtheUnitedStates,combinedwith

forces from the United Kingdom, Australia and

Poland,invadedIraqinamissioncalled‘Operation

Iraqi Freedom’.The stated aim of the war was

‘todisarmIraqofweaponsofmassdestruction,

to end Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism,

andtofreetheIraqipeople’.Thecoalitionforces

comprised380,000troopsversusIraq’s375,000.

The mission consisted of 21 days of major combat

butnallyendedon1May.Inpartitcouldbesaid

that the mission completed its aims with coalition

forces toppling the Government of Saddam

Hussein and capturing the key cities of a large

nationinonly21days.

The need for the war was not universally

accepted.AndrewGilliganoftheBBCreported

thattheGovernmentknewthatitsclaimthatIraq

could deploy weapons of mass destruction within

45minuteswasdubious.Gilligan’skeysourcefor

thereport, David Kelly, a weaponsexpert,was

broughttoanswerquestionsbeforetheHouse

of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee

and was aggressively questioned by Members

of Parliament. Kelly faced a huge amount of

pressure and went on to commit suicide.The

Government then opened the Hutton Inquiry

into the circumstances of his death and following

its publication the BBC’s Director-General, Greg

Dyke, Chairman of the Board of Governors,

GavynDavies,andAndrewGilligan,resigned.

There were worldwide protests against the

invasion and almost 3,000 demonstrations took

place throughout the world.Around 36 million

people took part in protests including two million

inLondon.

In other British news Sally Clark, who had been

previously found guilty of murdering her two

new-born sons, was freed from prison after her

convictionwasoverturned.Itwasfoundthather

childrendiedofSuddenInfantDeathSyndrome.

The Congestion Charge was introduced on

17 February covering the approximate area of

theLondonInnerRingRoad.TheChargewas£5,

whenitwasintroduced.

Concorde touched down for the last time;

Roger Short, the British Consul-General in Turkey

was killed by a truck bombing in Istanbul along

with at least 27 people; Ian Carr, who had 89

previous convictions (including causing death by

dangerous driving), admitted causing the death

by dangerous driving of a six-year-old girl. Den

Watts (played by Leslie Grantham) returned to

thetelevisionsoapEastEnders 14 years after the

characterwassupposedlykilledoff.

European political news focussed on

referendums in the Czech Republic, Estonia

Hungary,Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia

and Slovenia. All countries voted yes to the

referendum and became members of the EU in

2004.Bulgaria,Estonia,Latvia,Lithuania,Romania,

Slovakiaand Sloveniaalso votedonwhether to

becomemembersofNATOandwereadmitted

the following year – it was the largest expansion

oftheorganization.

Sports news saw AC Milan win the UEFA

ChampionsLeaguewhentheybeatJuventusina

penaltyshootoutatOldTrafford.Englandbecame

the rugby world champions defeating the hosts

Australia20–17inextratime.

Famous people who died included Maurice

Gibb, singer from the Bee Gees, Gregory Peck,

actor; Katherine Hepburn, actress; Bob Hope,

comedian-actor; Lord (Roy) Jenkins, politician;

Sir Denis Thatcher, husband to Prime Minister

Lady (Margaret) Thatcher and Bob Monkhouse,

entertainer.

2003

Passengertotal1,472,272.

Passenger decrease of 8% on the previous year.

Number of ights 52,563, down 6%.

Work was well under way with the airport

DLR station, a situation regularly pointed out to

potentialairlinesconsideringfutureservices.

A new runway holding point and link allowed

movements to go up to 32 per hour. Up to

three aircraft could be held at the eastern end

of the runway prior to take-off, or held after

landing.With the runway at 1199m, compared

withGatwick’s3316m,theaircraftwereactually

movingforlessthanhalfthetime,andpassengers

could regularly be landside in the terminal within

tenminutesoftouchdown.

British Airways CitiExpress launched services

from the airport, the airline an amalgamation of

Brymon Airways, purchased by British Airways

in1993,andGatwick-basedCityFlyerExpress.

Its rst ve routes were Edinburgh, Frankfurt,

Geneva,GlasgowandParisCharlesdeGaulle.

Seventh Fun Day raised £24,000 for Richard

House,achildren’shospiceinnearbyBeckton.

Bill Bryce, the founder of Brymon Airways, died

inNewZealandaged70.

Corporate jet ights increased by 35% during

theyearcarrying16%morepassengersalthough

withexecutiveaviationitisnottheactualnumber

travellingbutthe quality. Often the bizjets just

carrytwopassengers.

Fire brigade in practice mode.

The Airport Timeline • 107

Norman Foster’s ‘Gherkin’ arrived in

the City of London.

KenBigley,aBritishcivilengineer,waskidnapped

in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad, along with

hiscolleaguesJackHensleyandEugeneArmstrong

and was beheaded. Later in the year Margaret

Hassan, an Irish-born aid worker who had worked

inIraqformanyyears,wasabductedandmurdered

byunidentiedkidnappers.

Alsoin2004LordButlerpublishedthendings

fromhisinquiryintotheintelligenceusedtomake

thedecisiontogotowarinIraq.Thereportsaid

the intelligence used to justify the war was now

in doubt.The Iraq Survey Group also published

its ndings and concluded there had been no

stockpilesofweaponsofmassdestructioninIraq.

It was also the year that Norman Foster’s ‘The

Gherkin’,theeasilyidentiableskyscraperinthe

CityofLondon,opened.

Politics had a amboyant year in 2004: A

Fathers4Justice protester almost managed to

breach Buckingham Palace security dressed

as Batman and pro-foxhunter groups staged

protests in the House of Commons – the former

threw purple powder at the Prime Minister at

QuestionTimeandthelattermanagedtosuspend

parliament.Alsoin2004inMayTonyBlairledthe

Labour Party to victory in a United Kingdom

General Election and Ken Livingstone was re-

electedastheMayorofLondon.

OnSunday6JuneHeadsofState–including

QueenElizabethand PresidentGeorgeW. Bush

– and thousands of war veterans gathered in

Francetomarkthe60thanniversaryoftheD-Day

invasionofNazi-occupiedEurope.

In international news the Israeli Air Force killed

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas spiritual leader and

Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, his second in command, in

two separate missions; the United States formally

handedbackIraqisovereignty;Afghanistanhadits

rstdemocraticelection,wonbyHamidKarzai,an

independent.Over300people,morethanhalfof

them children, died at a school siege in Beslan, in

theRussianFederation.

At the end of the year on Boxing Day a tsunami

in the Indian Ocean killed 230,000–280,000

people in 14 countries, and inundated coastal

communities with waves up to 100 feet high. It

was one of the deadliest natural disasters in

recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit

country,followedbySriLanka,India,andThailand.

The World Bank initially estimated the amount of

aid needed at $5 billion and by 1 January 2005

over$1.8billionhadbeenpledged.

Thereweretwosignicantsportingevents–

the UEFA Cup and the Summer Olympics.The

UEFA Cup was held in Portugal. Unexpectedly

GreecewonthecupbeatingPortugalinthenal.

Englandreachedthequarternals.TheOlympic

GameswereheldinAthens.TeamGBwonnine

goldmedals, ninesilverand12 bronzeincluding

golds for Bradley Wiggins, Kelly Holmes and Chris

Hoy.American swimmer Michael Phelps won a

record six gold and two bronze medals, becoming

the rst athlete to win eight medals in a non-

boycottedOlympics.

Famous people that died included Estée Lauder,

the American cosmetics entrepreneur, Ronald

Reagan, President of the United States and actor;

JohnPeel,broadcaster;ChristopherReeve,actor

and campaigner; Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader

andMarlonBrando,actor.

2004

Passengertotal1,684,545.

Passenger increase of 14% on the previous year.

Number of ights 60,500, up 15%.

Custom House and Prince Regent stations

opened at either end of ExCeL London with

the completion of the Beckton extension.This

offered another public gateway to the airport, a

shortbusortaxirideaway.

The airport celebrated its one millionth

Edinburgh passenger since service began in

1996.Marchwasarecordmonthforpassenger

numberswithover150,000,animprovementof

20%overthepreviousMarch.

TheVLMManchesterservicewasagreatsuccess,

at least six rotations weekdaily with a Fokker 50,

nearly60%loadfactorand133,000passengers.

ThesameairlinealsoservedLiverpoolwithabout

halfthenumberoftravellers.(Boththeseroutes

failedinlateryearsduetothemuch-improved

Virgintrainservicestonorth-westEngland.)

Leeds Bradford Airport became a destination

ownbybmi.

Corporateaircraftmovementsreachedarecord

highof14,000.

By 2004 the DLR extension to the airport was well

under way.

The Airport Timeline • 109108 • London City Airport

The London bombings.

This year was marked by the 7 July London

bombings.The attack – a series of coordinated

suicide bombings on London’s public transport

system–tookplaceduringthemorningrushhour.

Three bombs exploded on different Underground

trains almost simultaneously and a fourth bomb

explodedonabusanhourlater.Fifty-twopeople

werekilledandover700wereinjured.

On21Julytherewerefurtherattacksonthe

Underground.However,therewerenoinjuries.

London was at this stage on a hyper sense of alert

andon22JulytheMetropolitanPoliceshotand

killedJeanCharlesdeMenezes,believedbythem

–mistakenly–tobeasuicidebomber.

On10FebruaryPrinceCharlesmarriedCamilla

Parker Bowles at a civil ceremony atWindsor

Guildhall.  She took the title HRH Duchess of

Cornwall.Inpoliticson5MaytheLabourParty,

ledbyTonyBlair,wonitsthirdsuccessiveelection,

withareducedmajorityof66.TheConservative

leader, Michael Howard, resigned and David

Cameronwassubsequentlyelectedasleader.

On 11 July Littlewoods disappeared from

the British high street, its 119 stores converted

toPrimark.The chain wasalsointheprocessof

closing 126 Index outlets with the loss of 3,200

jobs,andsoldtheremaining44IndexsitestoArgos.

Hurricane Katrina was the big news story

in the USA. The storm, in August, was the

third most intense measured storm in United

Stateshistory.ItaffectedFlorida,NewOrleans,

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and other areas

including Cuba and Canada. At least 1,245

people died; hundreds of thousands of people

were displaced and it caused an estimated $108

billionindamage.Theresponsetothedisaster

has been highly criticised and ofcials, even

including President GeorgeW. Bush, seemed

unaware of just how bad things were in New

Orleansandelsewhere.

In other international news on 2 April Pope

JohnPaulIIpassedaway.TherequiemMasswas

saidtohavesetworldrecordsbothforattendance

and number of heads of state present at a funeral –

fourKings,veQueensandatleast70Presidents

and Prime Ministers attended and an estimated

in excess of four million mourners gathering in

and around Vatican City. Between 250,000 and

300,000 watched the event from within the

Vatican’swalls.PopeBenedictXVIsucceededhim.

The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on

30 September published controversial drawings

ofMuhammad.Thissparkedoutrageandviolent

riots by Muslims around the world resulting in

more than 200 deaths, attacks on Danish and

other European diplomatic missions and a major

internationalboycott.

Other news included commemorations held

on27Januarytomarkthe60thanniversaryofthe

liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp; the

Kyoto Protocol, extending the UN Framework

ConventiononClimateChange,cameintoeffect

on16February;thelargesteverpassengerplane

–theAirbusA380 –made itsmaiden voyagein

a test ight on 27April fromToulouse Blagnac;

Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip in August;

1,000 people died in a stampede during a religious

festival in Iraq on 31 August; Angela Merkel

assumedofceastherstfemaleChancellorof

Germanyon22November.

InsportLiverpoolwontheirfthEuropeanCup;

London was chosen to host the 2012 Olympic

GamesinadramaticoccasioninSingapore.The

England cricket team won The Ashes, with the

nalmatchatTheOval.

Famous people that died included Arthur Miller,

playwright and sometime husband of Marilyn

Monroe; Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust

survivorandNazihunter;SirEdwardHeathand

Lord(James)Callaghan,both PrimeMinistersof

the United Kingdom; George Best, footballer; and

RonnieBarker,comedian.

2005

Passengertotal1,997,922.

Passenger increase of 19% on the previous year.

Number of ights 70,912, up 17%.

Luxair launched jet services using the 37-seat

Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft,VLM opened up the

IsleofManandSASarrivedfromCopenhagen.

Another new airline was SUN-AIR as a British

AirwaysfranchisetoCopenhagen.

Euromanx to Galway was another speculative

route this year which in three months carried

just 10,000 passengers at an average35% load

factor.

An inquiry opened into theThames Gateway

Bridge–itwasnevertohappen.

Work started on Woolwich Arsenal extension of

DLR prior to the completion of a new station

calledKingGeorgeV,muchnearerthedockthan

theoldNorthWoolwichterminus.

AplaquewasunveiledattheredevelopedHeron

Quays DLR station to commemorate the trial

Dash7landingstherein1982(latermoved).

During the summer and autumn test trains

began to run on the DLR extension as far as the

temporaryterminusatKingGeorgeV.

The airport celebrated the arrival of the one

millionthpassengerusingtheRotterdamservice.

WiththestartofthewinterseasoninOctober,

13airlineswereservingsixdomesticpointsout

ofatotal23destinations.

The airport is nally recognized by the Mayor

ofLondon,KenLivingstoneofciallyopeningthe

DLR London City Airport station on Tuesday

6 December. Timings were seven minutes to

CanningTown, with connections to the Jubilee

Line, and 22 minutes to Bank, for the Northern

andCentralLines.

Press off rst. Darwin Airlines arrives from Bern, Switzerland.

In 2017 the aircraft operates for Swiss airline Skywork to LCY.

The Airport Timeline • 111

South Korean Ban Ki-moon, the new

Secretary-General of the United

Nations.

The British police were on high alert for

terrorism, and in one mission they foiled a plot

to bring down at least ten aircraft bound for

NorthAmerica.

Alsoin2006AlexanderLitvinenko,aformer

RussiansecretserviceofcerlivingintheUnited

Kingdom, suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised in

what was established as a case of poisoning by

radioactivepolonium-210. He became the rst

known victim of lethal polonium-210-induced

acuteradiationsyndrome.

InotherBritishnews£53millionwasstolen

from a Securitas depot at Tonbridge, Kent, in the

largest cash robbery in British crime history.

The BBC announced that Grandstand,itsagship

sports television programme, wouldbephased

out after nearly 50 years on air and the BBC’s Top

Gear presenter Richard Hammond was seriously

injured whilst driving aVampire turbojet drag

racingcaratupto314milesperhouraspartof

aplannedfeaturefortheprogramme.

There was much news coming out of the

MiddleEastin2006.Israelonceagainfounditself

dealing with militants on two fronts, from the

southbyHamas,andinthenorthwithHezbollah.

InJuly,a34-dayconictbetweenIsraelandthe

Hezbollah military saw battle between Israel

and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border. The

warwas provokedafterthekidnappingoftwo

Israelisoldiers,subsequentlyIsrael launched an

offensive which included a naval blockade.The

war ended after the United Nations brokered an

agreement.Acampaignwaslaunchedattheend

ofJuneagainstPalestinianmilitantsinGazaasa

response to the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad

ShalitaswellasthePalestinianringofQassam

rockets into Southern Israel.A shaky ceasere

was agreed at the end of November. Figures

estimatethatsevenIsraelisand402Palestinians

were killed.Also in 2006 the formerPresident

ofIraq,SaddamHussein,wassentencedtodeath

by hanging by the Iraqi Special Tribunal. His

executiontookplaceon30December.

OtherstoriesfromtheMiddleEastincludeda

stampede during the last day at the Hajj in which

at least 362 pilgrims were killed; an Egyptian

passenger ferry, sunk in the Red Sea off the coast

ofSaudiArabia,killingover1,000peopleandin

Iraq the militant leaderAbu Musab al-Zarqawi

waskilledinanairraid.Hehadbeenconsidered

the gurehead of the Sunni insurgency and

blamedforthousandsofdeaths.

In British-related Middle Eastern news peace

activistNormanKemberwasrescuedinBaghdad

by a multi-national force including the SAS. In

Afghanistan an RAF Nimrod crashed and 14

personnel were killed in Britain’s worst single

militarylosssincetheFalklandsWar.

In other worldwide news South Korean Ban

Ki-moon was elected as the new Secretary-

GeneraloftheUnitedNations,succeedingKo

Annan and Montenegro declared independence

fromSerbiaafterareferendum.

In sport theWinter Olympics were held in

Turin,Italy.GreatBritainwononesilvermedal.

The FIFA World Cup took place in Germany

with England reaching the quarter-nals when

they lost on penalties to Portugal after a goalless

draw.TheFIFACupwaswonbyItalywhobeat

Franceonpenalties.AftertheWorldCup,Steve

McClarentookoverfromSven-GöranEriksson

asEnglandmanager.

Famouspeoplethatdiedin2006includedJohn

Kenneth Galbraith, economist; Aaron Spelling,

televisionproducer,P.W.Botha,StatePresidentof

South Africa; Milton Friedman, Nobel economist;

RobertAltman,lmdirector;AugustoPinochet,

PresidentofChileandGeraldR.Ford,President

oftheUnitedStates.

2006

Passengertotal2,377,318.

Passenger increase up 19% on the previous year.

Number of ights 79,616, up 12%.

New London Mayor Boris Johnson called for

the closure of London City Airport if Crossrail

(Elizabeth Line) were to happen. He was a

supporterofanestuaryairport.

AnewairlinearrivalwasEasternAirwaysfrom

Newcastlewithafourtimesdailyservice.

SilvertownforLondonCityAirporthadalready

closed but the new DLR station actually at the

airport more than compensated for it. With

outbound passengers learning about the DLR,

and inbound travellers seeing for themselves

already40%oftheairport’strafcwasusingthe

lightrailway.

January:Annual passenger total reached rolling

twomillion.

April: Airport Master Plan published for

consultation.

May:AnAirbusA318undertookaseriesofights

to check the feasibility of landing at the 5.5-

degree glide slope needed as a noise abatement

requirement,ratherthanthe3degreesrequired

ataregularairport.Thiswasbyfarthelargest

aircrafttohaveownin,butwitha32-seatall-

Business Class layout it would be unable to take

offwithafullfuelload.Plannedforaserviceto

New York’s Kennedy Airport, a refuelling stop

would be required at ShannonAirport on the

westcoastofIreland.

May:Twentieth anniversary of the laying of the

terminalfoundationstonebyPrinceCharles.

WiththestartofthewinterseasoninOctober,

13 airlines were serving six domestic points

out of a total 23 destinations.There were an

additionaleight‘summeronly’routes.

November:GlobalInfrastructurePartners(GIP),

a newly created investment fund incorporated

in New York, teamed up with American

InternationalGroup(AIG)toacquiretheairport

fromDermotDesmondforaround£750million.

(Asthe leadinvestorAIG waslater toacquire

from BAA Plc both Edinburgh and Southampton

airports.)

From this entrance to LCY you can see the Elizabeth Line

about 130 yards down Parker Street.

The Airport Timeline • 113112 • London City Airport

Gordon Brown (left) became UK PM

– he was to last until 2010 – here seen

with his predecessor Tony Blair.

The New Year blew in with storms and gales across

theUnitedKingdom.Elevenpeopledied,100,000

people were left without electricity, over 200

ightswerecancelled,railspeedrestrictionswere

enforced and sections of the motorway were shut

as gusts of wind of up to 99 miles per hour swept

thecountry.

Four-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing

on 3 May from her bed in a holiday apartment

inPraiada Luz, aresortin theAlgarveregionof

Portugal. Her distraught parents, Kate and Gerry

McCann, mounted a high-prole campaign to

ensure she was rarely out of the news in the weeks,

monthsandyearsthatfollowed.AsofJuly2017she

hasnotbeenfound.

There were several major British media news

storiesin2007.InJanuaryNews of the World’s royal

editorCliveGoodmanwas jailedforfourmonths

when he pleaded guilty to intercepting voicemail

messages from the Royal Household. Also in

JanuaryprotestswereheldinIndiaandtheUnited

Kingdom against the British series of Celebrity Big

Brother after celebrities were racially abusive to

fellow housemate Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty. In

MarchBBCcorrespondentAlanJohnston–theonly

international journalist working in Gaza at the time

–waskidnapped.Hewasreleasedafterfourmonths.

InotherBritishnews,on23Marchelements

oftheIraniannavyforciblydetained15British

RoyalNavypersonnel.TheHMSCornwall crew

members were on routine patrol in the Shatt

al-Arabwaterwaywhentheyweretaken.Just

less than two weeks later they returned home,

unharmed.

In British politics on 27 June Gordon Brown

became Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour

Party after Tony Blair stood down after ten years

intherole.

In Europe, Bulgaria and Romania joined the

EuropeanUnionandSloveniajoinedtheEurozone.

The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,

Lithuania,Malta,Poland,SlovakiaandSloveniaalso

joined the Schengen border-free zone.Together

with the 2004 enlargement, it is considered part of

thefthwaveofenlargementoftheEU.

The year saw the start of the US subprime

mortgagecrisis,anationwidebankingemergency.

It was triggered by the collapse in home value

prices after a housing bubble, leading to mortgage

foreclosures and the devaluation of housing-

relatedsecurities.

In other international news, on 13 January a

27-year-old Cambodian girl was found living wild

in the jungle after disappearing when she was eight

yearsold. On 27 December Benazir Bhutto was

assassinatedbya suicidebomberafterleavingan

electionrallyinRawalpindi.Shewasleaderofthe

opposition at the time, but had previously been

PrimeMinisterofPakistan.Atleast20otherpeople

diedintheattackandseveralmorewereinjured.

Bhutto had previously survived a similar attempt

onherlifethatkilledatleast139people,afterher

returnfromexiletwomonthsearlier.

Famous people that died included Sidney

Sheldon, author and screenwriter; Boris Yeltsin,

rstPresidentoftheRussianFederation;Luciano

Pavarotti, Italian tenor and Anita Roddick,

entrepreneurandfounderofTheBodyShop.

2007

Passengertotal2,928,920.

Passenger increase of 23% on the previous year.

Number of ights 91,489, up 15%.

Roy Grifns appointed Chairman of London

CityAirportbythenewowners.Infactitwasa

returnforRoywho,asPrivateSecretarytoPaul

Channon, then Secretary of State for Transport,

had accompanied Queen Elizabeth for the

ofcialopeningoftheairport.(Aftera30-year

involvementintheairportheretiredin2017.)

Bill Lindsell, essentially a lifetime Mowlem man,

director and supporter of the airport, passed

awayon1Marchaged77.

January:Airportgivenpermissiontemporarilyto

varythedailyairtransportmovementlimitsbut

withoutchangingtheoverallannualtotal.

In January,AirOne, an Italian Lufthansa partner

andcompetitortoAlitalia,commencedservices

non-stop from Rome Fiumicino with the

ubiquitous BAe 146. (Very soon it would be

amalgamatedintotroubledAlitalia.)

March:BACityyerwasunveiledasasubsidiary

ofBritishAirwaysunderitsownAirOperators

Certicate (AOC). British Airways owned

49% of Brymon at the time of the very rst

scheduled ight into London CityAirport and

had previouslyalso operated at the airport as

BACitiExpressandBAConnect.

May:Airportconrmsa£19millioncontractfor

EastApronExtensionproject.

July:TheRedBullAirRacetookplace,notusing

the airport but a special runway on the north

sideofthedock.

August: Airport applied for planning permission

to raise the limit on the number of ights to

120,000.

18August:ASWISSAvroRJ100hadwhatwas

describedasa‘heavylanding’butwasabletotaxi

toastand.Thestructuraldamagewasconsidered

repairable but could not be completed within

the airport connes.The aircraft

was oated on a barge to the

Royals Business Park opposite the

Albert Dock fromthe airport.A

temporary hangar was erected,

the work undertaken and the

process reversed nine weeks

later when the aircraft returned

intoservice.(SeeChapterEleven

‘HeavySWISSLanding’)

December: Air France/KLM

acquiredVLM.

The extended apron is completed.

The Airport Timeline • 115114 • London City Airport

Incumbent Ken Livingstone (left)

virtually self-destructs allowing Boris

Johnson to become Mayor of London.

Continuing from the 2007 subprime mortgage

crisis stock markets around the world plunged

amidgrowingfearsofaUnitedStatesrecession.

TheLehmanBrothersbankledforbankruptcy

in the USA, and in the United Kingdom HBOS

mergedwithLloyds(completed2009)toprevent

itscollapse.The British Governmentannounced

a rescue package worth some £500 billion for

United Kingdom banks with, in the end, only

Lloyds (nally fully privatised 2017) and Royal

Bank of Scotland participating.  The Northern

RockBankwasnationalised.

There were two unusual cases of missing

peoplethathitBritishheadlinesin2008.Amajor

investigationwaslaunchedon19Februarywhen

nine-year-old Shannon Louise Matthews went

missing.The girl’s mother, Karen Matthews, and

her boyfriend, Michael Donovan, had hidden

Shannon with the aim of collecting reward money

forherwhenshehadbeenfound.BothMathews

andDonovanwerelatersentencedtoeightyears

imprisonment.

On 1 December John Darwina, a former

probationofcer,whowaslastseenpaddlingout

to sea in his canoe in 2002, walked into a police

stationclaimingnomemoryofthelastveyears.

It then emerged that together with his wife,

Anne, he had faked his death in order to claim life

insurance.HeandhiswifeAnnewerelaterboth

convictedforfraud.

In other British news Conservative Boris

Johnson became Mayor of London on 4 May,

beating the incumbent Ken Livingstone; BBC

Radio’s Russell Brand Show came to an abrupt end

on18Octoberafterairingaseriesofprankphone

callstotheactorAndrewSachsbyJonathanRoss

andtheshow’shost.On19DecemberMFI,the

furniture retailer ceased trading, closing all 111

of its stores and leaving its 1,400 workforce

redundant.

Austria hit the headlines when it transpired

that 73-year-old Josef Fritzl had imprisoned his

daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered

her seven children. He also admitted burning

the body of a baby that died at the house in

Amstetten,LowerAustria.Hewassentencedto

lifeimprisonment.

The international nancial crisis hit Iceland

hardandinvolvedthedefaultofallthreeofthe

country’s major privately-owned commercial

banks in late 2008, following their difculties

in renancing their short-term debt and a run

on deposits in the Netherlands and the United

Kingdom. Relative to the size of its economy,

Iceland’s systemic banking collapse was the largest

experiencedbyanycountryineconomichistory.

Thecrisisledtoasevereeconomicdepressionin

2008–2010andsignicantpoliticalunrest.

InAmerican politics Barack Obama won the

USA Presidential election, becoming the rst

African-AmericanPresidentoftheUnitedStates.

HewaselectedoverRepublicanJohnMcCain.

In summer 2008 the Olympics took place in

Beijing,China.TeamGBwon19gold,13silverand

15 bronze medals – the best performance for a

GreatBritainteaminacentury.CyclistChrisHoy

became the rst British athlete in 100 years to

winthreegoldmedalsatasingleOlympicGames.

IntheParalympicsBritainnishedsecondinthe

medal table, behind host nation China, winning

42 gold medals including medals for the swimmer

EleanorSimmondsandthecyclistSarahStorey.

Famous people that died included Sir Edmund

Hillary, explorer;Arthur C. Clarke, author;Yves

Saint Laurent, fashion designer; Paul Newman,

actorandHaroldPinter,playwright.

2008

Passengertotal3,271,716.

Passenger increase of 12% on the previous year.

Number of ights 94,763, up 4%.

The list of airlines was impressive: Air One,

Austrian,BACityFlyer,CityJet(AirFrance),KLM,

Lufthansa,Luxair,SAS,SWISS.

British Airways announced an order for six

EmbraerE170aircraftandveE190foruseat

LondonCityAirport.

February: Following the trials held in 2006, British

AirwaysannouncedanewservicetoNewYork.

ApairofspecialAirbusA318wereacquiredand

certicatedwithnotonlyspecialwingapsand

spoilersrequiredfora5.5-degreelandingangle,

but also the technical equipment for the non-

stop crossing from NewYork’s JFK airport.As

part of the British Airways’ mainline operation,

separatefromCityyer,thepublicitygenerated

helpedraisetheproleofBACityyerandthe

airportconsiderably.

March: Cityyer opened new routes to

Amsterdam, Barcelona, Nice, plus Warsaw which

wasshort-lived.

May: An enlarged departure lounge was opened

to passengers and the East Apron Extension

projectcompletedreadyfortheA318.

September: AIG sold its share (25%) of the

airport to Highstar Capital with the balance

ownedbyGlobalInfrastructurePartners(GIP).

October:NewhamCouncilapprovedinprinciple

the airport’s application to raise the limit on the

numberofights.

26 October: Airport celebrated the 21st

anniversaryofitsopeningforights.

November: The Mayor of London abandons

Thames Gateway Bridge and DLR Barking

Extensionprojects.

December: Work was started on Phase 2 of the

refurbishmentofthedeparturelounge.

Chairman Roy Grifns (left) and Chief Executive Richard

Gooding celebrating 21 years of LCY in 2008.

The Airport Timeline • 117

Pop legend Michael

Jackson died.

The fallout of the nancial

crisis continued to hit Britain

hard in 2009. The Bank of

England cut interest rates to

1.5% – the lowest level in its

315-year history; the Royal

Bank of Scotland announced

annual losses totalling £24.1

billion – the biggest loss in

Britishcorporatehistory. The

Governmenttookacontrolling

stake, reported to be 65%, in

the troubled Lloyds Banking

Group with guarantees that

toxic loans totalling £260

billion would be insured by the

Governmentaspartofthedeal.

In other British news –

on 5 JanuaryWaterfordWedgwood, makers

of the famous Wedgwood pottery, entered

administration; on 25 February Conservative

leaderDavidCameron’ssix-year-oldsonIvan,

who had cerebral palsy and epilepsy, died at

a hospital in London; on 16 May the Speaker

of the House of Commons, Michael Martin,

resigned over his part in the expenses row

and on 22 June John Bercow replaced him.

On 23 July the Government launched the

NationalPandemicFluServiceacrossEngland,

a website and phone line allowed people who

thought they had the H1N1 virus to bypass

theNHStoobtainantiviraldrugs.Thewebsite

crashed within hours of its launch due to the

overwhelming demand.  November was the

wettest calendar month since records began

in1910.

In American news, on 15 January pilots

Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles

successfully guided US Airways Flight 1549

intotheHudsonRiverafteritstruckaockof

Canadageeseandconsequentlylostallengine

power.Thepilotsmadetheveryquickdecision

toditchintheriverratherthanattempttoland

ataNewYork airport.All155 people aboard

were rescued by nearby boats and there were

few serious injuries. In 2016 the lm Sully,

starring Tom Hanks and directed by another

Hollywood ‘Great’ Clint Eastwood, portrayed

thestory.

On25June,thepoplegendMichaelJackson

died on the eve of his 51st birthday, after

sufferingfromcardiacarrest.TheLosAngeles

County Coroner later concluded that his

death was a homicide as shortly before his

death Jackson had been administered drugs

by his personal physician, Conrad Murray. He

wasconvictedofinvoluntarymanslaughterand

served a two-year prison sentence. Jackson’s

death triggered a global outpouring of grief and

as the news spread quickly online, it caused

websites to slow down and crash from user

overload, and put unprecedented strain on

socialmediawebsites.Alivebroadcastofhis

memorialserviceinLosAngeleswaswatched

byoveronebillionpeople.

Insportin2009GreatBritain’sJensonButton

wontheFormulaOneDrivers’Championship

drivingaMcClaren.

Other famous people that died included

Natasha Richardson, actress; Keith Floyd, chef;

Patrick Swayze, actor; Sir Bobby Robson, manager

of England’s football team; Wendy Richards,

actress;JadeGoody,realitytelevisionstar.

2009

Passengertotal2,802,296.

Passenger decrease 14% on the previous year.

Number of ights 75,678, down 20%.

The direction of magnetic north decreases by

approximatelyeight minutesofa degreeevery

12months.Itisminimal.On2Julytheairport’s

runway designators changed from 28/10 to 27/09

whichshouldbegoodfor50years.Signageand

markingshadtobechangedovernightandalsoa

comprehensivelistofdocuments.

A major boost for the airport was the G20 Summit

held at the nearby ExCeL London with a great deal

oftrafctoandfromBrussels,before,duringand

after the one day event. Coupled with the high

prole BritishAirways’ NewYork JFK service it

helped to ensure that the numbers at London City

Airportwereatleastreasonableduringadifcult

periodwithpassengernumbersindecline.

January:TrainservicesstartedontheWoolwich

ArsenalextensionoftheDLR.

AnewservicetoBillundinDenmark,thehome

ofLego,commencedon19January,operatedby

SUN-AIR.OnthesamedayAerArannlaunched

ightstotheIsleofManusinganATR42aircraft.

This destination was already served by VLM

whichreplacedthedefunctEuromanxservice.

March/April:EmbraerE190visitedLondonCity

Airportforvalidationtrials.

April: Air Southwest, the successor to Brymon

Airways,introducedservicesfromPlymouthand

Newquay.

July:Airportwasgrantedplanningpermissionto

raisethelimitonthenumberofights.

September:BritishAirwayslaunchedahighprole

AirbusA318businessclassservicetoNewYork

JFKputtingLondonCityAirportverymuchon

theinternationalairportmap.Passengersinthe

British Airways’ Kennedy lounge always looked

up when the route was called, and some asked

tochangetheirLondonentrypoint.

October: The airport’s 75% owner Global

Infrastructure Partners agreed to purchase

LondonGatwickAirport.

December:BritishAirwaysannouncesnewservices

toPalma(Majorca)andIbizafromMay2010.

Two arrivals. (top) The rst Embraer 170, and (bottom)

destined for only a short time, Air Southwest from Plymouth.

The Airport Timeline • 119118 • London City Airport

David Cameron arrives at Downing

Street.

AshfromthevolcaniceruptionofEyjafjallajökull

in Iceland caused a shut-down of airports

throughoutEuropein2010.IATAstatedthatthe

totallossfortheairlineindustrywasaround$1.7

billion.Airportclosureslastedsixdays.Thiswas

the United Kingdom’s longest airspace restriction

inlivingmemory.

The British elections led to a hung parliament

withtheConservativeParty19shortofamajority.

After negotiation the Conservatives and the

Liberal Democrats formed a coalition with the

PrimeMinisterDavidCameronandDavidClegg

ashisLibDemdeputy.GordonBrown,theLabour

leader, resigned and was replaced by Ed Miliband

after he beat his brother, David, in a leadership

battle.

There was an important announcement with

the news that Prince William was to marry long-

term girlfriend Kate Middleton in 2011. Other

historic British news was that Birmingham-based

confectionery giant Cadbury was takenover by

AmericanrivalKraftFoodsinan£11.5billiondeal.

In international news the publication of

thousands of United States Embassy cables by

WikiLeaks, the online publisher of anonymous,

covertandclassiedmaterial,continuedwhenit

leakedtothepublicover90,000internalreports

about the US-led involvement in the War in

Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. However the

focusofthestoryshiftedlatertoitsfounder,Julian

Assange,whowasghtingextraditiontoSweden

oversexassaultallegations.

Two major incidents happened in Chile – an

earthquake and a miraculous saving of miners

trapped underground.The 8.8-magnitude earth-

quake on 27 February triggereda tsunami over

thePacicandkilledatleast525.Itwasestimated

that the earthquake cost the Chilean economy

$15–30billion.On5AugustChilewasagainon

the international front pages when a cave-in at

the troubled 121-year-old San José copper-gold

mine left 33 men trapped 2,300ft underground.

After69days,andaninternationaleffortinvolving

technology from NASA, all 33 were saved.

The rescue offered some respite to a people

recoveringfromtheearthquakedisaster.

In other news on 12 January a devastating

earthquake struck Haiti, claiming well over

100,000livesand leavingmorethanonemillion

people homeless; on 3AprilApple launched its

rstiPad;andon20Septemberthe‘FlashCrash’

– a trillion-dollar stock market crash – occurred

over36minutes,initiatedbyaseriesofautomated

tradingprogramsinafeedbackloop.

In sport England’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA

WorldCupfailedhavingattractedonlytwovotes;

FIFAawardedthetournament to Qatar instead

but allegations of corruption arose; the 2010

WinterOlympicswereheldinVancouver,Canada,

and the FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa,

and won by Spain, with the runner-up being

the Netherlands. England was knocked out by

Germanyintheopeninground.

Famous people that died included Tony Curtis,

actor; Alexander McQueen, fashion designer;

MichaelFoot,politician;JuanAntonioSamaranch,

President International Olympic Committee;

Dennis Hopper, actor; and Leslie Nielsen, actor

andcomedian.

2010

Passengertotal2,793,813.

Passenger decrease 0.3% on the previous year.

Number of ights 67,917, down 10%.

A major terminal expansion was underway, taking

awaytheatriumstylecheck-inareabyroongit

overwitharstoor.Thisallowedanincreasein

the size of the security area and ultimately create

thelargeairsideloungeandretailconcourse.

February: Not an airline arrival this time but

sandwich specialist Pret A Manger opened up a

retailunit.OddlynamedairlineFlyBaboocame

infromGenevawithBombardierQ400aircraft

butfailedayearlater,beingtakenoverbyDarwin

Airlines.

Air Southwest also cancelled services to

PlymouthandNewquay.

April: The eruption of Icelandic volcano

Eyjafjallajökull caused the closure of most of

European regulated airspace 15–20 April, which

had knock-on effects for all European airline

operations.

May: London City Airport was forced to admit

that it was becoming a sensible holiday getaway

point from East London with the introduction of

CityyerightstoIbizaandMajorca.Whilethe

original concept of a business traveller airport

stillprevailed,leisuretrafcwasontheincrease.

July:Itwasinsomewaystheendofanerawhen

thelastAvroRJ100lefttheBritishAirwayseet.

The aircraft was originally produced as the

Hawker Siddeley (HS) 146 in 1981 and was to

become the best-selling British jet airliner of all

timewith387produced.(In2017CityJetisthe

mainLondonCityAirportoperatoroftheAvro

and says it will continue with the aircraft until at

least2020).SeeTheBritishAerospace146/Avro

RJ–inChapterTen.

October: Airport welcomed its 30 millionth

passenger.

November: A study shows that the airport

contributed £0.5 billion per year to the local

economy.

The atrium is lled in. Compare with page 78.

The Airport Timeline • 121120 • London City Airport

Aston Martin getaway for newly weds.

In Britain the wedding of Prince William

and Catherine Middleton took place at

Westminster Abbey on 29 April with an

estimated worldwide audience of two billion

people. A public holiday celebrated the day,

which in conjunction with the May Bank

Holiday,madeafour-dayweekend.

The event rather overshadowed the

referendum which took place the following

week. The Alternative Vote (AV) referendum

concerned whether or not to replace the present

‘rst-past-the-post’systemwiththeAVmethod.

Theproposalto introduceAVwasrejectedby

theelectorate.Onaturnoutof42.2%,68%voted

‘No’and32%voted‘Yes’.

The anti-austerity movement in the United

Kingdom saw major demonstrations throughout

2011 including the London march which drew

in a crowd of 500,000. Separate to these

demonstrations were riots that occurred in

Englandfrom6to11August.Theunrestbegan

whenapoliceofcershotandkilled29-year-old

Mark Duggan during an intelligence-led targeted

vehiclestop procedurewhichwasinvestigating

guncrimewithintheblackcommunity.Thousands

of people joined the riots across England and

the resulting chaos generated looting, arson, and

massdeploymentofpoliceandthedeathofve

people.Over200peoplewereinjured.

In international news on 4 JanuaryTunisian

Mohamed Bouazizi died after setting himself on

re a month earlier, sparking anti-government

protests in Tunisia and later other Arab nations

including Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.

These protests became known collectively as

the Arab Spring. In Tunisia simmering public

angerandsporadicviolenceintensiedfollowing

Bouazizi’s death, leading then-President Zine El

AbidineBenAlitostepdownon14January,after

23 years in power. In Egypt the Government

wasoverthrownandon11FebruaryPresident

Hosni Mubarak resigned facing charges of killing

unarmed activists. In Libya protests started

a civil war between opposition forces and

Muammar Gadda loyalists. The Government

wasoverthrownandPresidentGaddakilledby

transitionforces.

On11MarchanearthquakeoffthePaciccoast

ofTohoku was the most powerful earthquake

everrecordedtohavehitJapan.Nearly16,000

died, over 6,100 were injured and more than

228,000 people were either temporarily or

permanently relocated. Around 4.4 million

households in north-eastern Japan were left

withoutelectricityand1.5millionwithoutwater.

The World Bank’s estimated economic cost of

the earthquakewas$235billion, making it the

costliestnaturaldisasterinworldhistory.

On 2 May United States President Barack

Obama announced that Osama bin Laden, the

founderandleaderofthemilitantgroupal-Qaeda,

hadbeenkilledinaUS-ledmissioninPakistan.

In sport, the England cricket team won The

Ashesseries3–1inAustralia.

Famous people that died in 2011 included

MuammarGadda, Libyan President; Betty Ford,

First Lady of the United States; Lucian Freud,

painter; Amy Winehouse, singer songwriter;

ElizabethTaylor, actress; Sir JimmySavile, latterly

disgracedtelevisionpresenter;SteveJobs,CEOof

AppleandPixar.

2011

Passengertotal3,005,759.

Passenger increase 7.6% on the previous year.

Number of ights 68,100, up 0.3%.

WithpreparationsfortheLondonOlympicsin

full swing the airport broke the annual three-

millionpassengerbarrierforthersttime.When

one considers that the largest aircraft operating

from London City carried only 112 passengers

thiswasaneeffortputtingitaboveBelfastCity

and closing fast with Aberdeen, both capable of

accommodatingmuchlargerplanes.

Reg Ward, considered by many as the father of

LondonCityAirport,died6Januaryaged83.

January:TheairportwelcomedtheHighCourt

decisionfollowingaJudicialReviewwhichwould

allowforanupgradeof aircraftmovementsto

112,000peryear.

January:CityJetbegannewroutestoDeauville,

Florence and Pau; Skywork to Berne and Blue

IslandstoJersey.

May: CityJet started summer routes toToulon

andAvignon.

June:BAbeganservicestoFaroandMalaga.

August: The DLR extension from Canning Town

toStratfordandtheOlympicParkwasopened,

andwithita link to London Overground.This

added to the existing connection at Shadwell

with the northbound Overground services

to Whitechapel, Shoreditch and Dalston.

SouthboundthetrackgoestoSurreyQuayswith

connections to the South London network as far

asGatwick.

November:Theairportannouncedtheretirement

ofRichardGoodingasChiefExecutive,replaced

by Declan Collier, previously Chief Executive

of Dublin Airport Authority from 2005. Mr

Gooding was retained on the airport board as

Non-executiveDirector.

Luxury travel down to the Private Jet Centre, and also from

time to time to ExCeL London.

The Airport Timeline • 123122 • London City Airport

On a glorious Saturday night Great

Britain and Northern Ireland won

three Olympic Gold medals.

London, and in particular East London, was

showcased to the world in 2012 when it played

hosttotheOlympicandParalympicGames.Key

to the Games were former Olympic champion,

Lord Coe, the Chairman of the Organising

Committee, and Danny Boyle, who directed the

opening ceremony – which famously included the

‘Queen’jumpingout ofahelicopter with James

Bond.TheGamescost£9billionwithTransport

forLondon(TfL)makingnumerousimprovements

to the infrastructure including the expansion of

the London Overground’s East London Line,

upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the

North London Line, and the introduction of a new

‘Javelin’high-speedrailservice.

TfL also built a £60 million cable car across

the RiverThames, called the EmiratesAir Line,

to link Olympic Games venues.  It crosses the

Thames between Greenwich Peninsula and the

Royal Docks, carrying up to 2,500 passengers an

hour,cuttingjourneytimesbetweentheO2arena

and the ExCeL London exhibition centre and

providingacrossingevery30seconds.

It was Britain’s most successful Olympics

ever.Team GB won 65 medals at the Olympics,

including 12 golds on 5 August (the so-called

‘Super Saturday’) and 120 medals at the

Paralympics. During the Games, Michael Phelps

becamethemost decorated Olympicathlete of

alltime,winninghis22ndmedal.Women’sboxing

wasincluded,thustheGamesbecametherstat

whicheverysporthadfemalecompetitors.

It was also the year of Queen Elizabeth’s

DiamondJubilee.Commemorativeeventsincluded

theThamesDiamondJubileePageantontheRiver

Thames (a maritime parade of 1,000 boats from

around the Commonwealth)and a cavalcade to

celebratetheQueen’svisitstoandtoursofover

250countriesaswellasherpassionforhorses.

Other British news included the launch of a

policeinvestigationintoclaimsofsexualabuseby

JimmySavileafterITV’sprogrammedocumenting

Savile’shistory.Thetelevisionpresenterhaddied

theyearbefore.

Relations with Islamist regimes were a key

theme in the news – the European Union

adopted an embargo against Iran in protest of its

continuedefforttoenrichuranium.Inresponse

IransuspendedoilexportstoBritainandFrance.

Canada also cut diplomatic ties with Iran. On

11 September, the United States diplomatic

mission in Benghazi was attacked by a heavily

armed group of 125–150 Islamist gunmen killing

four including the US Ambassador and injuring ten

others.

Otherinternationalnewsincludedaceasere

between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group

Hamas after the week-long escalation in hostilities

in southern Israel and Gaza; the agreement of

Eurozonenanceministerstoitssecondbailout

oftheGreekgovernmentfor€130billionandthe

end of the Arab Spring protests which began the

previousyear.

Famous people that died included Neil

Armstrong, astronaut; Vidal Sassoon, hairstylist

and businessman; Larry Hagman, actor; Whitney

Houston, singer and actress; and Sir Patrick

Moore,astrologerandtelevisionpresenter.

2012

Passengertotal3,016,664.

Passenger increase 0.8% on the previous year.

Number of ights 70,781, up 3.5%.

With the Olympics as the background Queen

Elizabethvisitedtheairport,thistimeaccompanied

byPrincePhilip.HostedbynewAirportDirector

DeclanCollier,HerMajestymetwithlongserving

employees, members of the local community,

representatives of the owners, the Mayor of

Newham and children from the Richard House

Hospice,theairport’smaincharity.Sheunveileda

plaquecommemoratinghervisit.

Figures published show that the airport

supported 2,700 jobs, contributed £21 million in

Air Passenger Duty, with £197 million spent by

businesspeopleandtouristsusingtheairport.

Manned by ‘London Ambassadors’ the airport

hosted what was termed ‘an information pod’

throughouttheOlympicandParalympicGames

period.Thejoboftheteamwasnotjusttoanswer

questions about the Olympics but encourage

visitorstotakeinallthatLondonoffered.

March: CAA statistics showed London City

Airport to be the most punctual airport in the

UnitedKingdom.

Alitalia introduced the Embraer E190 to Milan

andCityJetlaunchedanewroutetoBrestwith

aFokker50.

April:BritishAirwaysbeganservicestoAberdeen

with a Embraer 170, and followed up in May with

ightstotheBalearics,AngersandQuimper,pure

holidayroutes.

June:BritishAirwaysintroducedanall-year-round

routetoPalmaandIbiza.

Above: The Queen tted in LCY during a visit to East London

during the Olympics, seen here with Declan Collier.

Left: Team GB swimming team arrives for the Olympics.

Extra accommodation was provided by cruise ships.

The Airport Timeline • 125

Lady Thatcher passed away.

Onthe8AprilLady(Margaret)Thatcher,Britain’s

rstfemalePrimeMinister,aged87,passedaway

following a stroke. She received a ceremonial

funeral, including full military honours, with a

church service at St Paul’s Cathedral. It was

attended by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, all

fourofthelivingUKPrimeMinisters,thePrime

Ministers of Canada and South Africa, Hillary

Clinton, other foreign dignitaries, and all United

KingdomGovernmentMinisters.

The following month on 22 May two men

carryingknivesandameatcleaverkilledaserving

off-duty British soldier, Drummer Lee Rigby,

in a street in Woolwich. His murderers were

subsequently shot and wounded before being

apprehendedbypolice.TheGovernmenttreated

the killing as a terrorist incident and the two men

weresentencedtolifeimprisonment.

OtherBritishnewsincludedthebirthofPrince

George of Cambridge – who is third in line to the

throne;theScottishGovernmentannouncedthat

the loss-making Prestwick Airport in Glasgow

wastobetakenintopublicownership.Samesex

marriagebecamelegalinEnglandandWales.

Thedeathof NelsonMandela,rstPresident

of South Africa, on 5 December was the biggest

newsstory.Theanti-apartheidicon,aged95,had

been receiving intensive medical care at home

for a lung infection after spending three months

inhospital.Hisfuneraltookplacetendayslater

followingmorethanaweekofnationalmourning.

Atleast80foreignheadsofstateandgovernment

travelled to South Africa to attend memorial

events including American President Barack

Obama, three former Presidents of the United

States,BritishPrimeMinisterDavidCameronand

PrinceCharles,whorepresentedtheQueen.

In international news Pope Benedict XVI

unexpectedly announced his resignation on

grounds of poor health, making him the rst

popetodosoinnearly600years.CardinalJorge

MarioBergogliofromArgentinawassubsequently

electedasPopeFrancis.

Following a military coup in Egypt, two anti-

coup camps were raided by the security forces

leaving2,600dead.The raidsweredescribed by

Human Rights Watch as ‘one of the world’s largest

killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent

history’. In Russia a meteor exploded over the

cityofChelyabinsk,injuringover1,400peopleand

damaging over 4,300 buildings. It was the most

powerful meteor to strike earth’s atmosphere

in over a century. The European Union nally

agreed to a €10 billion economic bailout for

Cyprus.Croatiabecamethe28thmemberofthe

EuropeanUnion.

The year 2013 will also be remembered for

the rst British men’s single win atWimbledon

sinceFredPerryin1936whenAndyMurraybeat

Novak Djokovic in straight sets atWimbledon.

Murray also won BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

The Rugby World Cup took place in England and

AustraliawonbeatingNewZealand34–2inthe

naltolifttheRugbyLeagueWorldCupforthe

tenthtime.

OtherswhodiedincludedSeamusHeaney,Irish

Nobel poet; Doris Lessing, British Nobel writer;

MichaelWinner,lmdirectorandrestaurantcritic;

RonnieBiggs,Britishcriminal.

2013

Passengertotal3,390,264.

Passenger increase 12.4% on the previous year.

Number of ights 73,713, up 4.14%.

The new shop outlets and refreshment concerns

ontherstoorwerecompleted.

BritishAirways celebrated its tenth anniversary

at London City Airport with Willie Walsh, the

formerChiefExecutiveofBritishAirways,andby

then heading up BA owner International Airlines

Group (IAG), attending a celebration party held at

theDocklandsMuseumintheWestIndiaDocks.

Which? magazine conrmed that London City

Airport was the easiest London airport to reach

by train.The DLR scored 81% in a customer

survey with the Heathrow Express lagging

behind, attaining a score of 70% and Gatwick

Expresstallyingjust60%.

January: CityJet launched a new route to

Nuremburg.

April: CityJetlaunched newroutestoDresden

and Paderborn and Alitalia launched a new route

toRome.

July: British Airways launched a new route to

Granada.

July: City Airport Development Programme

(CADP) planning application submitted to

NewhamCouncil.

British Airways Cityyer launched service to Düsseldorf.

The Airport Timeline • 127

The rst Invictus Games was held in

London with Prince Harry very much

the centre piece.

ItwasaquietyearintermsofBritishnews.The

Scottish referendum took place in September

with55.3%ofthepopulationvotingtostayaspart

oftheUnitedKingdom(withavoterturnoutof

84.5%).FollowingthereferendumNicolaSturgeon

succeeded Alex Hammond as the leader of the

SNP.ItwasalsotheyearthatAndyCoulson,the

former managing editor of News of the World, along

with some of his other colleagues, were jailed as

part of the phone hacking scandal; and entertainer

Rolf Harris was found guilty of 12 counts of

indecentassaultbetween1968and1986.

The Ukrainian revolution took place early in

theyear,whenaseriesofviolentprotestsinthe

capital,Kiev,culminatedintheoustingofUkrainian

President,ViktorYanukovych.Astheunrestspread

Russian troops invaded the Crimea and a new

pro-RussianPrime Minister was installed. Russia

was then suspended from G8 and international

sanctionswereintroduced.

There were two disturbing air disasters in

2014 – both on Malaysian Airlines. In March

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 airliner en route

toBeijingfromKualaLumpur,disappearedover

theGulfofThailandwith239peopleonboard.

Thecauseofitsdisappearanceisstillunknown.

InJulyFlightMH17,ascheduledpassengeright

from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot

down while ying over eastern Ukraine, killing

all 283 passengers and 15 crewon board.The

investigationintothecrash concluded thatthe

airliner was downed by a Buk surface-to-air

missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-

controlledterritoryinUkraine.

In the Middle East three Israeli teenagers

were kidnapped and in response Israel launched

Operation Protective Edge against the Hamas-

controlledGazaStrip.Insevenweeksofghting

2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis were killed. In

Syria almost 200,000 people lost their lives in

the escalating conict between forces loyal to

PresidentBasharal-Assad.

TheEbolaviruswhichbrokeoutthisyearin

WestAfricawasrstreportedandrapidlybecame

the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its

discoveryin1976.Morethan6,500peoplewere

reportedtohavediedfromthedisease.

It was a busy year for sport with the Winter

Olympics,theWorldCup,theCommonwealth

Games, and a new competition the Invictus

Games.TheWinterOlympicGamestookplace

in Sochi, Russia, with Team GB winning one

gold, one silverandtwobronze–their most

successful Winter Games since Innsbruck in

1984.IntheWorldCupinBrazil,Englandwere

eliminatedintherstroundandGermanywent

ontowintheCup.TheCommonwealthGames

took place in Glasgow and England topped the

medalstablewinning58golds.TherstInvictus

Games were held in London at the Queen

Elizabeth Olympic Park. The Games are an

internationalParalympicstylemulti-sportevent,

created by Prince Harry, for injured armed

services personnel.The Games were deemed

tobeagreatsuccess.

South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius

wassentencedto veyearsin jailforkillinghis

girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Ms Steenkamp was

in Pistorius’ bathroom when she was shot – he

claimedthathethoughtshewasanintruder.

Famous people who died included Tony Benn,

politician; Ariel Sharon, Israeli Prime Minister;

Shirley Temple, actress; Bob Hoskins, actor; Rik

Mayall, comedian; Robin Williams, comedian

and actor, Lauren Bacall, actress; Lord (Richard)

Attenborough, actor and lm director and Joan

Rivers,comedian.

2014

Passengertotal3,647,824.

Passenger increase up 12.4% on the previous year.

Number of ights 73,713, up 4.14%.

London City Airport was listed as a top global

airport with regard to the visual approach

alongside Nice Côte d’Azur, Rio and Gibraltar,

in a travel poll conducted by PrivateFly, the

executiveaviationspecialist.

The airport was named ‘Airport of the Year’ in

its category at the 2014 Air Transport News

Awards. London City picked up the accolade

for the best airport with under ten million

passengers per yearata ceremony in Istanbul.

London City Airport also won the ‘World’s

Best Airport’ award in the category for airports

servingundervemillionpassengersatthe2014

World Airport Awards at the Passenger Terminal

ExpoinBarcelona.

Making a return to the airport was Flybe which

signed a ve-year agreement and launched

domestic and international operations from 27

October to Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter

and Inverness, using 78-seat BombardierQ400

turbopropsina2+2seatlayout.

Air France sold CityJet/VLM to IntroAviation

of Germany who themselves disposed of the

Dutch part of the package to its management.

(VLMwentintoreceivershipin2016butbymid-

2017 the assets and name had been resurrected

bySHSAviation,aSlovakianoperatorbackedby

Dutchinterests.)

Aurigny launched a London City to Guernsey

service,whichwas to last until the end ofthe

summerseason2017.

The airport introduced an aviation industry

trainingandrecruitmentprogrammedeveloped

in conjunction with Newham Council’s

employmentserviceWorkplace.A groupof 12

recruits were chosen for the six-month Ramp

Academy scheme, which offered employment

opportunitiesinNewham.

London Airport led the way in installing a self-service security

arrangement, since copied by many airports.

The Airport Timeline • 129128 • London City Airport

Jeremy Corbyn, who had never held a

senior Labour post before, becomes

leader of the Labour Party.

ThiswaselectionyearinBritainandatelevision

debate between the three Party leaders took

place for the rst time. The Conservative

Party wonanoutrightmajoritysecuringDavid

Cameron’s second term in ofce; the SNP

gained almost total power in Scotland (56 out

of 59 seats), the Labour Party lost 26 seats and

the Liberal Democrats were almost wiped out

withjusteightoftheirprevious57remaining.Ed

Miliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage, the three

respectiveleadersofLabour,LiberalDemocrats

and UKIP, all announced their resignations in

thewakeoftheirelection defeats. Ed Miliband

wasswapped controversiallywith the left-wing

politician Jeremy Corbyn, who had never held

a senior Labour post before; Nick Clegg was

replaced with Tim Farron and Nigel Farage

subsequentlybecametheactingleaderofUKIP

untilNovember2016.

In other news the second child of the Duke

and Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte

Elizabeth Diana, was born on 2 May; Queen

Elizabeth II became Britain’s longest-reigning

monarchon9Septemberat17:30–surpassing

hergreat-grandmotherQueenVictoria.Jeremy

Clarkson, the Top Gear presenter, was red

by the BBC following an incident when the

presenter verbally and physically abused the

programme’s producer Oisin Tymon; England

became the last United Kingdom country to

introduce a 5p charge for plastic carrier bags

at stores and supermarkets; and the Eurotunnel

migrant crisis worsened as it was reported that

2,000 illegal migrants tried to enter the Channel

Tunnel terminal at Calais in an attempt to reach

theUnitedKingdominonenight.

In international news, on 7 January in Paris

two gunmen belonging to al-Qaeda’s Yemen

branch, shot and killed 12 people and injured 11

othersattheofcesofFrenchsatiricalmagazine

Charlie Hebdo.Threeotherterroristattacksalso

tookplaceintheÎle-de-Franceregionoverthe

next two days, including at a kosher supermarket,

killingafurthervepeopleandinjuring11.The

attacks further prompted an anti-terrorism

demonstrationinParisattendedbyoveramillion

people and more than 40 world leaders.The

phrase‘JesuisCharlie’becameacommonslogan

ofsupportattheralliesandinsocialmedia.

In June a mass shooting occurred at a

touristresortnearSousseinTunisia.Agunman,

Seifeddine Rezgui, attacked a hotel killing 38

people, 30 of whom were British.TheTunisian

Governmentlateracknowledgedfaultforaslow

policeresponsetotheattack.

InbusinessnewsautomakerVolkswagenwas

foundtohavebeeninvolvedinworldwiderigging

of diesel emissions tests, affecting an estimated

11 million vehicles globally. Volkswagen’s

stock price fell in value by a third in the days

immediately after the news and the cars affected

wererecalledtoberetted.

In sport FIFA President Sepp Blatter

announced his intention to resign amidst an

FBI-ledcorruptioninvestigation,surrounding14

people within the organisation. Great Britain’s

Chris Froome won the 2015 Tour de France –

the third win in four years by a British rider –

and tennis player Andy Murray helped lead Great

BritaintotheDavisCuptitleforthersttime

in79years.

Famous people that died included Lord (Leon)

Britton and Charles Kennedy, politicians; Sir Martin

Gilbert, historian; Cilla Black, singer and presenter;

Oliver Sacks, neurologist; Sir Nicholas Winton,

humanitarian;KingAbdullahofSaudiArabia,Jackie

Collins,authorandNatalieCole,singer.

2015

Passengertotal4,319,521.

Passenger increase 4.5% on the previous year.

Number of ights 84,753, up 11%.

TheEmbraerPhenom300beganightoperations

from the Executive Jet Centre from February

with NetJets Europe. It can carry up to seven

occupantsandhasayingrangeof1,971nautical

miles.Itisthemostsuccessfulinthecategoryof

‘lightbusinessjets’.

Work began to expand the Western Pier, which

houses70%ofthedeparturegates.Thechange

was as dramatic as the roong over of the

check-inareaadecadeearlier.Thenishedpier

created a bright, open-plan space with modern

seating, workspaces, quiet areas and charging

points.Waiting for an aircraft one could sit by

awindowandwatchtheviewwithoneeyeon

the departure board.The boarding gate would

only be steps away.The area was designed to

take pressure off the existing waiting zone with

600 additional seats, plus space for new retail and

foodandbeverageunits.

JunesawtheonemillionthLuxairpassengerpass

through, a milestone for the airline that has been

withLondonCityAirportsince2003.Tenyears

after their launch they increased their number of

ightstoLuxembourgCity(thenation’scapital)

toveaday.In2014thatwentuptosixandthen

inApril2015itreachedsevenaday.

NetJets Europe Phenom 300 makes its rst arrival at LCY.

The Airport Timeline • 131

(Sir) Terry Wogan died suddenly, the

doyen of TV presenters.

Britain was gripped by Brexit in 2016 – the

British referendum to decide whether Britain

shouldstayintheEuropeanUnion.However

just before the election, on 16 June, Labour

MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death

by Thomas Mair, a white supremacist, as she

prepared to hold a meeting with constituents

inBirstall,WestYorkshire.Themurderbrought

sobrietytotheBrexitcampaigns.

On23JunepeopleinBritainvotedtoleave

theEuropeanUnionbyasmallmargin–52.9%

to48.1%onanationalturnoutof72%.London’s

stockmarketplungedmorethan8%inthewake

of the result, with the pound falling to its lowest

levelagainstthedollarsince1985.PrimeMinister

DavidCameronwhohadcampaignedtoremain,

immediately resigned following the result and

wassucceeded byTheresaMayon13 July.The

Labour Party faced a leadership challenge after

theresultbutJeremyCorbyn,itshardleftleader,

wonandremainedaspartyleader.

OtherBritishnewsincludedthegovernment

approvalforathirdrunwayatHeathrowAirport

with Zac Goldsmith MP for Richmond Park

resigning in protest and Sir Philip Green’s British

Home Stores (BHS) went into administration –

making11,000peopleredundantandleavinga

gapingholeof£571millioninpensionliabilities.

In the United States, as with Brexit, the

electorate voted differently to pollsters

expectations. After a bitter presidential

election campaign, Republican Donald Trump, a

businessmanandformerrealitytelevisionstar,

wontheAmerican election againstaprevious

Secretary of State and First Lady Democrat

Hillary Clinton.Trump won the 304 electoral

votes whilst Clinton gained 227 but Clinton

wonthepopular votebynearlythreemillion.

Following the announcement of Donald Trump’s

election, large protests broke out across the

UnitedStateswithsomecontinuingforseveral

days.

In other international news, on 22 March

three coordinated bombings in Brussels,

Belgiumkilledatleast32andinjuredatleast

250.TheIslamicStateofIraqandtheLevant

claimed responsibility for the attacks – two

of the bombs were at Brussels Airport in

Zaventem,andoneatMaalbeekmetrostation

in central Brussels.Another terrorist attack

also took place on 19 December when a truck

was driven into the Christmas market next

to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at

Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, which left 12 people

deadand56othersinjured.

Summer was a season of British sporting

triumphs. Andy Murray won Wimbledon,

underdogs Leicester City won the premiership,

andTeamGBdeliveredtheirbestmedaltallyin

yearsattheRio2016OlympicGames.

Manycelebrityiconspassedaway in 2016.

These included David Bowie, musician, Sir

‘Terry’ Wogan, broadcaster; Sir George Martin,

‘thefthBeatle’;Prince,singer;LeonardCohen,

singer and poet; George Michael, singer and

Muhammad Ali, boxer. Political gures who

died included Nancy Reagan, First Lady of the

United States and actress, Elie Wiesel, author;

Shimon Peres, President and Prime Minister

of Israel, Fidel Castro, Prime Minister of Cuba;

aswellasJoCox,therstsittingMemberof

Parliamenttobemurdered.

2016

Passengertotal4,538,735.

Passenger increase 5% on the previous year.

Number of ights 85,169, a factor increase as the aircraft

load factor improved.

Thiswastheyeartheairport‘cameofage’and30

years since the Prince of Wales laid the foundation

stonefortheterminal.On11July,18,641travellers

passedthroughtheairport,arecordnumbertodate.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, a

former Transport Secretary, was at the airport in

Julytoformallyconrmapprovalforanew£350

millionexpansionprogramme.Earlier,inFebruary,

the sale of the airport was announced by Global

InfrastructurePartners(75%)andOaktreeCapital

Management (25%) to a consortium comprising

Alberta Investment Management Corporation,

OMERS, the OntarioTeachers’ Pension Plan and

WrenHouseforareported£2.3billion.

Another piece of news was the result of The

Independent’sannualsurveyoftransportlinkstothe

United Kingdom’s leading airports, placing London

Cityrst!Thesurveyratesairportsontheoff-peak

frequency,journeytimeandcostofthemainlinkto

thecitytheyserve.

Founder Pat Byrne and private equity backers

repurchasedIrishregionalairlineCityJetfromGerman

ownerIntroAviationforanundisclosedsum.

The Danish airline SUN-AIR, a franchise partner of

British Airways for the last 20 years, commenced a

tentimesweeklyBremenserviceon31October

with a 32-seat Dornier 328 regional aircraft

offering a meal and snacks, ice cream dessert and

dailynewspapers.

British Airways itself strengthened its German

networkwith ights toBerlinandHamburg,and

addeda further Embraer E190 bringing the eet

strengthupto20aircraft.AservicetoAlicantewas

also introduced, the seventh to Spain taking the

2016totalupto33destinations.

The City Airport Development Programme

(CADP) was announced which included plans for

seven new aircraft stands, a parallel taxiway and

passengerterminalextension,enabling6.5million

passengerstousetheairportby2025.

Flybe reintroduced services to Cardiff initially as

‘rescueights’, due to the closure of the Severn

Tunnel.Thesecontinuedafterthetunnelreopened.

Now one of Newham’s largest employers, the airport

distributeda pledge toover30,000households in

the borough, promising increased hiring, broader

community and schools outreach and local charity

fundraising.AComRessurveyshowedthat77%of

East London business decision-makers supported

LondonCityAirport’sexpansionplans.

Declan Collier welcomes Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip

Hammond (centre) and the then Transport Minister Tariq

Ahmad (right).

Remodelled West Pier reopened giving a much brighter

welcome to the departure gates.

2017

Having been involved in the airport since its

inauguration by Queen Elizabeth in 1987, Roy

Grifns stepped down as Chairman, being

replaced by Sir Terry Morgan, Chairman of

Crossrail(ElizabethLine).

In March Bombardier paid a surprise visit

to London City Airport with the brand new

Bombardier CS100, carrying out a series of test

ights.Itnallydepartednon-stoptoNewYork,

arrivingjustoversevenhourslater.Isitaprelude

tofutureservices?

At the completion of the winter season Air

France, the longest continuous operator, ceased

their ights to Paris, which had been own in

partnershipwithCityJet.

Thewest wingoftheairportrevealedamuch

brighter access to the stands, also comprising

a new series of retail units including Brick Lane

Brews offering a selection of East London’s best

artisanproductstocustomers.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines returned to the

airport after an absence of almost eight years,

partneringCityJetonightstoAmsterdam.

Declan Collier resigned as London City Airport

ChiefExecutiveOfcerafterveyearsincharge

andoverseeinga50%riseinpassengernumbers.

Chapter Ten

The aircraft

Left: Making a return to London City was KLM with up to

eight Embraer services daily to Amsterdam.

Below: Non-stop to New York for the rst time in March.

Bombardier CS100.

• 133

The Aircraft • 135134 • London City Airport

David Dorman was British Aerospace Commercial

Aircraft Division (BAe) Director Public Relations and

Marketing 1985–92. Here he takes up the story of

Britain’s most successful jet airliner – the four-engined

BAe 146 and its successor – the Avro RJ. In total 394

were built of which around 220 were in service in

the middle of 2017. The RJX (rst ight May 2001)

was the nal development of the aircraft before BAE

Systems terminated the project in November 2001.

Britain’s nest airliner

Whilst it is true that London City Airport

could not have happened without the Dash 7,

it undoubtedly would not be where it is today

without the BAe/Avro RJ. Strange to say that

both owe their heritage to Sir Geoffrey de

Havilland, founder of the company that bore

hisname,andbasedatHateld,NorthLondon.

TheBAe146startedlifeatthatplant.TheDHC

Dash 7 was the last in a line of specialised short

take-off aircraft produced by the Canadian de

Havillandoffspring.

In August 1973, Hawker Siddeley Aviation

(which had acquired de Havilland), launched

a new 70-seat regional jet airliner project.

Following the DH numbering system this was the

HS146.Itwasdesignedtollthegapbetween

turboprop-powered airliners like the HS 748 and

the Fokker F 27 and small jet airliners such as the

BAC One-Eleven and Boeing 737.The chosen

congurationhadahighwingandaT-tailtogive

goodshort-eldperformance,whiletheaircraft

wastobepoweredbyfour6500lbthrustAvco

LycomingALF502Hturbofanengines.

The programme was initially launched with

backingfromtheUKGovernment,whichagreedto

contribute50%ofthedevelopmentcostsinreturn

forashareoftherevenuesfromeachaircraftsold.

InOctober1974,however,allworkontheproject

was halted as a result of the world economic

downturnresultingfromthe1973oilcrisis.

But low-key development proceeded and in

1978 British Aerospace (the newly nationalised

aerospace company formed from Hawker

Siddeley, British Aircraft Corporation and Scottish

Aviation)relaunchedtheprojectastheBAe146

–seenasakeyelementofitsplantorevitalisethe

UK civil aircraft manufacturing business. British

Aerospacemarketedtheaircraftasaquiet,low-

consumption turbofan aircraft, which would be

effective at replacingtheprevious generation of

turboprop-poweredfeederaircraft.

Therstofthreedevelopmentaircraftewin

1981andinitialightresultsshowedbetter-than-

predicted take-off and climb performance.The

BAe146receivedaCerticateofAirworthiness

on8February1983.Uponitslaunchintoservice

later that year with Dan-Air of the UK and Air

Wisconsin of the USA, it was hailed as being ‘the

world’squietestjetliner’.

And on to London City

But the behind the scenes story of how the BAe

146 overcame hurdles to become the rst jet

airliner to operate from London City and to

dominatethemarketthereforover20yearsis

worthtelling.

British Aerospace (now BAE Systems Regional

Aircraft) rst started quietly working on the

possibility of its BAe 146 being able to operate

from the planned new airport as early as 1985 –

onlytwoyearsaftertheaircrafthadrstentered

serviceandoneyearbeforeconstructionofthe

airportstartedin1986.

The BAe 146 with its high wing, four-engine

design, similar to the Dash 7, had sparkling

aireldperformance.UnliketheDash7which

was a dedicated STOL (short take-off and

landing) aircraft, the BAe 146 would not be

able to function realistically from the planned

declared runway length of 762m, but could

operate, for demonstration purposes, from the

fullrunwaylengthof1030m.

TheadvantagesoftheBAe146wereobvious.

It offered twice the speed, twice the range, a

much bigger payload, leading to much better

revenue and prot potential for operators

and a greatly increased range of destinations.

For the passenger it offered the benets of

the smoother jet experience. For the local

community, the ‘whisperjet’ – as it had become

known–wasagoodneighbourwithaverylow

noiseprole.

Moreover, it hadjuststarted inproduction

(unlike the Dash 7 which was out of production)

andwasbeginningtoattractsignicantorders,

notably from key airlines in the USA which

were using the aircraft to operate from very

noisesensitiveairportsinCalifornia.

In 1986–87 British Aerospace’s engineering

andsalesteamsatHateldworkedupthecase

forthe BAe146to operate froma developed

London CityAirport.The company recognised

that if a way could be found to operate the

quadjetfromsuchadifcultairportasLCYthen

this could lead to strong worldwide interest and

possiblefurthersales.

Bill Charnock was Managing Director LCY

1988–96.HesaysabouttheBAe146:

‘Whilst the aircraft itself was the key element

in making it possible at the time for the airport

to full its potential, and the involvement and

co-operationofBritishAerospaceateverylevel

with the airport management could not have

beenbetter,itisequallytruethattheairport’s

subsequentsuccesscouldnothavebeenachieved

without a number of other critically important

elementscomingintoplace.’

Another vital factor was the need for a

credible launch operator for the aircraft. Bill

Charnock describes how Moritz Suter, the

visionaryfounderandChiefExecutiveofSwiss

airlineCrossairvisitedtheairport,wentonhis

kneesandsaid:‘Iwanttooperatehere.’Crossair,

whichhadtakendeliveryofthreeBAe146sin

1990, subsequently pioneeredthe rst London

CityAirportjetservicesin1992.

BAefounditselfcloselyinvolvedindiscussions

with the London Docklands Development

Corporation(LDDC),andalsowithOlympia&

York,theCanadiandevelopersofCanaryWharf.

Bothwerehugelysupportiveoftheairportand

saw the potential for the proposed BAe 146

operations.

But much work had to be done before the

aircraft would be allowed to operate from

LondonCityAirport.

A demonstration of the aircraft, alongside

the Dash 7, took place on Saturday 24 July

1988 as the rst stage in the exercises of

public education and consultation prior to the

submission of a formal planning application to

developtheairportforusebytheBAe146.Two

BAe 146s were used – one in the colours of

Loganair, the Scottish airline – which was put

on static display to allow members of the public

British Aerospace

BAe 146 and Avro RJ

Air brakes in use on the BAe 146.

The Aircraft • 137136 • London City Airport

togetacloserview.Ofnotewasthefactthat

the BAe 146 whilst wider than the Dash 7 had

infactasmallerwingspan.

A second aircraft, in BAe house colours,

ballasted inside to represent full operational

weights, was used to fly a number of take-

offs, landings and fly-bys at 500 feet and 2,000

feet–manoeuvresreplicatedexactlybythe

Dash7.Comprehensivenoisemeasurements

were taken. The BAe 146 showed that it

could approach the short runway down a

5.5-degree slope and could climb out with

ampleclearanceoverexistingtowerbuildings

andcranes.

The LCY management team had leafleted

every household in the district explaining

what was going on and thousands of people

came to watch.A carnival atmosphere was

created with jazz bands, refreshments and

a children’s play area. There were some

protesters outside the main terminal building,

but when they realised that they had not

heardthe‘whisperjets’land,theywereinvited

insidetojointheparty.

The local reaction, media comment and

subsequentopinionpollsshowedoverwhelming

supportfortheairportdevelopment.

Behind the scenes work

However it was over a year before a new

planning application was lodged in September

1989 and the subsequent Public Inquiry took

place between early July and the end of 1990.

The application asked for the runway length to

be increased to 1199m (a Code 2 runway) to

accommodate semi-STOL aircraft like the BAe

146 (the only jet capable of operating at the

airport at the time) and more modern turboprops

suchastheFokker50,Dash8-100/300,ATR-42,

Saab340andDornier328.

In addition, much work went on behind the

scenes by airport management working closely

with local enterprises and BAe to ensure that the

plethora of tall buildings either built or planned

inthevicinityoftheairportwouldnotimpede

safeandeconomicaircraftoperations.

To the east of the airport the proposed East

London River Crossing (ELRC) bridge was a

potentialconcern.TothewestthemainCanary

Wharf Tower and secondary towers also posed

problems.

The rst priority was to reconcile the

Canary Wharf main tower and demonstrate

that it lay beneath two clearance surfaces – the

Aerodrome and Ground Aids (AGA) surface

and the ILS OAS (Instrument Landing System

Obstacle Assessment Surface). Penetration of

theILSOASbythetowerwouldmakethetower

an accountable obstacle which would raise

decision heights and bring about an unacceptably

high non-availability; failure to comply with the

AGAsurfacewouldpreventthegranting ofan

aerodromelicence.

The Canary Wharf tower had been granted

planningconsentforaheightof834feetandit

was thought that the BAe 146 would be able

to y a 5-degree glide slope. However, at the

plannedtowerheightboththeAGAandILSOAS

wereinterceptedbythebuilding.

This situation was resolved in three ways.

Firstly,ighttests showedthe BAe146 could

achieve a steeper 5.5-degree glide path;

secondlyOlympia&York,agreedtoreducethe

height of the main tower to 784 feet; and thirdly

the CAA agreed to some changes in glide path

angle and other technical changes resulting

in compatibility being achieved between the

tower and the proposed developed airport.

The calculation, negotiation and persuasion to

achievethatresolutiontookconsiderabletime

andeffort.

To the east of the airport, where most

approaches occur, the proposed ELRC design

with its cable stay structure and high towers

wouldhaverenderedtheairportdevelopment

impossible to achieve. A report submitted

to the inspector at the ELRC Public Inquiry

pointed out the implications for the airport

and offered a different design as a box girder

shallowarchbridge.

Eventually the Inspector, followed by the

SecretaryofState,agreedthatarevisedbridge

designwasrequiredanditwasthisreviseddesign

that was considered at the concurrent ELRC/

LondonCityAirportPublicInquiryin1990and

thereafterapproved.

The airport’s approach conditions had been

denedlargelyintermsofthefour-enginedBAe

146; take-off for the aircraft was not an issue

giventhat the engine-out case fora quadjet is

muchsuperiortothatofatwin.

In terms of noise, the strict regime around

the airport was easily complied with by the

‘whisperjet’ BAe 146 and the aircraft remains

compliant.

Consenttoextendtherunwaywasgivenin

September1991andthisledtoarelativelysmall

amountofconstructionwork.Theairportinits

revised form was licensed by the CAA before

Christmas1991.

Flying the BAe 146/Avro RJ into LCY

To enable the BAe 146 to operate the steep

5.5-degree approach British Aerospace had

to design a‘steep approach mod’ and revised

operationalproceduresfortheaircraft.Basically

this adds the steep approach appendix to the

Aircraft Flight Manual and desensitises some

Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS)

modes so the crew does not get a call-out at

thehigherratesofdescent.Alsotoachievethe

5.5-degreeapproachanabusecaseof7.5degrees

hadtobedemonstrated.

ToachievecerticationBAetestpilotshadto

ythesteepapproachanddemonstrateanactual

engine failure at decision height to land and

similartogoaround.Oncethosetestschedules

hadbeencompletedtheCivilAviationAuthority

(CAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency

(EASA) checked the data and they also did some

approaches at London City Airport to complete

thecertication.

Speedcontrolforanyaircraftyingintothe

airportisvital.Becausetheapproachissteeper

than usual it is difcult to lose speed and so

aircraft need to be close to approach speed as

theyreachtheglidepath.With the quadjet it

gets to the glideslope with 33-degree of ap

andclosetoVREF(referencelandingapproach

speed)+5knots.

On glideslope interception, the airbrake is

deployed (on a normal approach this does not

happenuntilaround100feetabovetherunway).

Having got to the threshold, the steep

approachrequiresagreaterattitudechangeto

achieve the landing attitude, and this greater

arecanleadtothepossibilityofatailstrike

if allowed to go too far.To avoid this, BAe

recommended that the non-handling pilot

gives a call if the pitch attitude exceeds a

predeterminedvalue(which,ofcourse,differs

for all three aircraft lengths). All BAe146/

AvroRJshavereducedallowabletailwindlimits

forLCY.

BAe 146/AvroRJ training for LCY normally

consistsofonesimulatorsessioncoveringnormal

and emergency operations (such as engine failure

ontake-off,brakefailureonlanding).Thiswould

befollowedupbyseveralvisitswithatraining

captain.LCYiscaptainonlylanding–theight

ofcersdotake-offsandgo-arounds.Therewill

be some recurrent simulator checking and some

annualgroundschoolrefreshers.

Avro twins – the BAe quad jet proved popular for both British

Airways and Air France.

The Aircraft • 139138 • London City Airport

But newer regional jets were on the horizon

and when BA Cityyer announced it was to

re-equip its Avro RJ100 eet with Embraer

E-170/195 jets, which it started doing in 2009,

then inevitably the dominance of the quadjet

begantofade.LufthansaCityline–after18years

ofAvroRJ85operations–alsomovedoutofthe

type and SWISS announced they were going to

re-equipwith the BombardierCSeries. It was

onlyin2011thatscheduledmovementsfromthe

EmbraerE-JetssurpassedthatoftheBAe146/

AvroRJ–atrendthathascontinued.

In early 2017 – 25 years after the Crossair

BAe146-200hadstartedtherstjetoperations

fromLCY–theBAe146/AvroRJstillaccounted

forbetween20–30%ofallscheduledightsfrom

theairport.SWISSceasedoperations with the

RJ100 from LCY in March 2017, replacing the

aircraftwithleasedE-JetsfromHelveticuntilthe

CSeriesreceiveditsLCYcerticationwhichit

wasundergoingthatsamemonth.

Ireland’s CityJet still operated the RJ85

fromLCY in Spring 2017 on ights to Dublin,

Amsterdam, Florence and Rotterdam, plus

seasonalightstoAvignonandToulon.CityJet’s

replacement for the RJ85 eet is the Sukhoi

SSJ-100 Superjet but CityJet is not pushing

certicationandsaythattheAvroswillbeying

betweenLondonandDublinuntilatleast2020.

Alltold,nearly20airlineshaveowntheBAe

146/Avro RJ on scheduled services at differing

timesduringthe25yearsthatthequadjetreigned

supremeatLCY.InadditiontheBAe146softhe

RoyalAirForce’sNo32(TheRoyal)Squadron

haveoperatedthereaswellasquadjetsofad-hoc

ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance)

operatorsyingonbehalfofsomeoftheregular

airlines.

ThereisnodoubtthattheBAe146/AvroRJ

waspivotalintransformingthefortunesofthe

airport,butevenasitpartscompanywithLCY,

the aircraft are nding new homes and roles

overseas.

Some of the SWISS RJ100s that once

operated to LCY are now to be found ying

scheduled services in southern Chile and high

intotheAndestoserveminingstations.Others

arestartingnewservicesfromtheBritishVirgin

IslandsintheCaribbean.

Some BA Cityyer RJ100s are to be found

operating in the fearsome heat of Western

Australia, and by contrast in the ice wastes off

remotenorthernCanada.

ManyoftheLufthansaCitylineRJ85sarenow

yinginthedemandingaerialreghtingrolein

North America, along with two of the original

CityJetBAe146-200sthatwerebuiltinthelate

1980s – a great testimony to the strength and

durability of the aircraft.And closer to home,

thetwoAirJetBAe146-200QCsthatewhigh-

classservicesfromLCYtoParisforawhileare

now to be found at RAF Northolt, operating as

combined passenger and freight aircraft for the

military.

These aircraft along with the ATP, BAe

748 and Jetstream turboprop– a total of 500

aircraft – are supported 24/7 by BAE Systems

RegionalAircraft at Prestwick, Scotland. Some

of the services offered are spares, engineering

expertise, continued airworthiness, ight

operations support, modication/upgrades,

repairsandtechnicalpublications.

Jet services start

In February 1992 the BAe 146 (Series 100 and

200) were cleared to operate from LCY and

after the newly extended runway at the airport

wasopenedinMarch,Crossairlaunchedtherst

BAe146ightstoandfromZurich.Certication

fortheSeries300followedinNovember1994

and at that time three airlines were operating the

BAe 146 into LCY – Business Air with the Series

200 (operating the Frankfurt route on behalf of

Lufthansa),VirginAtlantic(operatedbyCityJet)

andCrossair.

Although British Aerospace had long been

courtingEuropeanairlinestosellthevirtuesof

thequadjettogetherwithoperationsfromLCY

someoftheearlycompaniesthatacquiredthe

jetdidnothavebig pockets,orthetrafcwas

slowto materialise and some services did not

lastlong.Gradually,however,somereallycredible

operators selected the aircraft and the use of the

BAe146–andbynowtheAvroRJwhichwas

alsoclearedforoperation–begantoaccelerate.

A measure of the success enjoyed is that

by September 1998 eight out of 10 airlines

operatingatLCYwereusingBAe146/AvroRJs

–includingmanyoperatingforagcarriers,such

asAir France (CityJet),Alitalia (Azzurair), KLM

(KLM uk), Lufthansa Cityline, Sabena (DAT), and

Swissair(Crossair).InadditionCityJetandMalmö

Aviationoperatedintheirownright.Nearly70%

ofallscheduledmovementsatLCYwereown

bytheBAejets.

During the early 2000s, more and more

airlines started ying with the British jet,

although some of the previous operators fell

bythewaysideovertime.Probablythebusiest

timeforquadjetoperationswasinthe2007–08

period.InApril2007thereweresevenairlines

yingtheaircraftfromLCYandthelistofcities

servedwasarollcallofEuropeancapitalsand

other prominent centres. Airlines ying the

type included Air One of Italy (operated by

Transwede),AirFrance/CityJet,BritishAirways

Cityyer, SAS, Lufthansa Cityline, SWISS and,

fora shortperiod,VLMofBelgium(operated

byFlightlineoftheUK).

The following year, according to a study of

the OfcialAirline Guide carried out by BAe,

theBAe146/AvroRJaccountedfor96%ofall

LCY scheduled jet trafc. In terms of overall

scheduled trafc including turboprops, the jet

was responsible for 54% of all scheduled daily

departuresand70%ofallweeklyseats.Infact,

2008 was the peak year for BAe 146/Avro RJ

operationsatLCY.

Brazil can rightly say it was one of the pioneer

nations when it comes to aviation. Alberto

Santos-Dumont (1873–1932), usually referred

to as simply Santos-Dumont, was a Brazilian

innovator/inventor, one of the very few

people to have contributed signicantly to the

developmentofbothlighter-than-airandheavier-

than-airaircraft.

The son of a wealthy farmer, engineer and

inventorHenriqueDumont,knownforatimeas

the ‘Coffee King of Brazil’, Santos-Dumont was

educatedinParis.Inhisearlycareerhedesigned,

built and ew hot air balloons and dirigibles,

culminating in winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe

prizeon19October1901foraightthatcircled

theEiffelTower.Thismadehimworldfamous.He

then turned to heavier-than-air machines, and

on23October1906hismodel14-bismadethe

rstpoweredheavier-than-airightinEuropeto

becertiedbytheAéro-ClubdeFranceandthe

Brazil –

Aviation and Embraer

An international lineup of BAe 146 and Avro RJ.

The Aircraft • 141

The Bandeirante was succeeded by the EMB

121 Xingu in 1977, with the engines and wings

of the Bandeirante and an all new pressurised

cabin.Withroomforeightpassengersmaximum

it could not compete with the high volume

production of the then current US aircraft with

similarcapacityandperformance.Only106were

built.

Next up was a 30-seat regional fully

pressurised aircraft called the EMB 120 Brasilia

selling354aroundtheworld,theaircraftnding

muchfavourwiththe military.Itwas built ina

15-yearperiodfrom1985onwards.

Amentionmustbegivenatthispointtothe

EMB312turboproptwo-seatbasicmilitarytrainer.

Now due for retirement, and assembled by Shorts

at Belfast, theTucano has been in RAF service

since1989.A total of664unitswereproduced

(504 by Embraer and 160 by Short Brothers),

yingin16airforcesovervecontinents.

The ERJ 135/145, launched at the ParisAir

Show1989,wasanevolutionoftheBrasilia,again

with 2+1 seating, but a pure jet with engines

at the rear. It was to be the rst Embraer to

operate scheduled services into London City

Airport. Including Chinese assembled aircraft

and the Legacy corporate version 1,225 have

beencompleted.

Embraer into the 21st century

In 2000, Embraer was listed on the New

York Stock Exchange with the Government

shareholdingminimal.

On29October2001theprototypeEmbraer

E-Jet was rolled out at São José dos Campos

amongstmuchpompandceremony.Onhandto

share the limelight with the charismatic Embraer

Chairman Maurício Botelho was Moritz Suter,

then Chief Executive of London City Airport

operatorCrossair.

Embraerhad arrivedwiththebig boyswith

anaircraftthathadnodirectrival.Littlewerewe

toknowthenthattheE-Jetwouldbecomeina

few short years numerically the largest aircraft at

London City Airport, not under a Crossair (later

to become part of SWISS) banner, but British

Airways.

At the time of writing the combined order

book for the original series and the new

improvedE-JetE2familystandsataround1,750

aircraft. It is it the world’s largest selling small

regionaljet.

Twovariantsofthe aircraftareapprovedat

London City Airport, the E170 and the larger

E190.OnlyBritishAirwaysiesthesmallerplane

offering 76 seats at a seat pitch of 30 inches.

Alitalia and KLM also operate the E190 from

theairport.Alloffer98–100seatsontheE190

ina2+2congurationwithslightlymorespace

betweentheseatsthanontheE170.TheBritish

AirwayssummerservicetotheGreekislandof

Santorini is by far the longest non-stop route,

3hoursand30minutesand1,600miles.

The y-by-wire aircraftrequired no physical

modication to perform the approach. The

cockpit has a simple switch which commands

thenumberfourandveouterwingspoilersto

offset slightly while the control column is in a

neutral position, creating the drag required to

increasetherateof descent. Passengershardly

notice the increased descent angle, which is

5.5degreesinordertomeetnoiserestrictions,

comparedto3degreesnormally.

Withaveryhealthyorderbookfortheoriginal

aircraftEmbraerannouncedinNovember2011

itwouldbedevelopingrevampedversionsofthe

E-Jetfamily,latertobecalledtheE2.By2020when

both the original aircraft and its successor will

FédérationAéronautiqueInternationale.Itwasa

projectwemightcalltoday‘design–build–y’.

In 1904, after Santos-Dumont complained to

his friend Louis Cartier about the difculty of

checkinghispocketwatchduringight,Cartier

createdhisrstmen’swristwatch,thusallowing

Santos-Dumonttocheckhisightperformance

whilekeepingbothhandsonthecontrols.

Today, Cartier still markets a line of Santos-

Dumontwatchesandsunglasses.

On 12 November 1906 he set the rst

world record recognized by the Fédération

Aéronautique Internationale, by ying 220m

(722ft)in21.5secondsinhisownaircraft.Just

asacomparisonUsainBoltwouldhavekeptup

withhim,theworldrecordfor200mbeing19.19

seconds.

By1910itwasallover.Santos-Dumontgave

up aviation and with increasing mental health

problemshe faded away, eventually committing

suicide in Brazil. He was given a state funeral

and is today considered the father of Brazilian

aviation.You will not go far in Brazil without

seeingsomethingnamedafterSantos-Dumont.

Jumpforwardto1969.

In the immediate post World War II period

Brazil relied for the most part on surplus military

aircraft and aeroplanes developed by the major

aircraft manufacturers. At General Aviation level

Beech,CessnaandPiperreignedsupreme.Withvast

distances between the main conurbations it was a

countrycryingoutforadomesticaviationindustry.

Seeking to develop a domestic aircraft

industry,theBrazilianGovernmentmadeseveral

investmentsduringthe1940sand1950swithout

much success. In 1969 Empresa Brasileira de

Aeronáutica(Embraer)wascreatedasaState-

ownedcorporation. Homewasto beSãoJosé

dos Campos, already the site of The Instituto

Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) a public

institution for higher education and advanced

research with emphasis in aerospace science

andtechnology. ITAisrated asoneofthetop

and most prestigious engineering schools in

Brazil. In a true multi-national country Brazil

was able to recruit specialists from all over

theworld,includingJapan.SãoJoséisabout50

miles,oraonehourdrivenorthfromSãoPaulo

InternationalAirport.

UnderthedirectionofBrazil’srstPresident,

the dynamic Ozires Silva, an engineer and

government appointee, the company initially

producedtheEMB110Bandeiranteunveilingit

totheworldattheParisAirShowin1971.

Straight away it was a big success, a simple

unpressurised 21-seat turboprop commuter

aircraft competing with the more basic de

Havilland Twin Otter, and the Dornier 228.

When production ceased in 1990 some 500 had

beenbuilt.

Embraer Legacy 500 at the LCY Private Jet Centre.

In 1983 Embraer organised the rst ever British press group to

Brazil. The author can be seen in the centre.

The Aircraft • 143142 • London City Airport

beyingoutofLondonCityAirportpassengers

willnevernoticethattheaircrafthavedifferent

engines, the original E-Jet powered by General

ElectricCF34andthenewmachinewithapair

of Pratt & Whitney 1000G geared turbofans.

EmbraersaystheE2willoffer16–24%lowerfuel

burnandmaintenancereducedby15–25%.

TheE190-E2tookitsrstighton23May2016

with the prototype one of the stars of Farnborough

2016. By mid-summer 2017 four pre-production

aircraft (three E190-E2 and one E190) have

accumulatedover700hoursoftestying.

The initial E190-E2 jet is on schedule to

be delivered in the rst half of 2018 and the

launch operator will be Widerøe, the largest

Norwegianregionalairline.Atpresenttheyare

not a London City Airport customer but its main

hub, OsloAirport, Gardermoen, is within easy

reachofLondonwiththenewaircraft.AtLCY

the E190-E2 is expected to offer around 100

seats, the same as the earlier model, but with

the 195, not an LCY aircraft, a 144-passenger

conguration will be the maximum, a 20-seat

increaseovertheearlieraircraft.

For British Airways, the new aircraft could

allow for a full complement of passengers to the

GreekislandsandalsopossiblyTheCanaries.

The y-by-wire system has been revamped

but a noticeable feature in the cabin are much

larger overhead bins, a 40% increase.The real

giveawayisthelongerwingspanfortheE190-E2

(33.7mversus28.72m).AtLondonCityAirport

and its rather tight apron space, only the new

easterlyextensionwillaccommodatetheaircraft.

ItisnearlyaswideastheAirbusA318(34.1m),

onlytheBombardierCS100isbroader(35.1m).

One very interestingfeature of the new E2

is the Panasonic inight entertainment and

connectivity (IFEC) system offering streaming

entertainment and wi- connectivity services.

Passengers can enjoy on-board movies, music,

news, and in-cabin services through seat back

screens or their own personal devices. The

system supports Windows, Mac OS, and iOS

devices, as well as browsers including Internet

Explorer,Safari,ChromeandFirefox.

The E2 has accrued 275 rm orders, in

addition to 415 options, purchase rights, and

letters-of-intent, totalling 690 commitments

from airline customers and leasing companies.

Currently,July2017,theE-Jetsareoperatingwith

about 70 customers in 50 countries, being the

global leader in the segment of aircraft with up

to130seats,withover50%marketshare.

The Dash 7 was developed by the Canadian

aerospacecompanydeHavillandCanada(DHC)

duringthe1970swhenitwasperceived(wrongly

as it turned out) that with the success of the

Dash 6 (Twin Otter) there was a market for

a 50-seat aircraft with STOL (short take-off

and landing) capabilities.  De Havilland Canada

was an offshoot (1928) of the British aircraft

manufacturer and was later to go on to produce

the indigenous, and very successful Chipmunk

(DHC1), plus assembling many designs by others

typied by the de Havilland Mosquito. Of the

4,005produced1,747werebuiltinCanada.

In1974deHavillandCanadawasnationalised

and later sold to Boeing, who themselves

disposed of what was an ailing company to its

currentCanadianowners,Bombardier.

The19-seatutilityTwinOtterwasproduced

from 1966 until 1988, with Brymon Airways the

rstUKoperator.Atonetime itoperatedten

of them. In 2006VikingAir ofVictoria, British

Columbia, purchased the type certicates

from Bombardier Aerospace for all the out-of-

productiondeHavillandCanadaaircraft(DHC1

throughDHC7) and resurrected the‘Twotter’.

As the very much updatedVikingTwin Otter

400 it is still produced in limited numbers, serial

number1,000nownotthatfaroff.Loganairin

Scotland took delivery of a pair of brand new

VikingTwinOttersin2015,over40yearssince

the arrival of the rst de Havilland Canada

machineintheUK.

FromtheTwin Otter (DHC6) it was on to

theDash7(DHC7).Thiswastosellonly113

units with the nal aircraft off the production

line bound for Eurocity Express and London City

Airport.Therearethoughttobearound40still

inservice.

But for the Dash 7 there probably would not

beaLondonCityAirport.

The four-engined aircraft was designed as a

regional airliner capable of operating from strips

asshortas640matUnstintheOuterHebrides,

BrymonandBritain’smostnortherlydestination.

Itwasmeanttoservesmallcitycentreairports

which London City came to typify, where noise

requirements were particularly strict, and

featured four slow-turning props to cut noise.

TheproblemfordeHavillandCanadawasthat

London City Airport is a rarity. City centre

airportshavenevercaughton,ShefeldCityin

the UK lasting some ve years as a scheduled

operation from 1998 to 2002, and Berlin’s

historicTempelhofforcedtoclose.

TheDash7madeitsmaidenightinMarch

1975 with Rocky Mountain Airlines taking the

rstaircraftinFebruary1978.InearlySeptember

of that year it made its true international debut at

the Farnborough Air Show and potential buyers

wereinvitedtoyinit,includingtheauthorwith

hisBrymonAirwayshaton.

Canada – de Havilland

and Bombardier

This is the brand-new Embraer 190 E2 on a test ight in

Brazil. It will offer greater range and more destinations for the

future.

The Aircraft • 145144 • London City Airport

We were all impressed, no more so than Bill

Bryce,owneroftheairline.Brycewasbuilding

up a eet of Twin Otters operating out of

what was not much more than a eld called

Roborough Airport, Plymouth.The grass main

runway was asphalted and lengthened to almost

1200mallowingtheDash7enoughrangetoy

toAberdeenwhenfullyloaded.

In order to allow the Dash 7 to achieve

itsexcellentSTOLcharacteristicstheaircraft

employsmanyaerodynamicdevices.Thewing

apsaredoubleslottedandspanapproximately

75%ofthetrailingedgeofthewing.Inatypical

approach the apswillbesetto45degrees

before landing which allows for a slower

approach speed (typically 70–85 knots) and

steeper descent. Upon touchdown the aps

immediately return to the 25 degrees position

which decreases the lift created by the wing

thereby increasing braking effectiveness.The

aircraft also employs two ground spoilers

perwing,andtworollspoilersperwing.The

roll spoilers’ primary job is to augment the

ailerons, however upon touchdown all four

rollspoilersactivatealongwithallfourground

spoilers to spoil much of the lift generated by

thewing.

WhiletheDash7provedtobeacommercial

failure its successor, the Dash 8, now in

Bombardier Q400 form, is one of the most

successful small regional airliners of all time, with

over1,200builtbythesummerof2017.

De Havilland Canada began development

of the Dash 8 in the late 1970s in response to

what it saw as a considerable market demand

foranewgeneration30-to40-seatcommuter

airliners.  With two engines, good but not

astonishing runway performance and a 2+2 cabin

widthmuchthesameastheDash7,itprovedto

bejustwhatthesmallregionalairlinesrequired.

Unlike the earlier aircraft’s single back door, it

was providedwith access from both the front

andrearmakingforquickerturnarounds.

Thirty-seat, 50-seat and later a 78-seat

passenger version were produced.This largest

aircraft, enhanced as the Q400, is still in

production.

Like the Dash 7, the Dash 8 features a high

mounted wing and T-tail, an advanced ight

control system and large full length trailing

edgeaps. Poweris supplied bytwoPratt&

Whitney Canada turboprops.The rst ight

oftherstoftwopre-productionaircraftwas

on20June1983,withCanadiancertication

awarded on 28 September 1984. The rst

customer delivery was to NorOntair of

Canadaon23October1984.

The rst UK Twin Otter over Toronto, with Tom Appleton in

charge.

Bombardier is a long-established Canadian

engineeringcompanyfoundedbyJoseph-Armand

Bombardier in 1942 and perhaps best known

around the world for its rail industry skills,

with a major production unit in Derby (UK).

It ventured into aerospace acquiring business

jet manufacturer Canadair in 1986, Northern

Ireland’s Short Brothers in 1989, Learjet a year

laterandnallydeHavillandAircraftofCanada

in1992.

In 1992, Bombardier put into production

its CRJ series of regional jets, the aircraft

a development of the Canadair Challenger

executive jet. Both, in much developed form,

continueinproduction.

By 1996 the Dutch Fokker company was in

nancialtrouble.TheFokker50turbopropswere

the second most popular aircraft at London City

Airport behind the BAe 146/Avro jet.  Fokker

went into bankruptcy and its series of small rear-

enginedjets(100seatsandless)diedwithit.It

didnothavethenancialmuscletodevelopthem

further.Whatwasrequiredwasa21stcentury

medium range maximum 130-seat aircraft that

couldsell allaroundthe world. Operatinginto

the highly prestigious London City Airport

would be a bonus. Embraer and Bombardier

took up the cudgels with the Brazilian company

introducingtheEMB170in2007totheairport.

Bombardierwereslowoffthemark,rstof

all looking at Fokker and later at Dornier, whose

twin-enginedAvrolook-alikerolledoutbutwas

never to y.Airbus tried to compete with the

A318offering130seats(and32seatsinaspecial

business-class only aircraft at London City) but

withonly69incurrentserviceitneversoldin

the volume the European consortium needed.

Boeingproducedavariantonthe737calledthe

600, but it fared no better with around the same

numberofsales.

Finally Bombardier announced a ve-seat

abreast C Series at the Farnborough Airshow in

July2004toreplaceageingDC9/MD-80,Fokker

100,Boeing737ClassicandBAe/Avro146,with

20%loweroperatingcosts.

The smaller version would carry 110–

115 passengers and the larger one 130–135

passengersover3,200nauticalmiles.Itwasjust

that little bit larger than the Embraers in terms of

passengernumbersandcouldyslightlyfurther.

Optionsof2+2and3+2couldbeofferedversus

2+2onlyfromtheSouthAmericanaircraft.

Thecompanytalkedaboutentryintoserviceby

2010.Economicconditionsaroundtheworldwere

declining, but a small design team continued to

developtheprojectinthemid-2000s.Bombardier

kept their thoughts to themselves and with

privatediscussionscontinuingatsomeairlinesthe

marketingeffortsmoreorlessdriedup.

On13July2008,inapressconferenceonthe

eve of the opening of that year’s Farnborough

Air Show, Bombardier Aerospace formally

launched the C Series, with a letter of interest

from Lufthansa for 60 aircraft, including 30

options.Thenalassemblyoftheaircraftwould

be at Mirabel, Montreal, with the project truly

international and major component suppliers

from around the world including Northern

Ireland (Belfast), France and Italy. China was

the home for much of the fuselage with Pratt

&Whitneytheenginesupplier.Therewouldbe

twovariants,theCS100withamaximumof135

seatsandtheCS300with148comfortableseats

or160atapush.

ThevastmajorityofcurrentAirbusNeoand

Boeing737MAXstartwith180seats.

The Bombardier C Series aircraft contains

a high usage of composite material and bigger

windows than usual. It features large, rotating

overheadstoragebins, allowingeachpassenger

tostowasizeablecarry-onbagoverhead.

TherstCSeries,aCS100,wasdeliveredto

Swiss International Air Lines (commonly called

SWISS) on 29 June 2016 at Montreal-Mirabel

InternationalAirportand began revenueights

on15July2016withaservicebetweenZurich

andParis.InAugust2016,SWISSreported‘much

higher’ reliability than other new aircraft, citing

theAirbusA380,A320neoandBoeing787,with

an airline spokesperson stating: ‘The customer

feedback is very positive with the expected

remarks concerning the bright cabin, reduced

noise, enough leg room and space for hand

luggage as well as the comfortable seats.Also

thefeedbackfromour pilotsisgratifying.They

especiallyliketheintuitiveyingexperience.’

TherstoperatoroftheCS300wasLatvian

carrierairBalticinDecember2016.

The Aircraft • 147146 • London City Airport

In March 2017, Bombardier conducted steep

approach landings at London City Airport with

thesecondprototypeCS100,receivingTransport

Canada and European Aviation Safety Agency

(EASA) steep approach certication in April

2017.It isthe largestaircrafteverto operate

intotheairport.

On 26 March 2017 London City Airport

reached another landmark with the successful

ightofaCS100toNewYorkJohnF.Kennedy

Airport(JFK)carryingarepresentativepayload.

Bombardier says a transatlantic CS100 would be

conguredwithabout40modularat-bedseats.

TheighttoJFKtookjustoversevenhours

with something less than two hours of fuel

remaining. British Airways’ current service via

Shannon has a 9hr 25min scheduled time and

7hr25minforthereturnnon-stop.AtHeathrow,

carriersadvertisearound7hr40mingoingwest

and 6hr 50min in the other direction. British

Airways’ London City fares are common-rated

with Heathrow.The airport noted, once again,

that the taxiing time at London City Airport is

signicantly shorter than other major airports

and planes tend to get a ‘straight in approach’

andnoholding.EvenfromNewYork,passengers

can be on the DLR easily within 15 minutes of

actually landing. London City to NewYork is

3,466miles.

The inaugural SWISS CS100 ight between

Zurich and Manchester took place on 16 July

2016. Here follows part of the Business Travel

News (BTN) report.

‘RegularSWISStravellerswillbedelightedto

seethesamelayout,2+3,similar30/32inchpitch,

plus wider (18.5 and 19 inch) and muchmore

comfortable seats, which also slightly recline.

Innovations include a huge overhead storage

bin, ideal for operations where the majority of

customerswillhavecarry-onluggage,andextra-

large windows measuring 11 x 16 inch, positioned

highonthesidewalltoprovideanoptimalviewing

angleandnaturallight.Theyarenearlyasbigas

those on the Boeing 787, although offering sliding

blinds rather than the sophisticated dimmers on

theDreamliner.Aone-piecefoldingtablecomes

out of the seatback, which also has a pair of

holdallsforwaterorbeer,orboth!Novelisa

small individual screenshowing the usual ight

information and maps, plus a safety note which

lightswhenaseatbeltisadvised.

‘From a passenger point of view, the new

aircraftisadelight,givingamuchbetterambience

than the competing, and smaller, Embraer E series

(2+2) and offering a cabin height of 83 inches

against79inches.’

Bombardier may have found a niche in the

marketplace for an aircraft that does not really

have a competitor, with a maximum 135 seats

(CS100)orupto160seatswiththeCS300.The

new Embraer E2 will appeal to established E

seriesoperatorsbutisessentiallyasizesmaller.

A recent order by Delta Air Lines for 75 CS100

would indicate that the Montreal-based company is

notcompetingwithAirbus/Boeing,whoseA320neo

and737MAXareanother size up, starting from

150seats.ThesmallestAirbus,the132-seatA318,

is now well out of production, with the 69 noted

inairlineservice,includingtheBritishAirwaysClub

World business class operation from London City

viaShannontoNewYorkJFK.Dependingonseat

layout the CS100 has both Moscow and the Gulf

stateswellwithinrange.

Markus Binkert, Chief Commercial Ofcer

of SWISS, spoke at Zurich Airport before

departure: ‘I am extremely proud that we are

therst airlineintheworldtoput thistotally

newly-developed aircraft into service,’ he said.

‘TheBombardierCS100isaclass act inevery

respect:comfort,economicsandenvironmental

credentials.Anditsserviceentrytodayushersin

anewerainshort-andmedium-haulairtravel.’

BTN agreed. ‘Passengers will like the new

aircraft. However, it is up to the airline bean

counters to make sure it works economically.

WealladoredConcorde.’

TodateBombardierhasrackedup360rm

ordersincludingthe75forAirCanada(CS100).

Theseinclude20forairBaltic(CS300),10CS100

plus 20 CS300 for the Lufthansa Group (all

forSWISS),10for KoreanAir(CS300). Porter

AirlinesofToronto,asuccessfulQ400customer,

would also like to operate the aircraft from

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, in many ways

acopyofLondonCityAirport.Theairportis

a political ‘hot potato’, perhaps motivated by

Toronto Pearson International Airport who

seeit as acompetitor.Apluspoint isthatthe

localBombardierplantassemblestheQ400and

manufacturespartsfortheCSeries.

Flybe is the largest operator of the Bombardier Q400 at LCY.

First landing. In August 2017 SWISS inaugurated Bombardier

CS100 ights between LCY and Zurich.

The Aircraft • 149148 • London City Airport

Ian Harbison is one of the UK’s most experienced

aviation journalists. Now specialising in aircraft

maintenance with MRO Management, and interiors

with Aircraft Cabin Management, he was Editor of

Regional Airline World magazine from 1990 to 2000.

Here, he looks at some of the other aircraft types

that have appeared at the airport over the years.

There are the regional aircraft that gained

approvaltooperateintoLondonCityAirport

(LCY) and the ones that ended up in regular

service.Partofthereasonforthediscrepancy

is that, during the 1990s, when a number of new

projects were launched, the airport was seen

as something of a ‘Holy Grail’ that would help

sales,soclearancebecamepartoftheighttest

developmentprogramme.Thiswasparticularly

so after the runway extension opened in March

1992.

Justamonthlater,theairportheldanOpen

Day, where manufacturers were able to display

their newly approved aircraft to potential

customers.TheseincludedtheATR42,BAeATP

and146,deHavillandCanadaDash8Series100

andtheSaab340.Intheend,theATPandSaab

340wereneverusedattheairport.

Fokker 50

The Fokker 50 was designed by the Dutch

manufacturer in the 1980s as a replacement

for its venerable F-27 Friendship that started

production in 1958. The earlier aircraft

had excellent short eld performance and

the wide and sturdy undercarriage allowed

operations from unprepared strips, with the

resultthatitfoundfavourwithairlinesinmany

underdeveloped countries. That level of eld

performance was retained by the Fokker 50,

makingLondonCityclearanceaneasyoption.

However, the new aircraft could take

advantage of subsequent developments

in technology. This included extensive use

of composite materials, large-scale use of

hot-bonded structures and comprehensive

anti-corrosiontreatment,givingitaneconomic

repairlifeof90,000landings.

The Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127

turboprop engines offered signicantly lower

fuel consumption than the Rolls-Royce Darts

of the F-27 and, in combination with slow-

turning,six-bladedpropellers,achievedexternal

noiselevelsupto18EPNdBbelowChapter3

requirements. This was augmented internally

byvibrationdampers in the structuretogive

extremelylownoiselevelsinthecabin,typically

below 77 dB(A) through large parts of the cabin

(depending on ight stage). The cabin cross

section is also comparable to the Dash 7 and

Dash8,witha2+2seatingconguration.

Another technological advance was a full

glasscockpitfromHoneywell.

The aircraft ew for the rst time on

28December1985andtheinitialdeliveryjust

over a year later. Production ceased in 1997

afteratotalof208Fokker50shadbeenbuilt.

Unfortunately, the last few were completed

afterthecompany’sbankruptcyin1996.During

that time, the aircraft was selected by the

regional associates of many major European

airlines, such as KLM, Lufthansa and SAS, as the

aircraft’s capacity, between 50 and 56 seats, was

idealfortheseoperations.However,itwasnot

until1993 that the rst of the type began to

operateatLondonCity.

This was the launch of services byVLM, a

new Belgian carrier based inAntwerp.Typical

of the niche markets generated by airports like

London City, the international diamond trade

was one source of regular passengers. The

airline did well, adding destinations and aircraft

while offering a high degree of service.The

airline was taken over in 2007 byAir France

KLM and two years later, it was merged with

CityJet, also an Air France KLM subsidiary.

In 2010, theVLM name disappeared and the

Fokker50scontinuedtoyinCityJetcolours

untiltheywereretired.

OtherairlinestooperatetheFokker50at

LondonCitywereKLMCityhopperandLuxair.

The company also gained approval for its

Fokker 100 twinjet and, by extension, the

smaller Fokker variant but these never saw

commercialserviceatLondonCity.

Dornier

Initially, the Dornier 228 was the only other

aircraftapartfromtheDash7tobeapproved.

This followed a successful demonstration in 1987

by small Dutch operator Flexair. CEO Carlo

Englebert had links through his other business

ventureswiththeairport’sthenowners,Mowlem,

and the rst ights were charters ferrying

specialist workers in support of construction

projects in London. Outside demand grew to

thepointwherescheduledservicescouldbegin

in 1989. Performance limitations meant that

the toilet had to be removed, but it was not

important on short routes to Rotterdam and

Amsterdam where Englebert persuaded the

Schiphol authorities to allow him to use the

executiveterminal,inmanywaysreplicatingthe

LCYexperience. Servicescontinueduntil 1994

whentheairlinewentoutofbusiness.

Following the 228 came the 328, a 30-seat

aircraftthatwasavailableasaturboproporas

ajet.Thiswas usedbySucklingAirways,which

evolvedintoScotAirways.Today,the328Jetis

still in use, with SUN-AIR of Denmark (operating

asaBAfranchise).

Saab 2000

This 50-seater, powered by two powerful

Rolls-Royce (originally Allison) AE 2100

turboprops for high speed, was pretty much

designed around the needs of Crossair, which

later became SWISS in an unusual takeover

byaregionalairlineofanationalagcarrier.

Crossair was led by the charismatic Moritz

Suter, who demanded that the Saab 2000 be

capable of operating into restricted airports,

although he also had in mind Lugano in southern

Switzerland as another key destination, the

airport havinga steep approachrequirement

andlyinginavalleybetweenmountains.

He also commanded that the aircraft

had a window in the forward toilet, which

required some late redesign by the Swedish

manufacturer. Major modications to the

elevator control system and horizontal

tailplane to solve handling problems were

the main reasons for a delay of almost a year

before Crossair received its rst aircraft in

1994.Inaddition,anoise‘hotspot’inthecabin

meantthatanactivenoisecontrolsystemhad

tobetted.

Today it appears at LCY in the colours of

Skywork, a Swiss airline, and Eastern Airways,

anotherBAfranchise.

The Also Rans

by Ian Harbison

Crossair Saab 2000 and getting airborne a VLM Fokker 50.

150 • London City Airport

Jetstream 41

Another aircraft that made a brief appearance

was the BritishAerospace Jetstream 41.This

29-seat stretch of the 19-seat Jetstream

31, powered by two Honeywell TPE-

331 turboprops, was operated by British

Regional Airlines (BRAL) as a British Airways

franchisefromLondonCitytoShefeldCity.

Unfortunately, this small airport was never

really successful and was closed down in 2002

afterfouryearsofoperation.

ATR 42/72

The ATR 42 appeared at the 1992 London

CityAirport Open Daybut did not return

forsometimeonscheduledairlineservices.

That is slightly surprising, as a glance at

the customer list shows that the aircraft is

ideally suited for smaller airports, especially

thoseonislands.ItwasflownbyAirFrance

(Brit Air), Air Wales and Eurowings in the

early 2000s but nowonly Flybe continues to

operatetheaircraft.Thereisatrendtowards

bigger planes if a service is a success.The

ATR bucks the trend. The larger ATR 72

made brief appearances with Aurigny and

AerArann.TheATR42iscurrentlyflownby

BlueIslands,theJersey-basedcarrier,under

aFlybefranchise.

For the future the Embraer E-Jet-E2 and

Bombardier C Series will clearly be the mainstay

into the next decade but also possible are the

Sukhoi Superjet SS100 (Russia), which has

recently been upgraded with more powerful

engines,Antonov 148 (Ukraine), ComacARJ21

(China)andMitsubishiRegionalJet(Japan).

Inevitably, over such a long period of time,

aircraft types come and go. If there is one

distinct trend, it is that capacity increases to

matchmarketdemandforairlineservicesdirect

totheheartofLondon.Whilethereisanatural

cap on the size of aircraft, dictated by runway

length, it has become clear that manufacturers

still continue to see London City Airport as a

challenge to be met and a useful commercial

opportunity.

Chapter Eleven

A Heavy SWISS Landing

And into the next

decade

Above: Eastern Airways from Newcastle was an operator of

the Jetstream 41 for a short while.

Right: Not as popular as the competing Bombardier Q400 at

London City, but a bigger overall seller, Aurigny ies the ATR

72 to Guernsey.

• 151

A Heavy SWISS Landing • 153152 • London City Airport

A hard landing at London City Airport

resultedinanimaginativeresponsetogetting

the aircraft back into service. Ian Harbison

reportedthusinMROManagementin2008.

As is well known, London City is an extremely

restricted airport. Built in the middle of the

old commercial docks on the RiverThames,

it has a single runway just 1199m in length

and requires a steeper 5.5-degree approach,

limitingittospeciallyapprovedaircraftown

byspeciallycertiedpilots.However,themost

difcult part of any landing is the transition

from the approach angle to the are just

before landing, as the aircraft rotates to a

nose-upangle.

On18August2007,anAvroRJ100ofSWISS

was just at this point, about 50 feet above

the ground, when the wind changed from a

slight headwind to a slight tailwind.The loss

ofliftcausedtheaircrafttosuddenlysink.The

crew’s instinctive reaction was to pull back

on the controls, but this resulted in a nose-

high attitude of 9.5 degrees that caused the

aircraft’s rear fuselage to briey strike the

runway.

Although the aircraft was taxied to the

stand and the 88 passengers and ve crew

disembarkedsafely,aninspectionrevealedthat

signicantstructuraldamagehadoccurredto

the lower fuselage in the area of the aft cargo

hold.The damage was repairable and, as the

aircraftwasonlysevenyearsold,therepairs

wouldbeeconomicallyviable.Itcouldnotbe

safely own back to base in Switzerland or

eventothenearestmaintenancefacility.With

limitedparkingavailableontheramp,thespace

taken up by the aircraft was causing concern

totheairport’smanagement.

SWISS decided to contact BAE Systems

RegionalAircraft’sFieldSupportOrganisation,

which dispatched a team from its repair design

ofcetoassessthedamage.Thisturnedoutto

include scrape marks along the lower fuselage

for almost 12 feet with varying degrees of

crackingonninefuselageframes.Mostofthose

had suffered some buckling or distortion, while

all the horizontal stringers in the damaged area

alsoshoweddistortion.

The answer was the construction of a

temporary hangar which in fact came from

SupportAir(UK)ontheAlbertDockquayside.

On10September,SWISSsaidthatithadtaken

the innovative decision to contract Carillion

Marinetoprovidea400-tonneattoppontoon

to oat the aircraft from the airport across

the water to a neighbouring dock – where a

temporary hangar facility would be erected – and

asked Regional Aircraft to propose a permanent

repair. These pontoons are generally used as

marine working platforms for piling operations

(Carillion had earlier been involved in piling

for a runway extension at London City).The

selected pontoon was chosen for its deck area

and stability and, as it could carry a 170-tonne

crane, the weight of the aircraft was not a

majorconcern.Infact,astheaircraftwastowed

onboard and rolled into position, the pontoon

hardlymovedinthewater.

In parallel, the airline also contracted with

SupportAir(UK)toprovideatemporaryhangar

to house the aircraft and the repair working

party, complete with lighting, ventilation, stores

and other accessories as requiredby the client.

The hangar was erected on waste ground on an

old dock to the north of the airport which had

recently been used as a temporary runway for the

LondonlegoftheRedBullAirRaceWorldSeries.

ThescopeofthepermanentEASAcertied

repair entailed the manufacture or procurement

of structure and consumable items, the rework

of the existing aircraft structure to allow the

tment of the repair, the installation process,

reprotection of the new internal structure, full

EASA-compliant documentation for the repair

and full BAE Systems paperwork to support a

SWISSapplicationforapermittoy,ifrequired.

This was accepted by the airline, which also

stipulated that the company should act as full

integrator for the repair to include all logistical

aspects.Thisallowedthecustomertofocuson

the daily operations of running the airline and

not to be distracted with the repair of one of

itsaircraft.

Regional Aircraft created a fully integrated

team to manage the programme. Project

management was run from the company’s

Prestwick facility in Scotland while an on-site

eldservicesupportteammanagedateamfrom

ChevronTechnical Services, a specialist in BAe

146/RJmaintenancebasedatKembleintheUK,

whichprovidedskilledlabouraspartofitsEASA

Part145approvedsubcontractorstatus.

Spares and procurement support was

provided by Prestwickand also theWeybridge

Sinking, Floating,

Flying

Above: Nine of the fuselage frames had to be replaced.

Opposite, Top to Bottom:

A temporary hangar was erected on the north side of the Royal

Albert Dock.

The rst, and hopefully last, oating Avro RJ100.

Home from home for the engineers. Any bad weather

problems were forgotten

154 • London City Airport

SparesLogisticsCentre.Some325lineitemshad

to be sourced for the repair and of this some

75% were available from the outset. Fifty line

items had to be manufactured and, in total, more

than600individualcomponentshadtobefound,

amajorlogisticalexercise.

Startdatefortherepairwas1Octoberand

itwasestimated,basedonpreviousexperience,

that it would take 10 weeks to complete the job,

using a double shift pattern of approximately

10 to 12 people.The rst task was to ensure

thattheaircraftwascompletelylevelatalltimes

to maintain perfect alignment of the structure

asit wasreassembled.Asthe hangarhadbeen

constructed on a piece of rough ground, steel

beams were placed through windows on either

sideoftheaircrafttosupportit.

By the end of October, replacement of all

the major frame sections had been completed

and, during November, the new keel skin had

beenpositionedandsecured.By21November,

the repair had been completed and the aircraft

waspoweredup.HandoverbacktoSWISStook

placetwodayslater.Theairlinethencarriedout

the reverse barging operation back to London

City Airport, which was carried out during the

quietweekendperiod.

The full repair had been achieved, negating

theneedforapermittoy.Aftersomeminor

maintenanceontheramp,theaircraftwasown

back to Switzerland on 4 December. In total,

the repair had taken nine weeks and had been

completedwithintimescalesandwithinbudget.

Chapter Twelve

New York to

London City Airport

The return barge trip proved to be much easier than the

outbound.

• 155

156 • London City Airport

Back in late 2005 British Airways came up with

theideaofinstigatingightsfromLondonCity

Airport to NewYork JohnF. Kennedy (JFK).A

refuellingstopwouldberequiredeastto west

due to headwinds but all the possible aircraft

couldmakeitnon-stopintheotherdirection.The

thinkingbehindtheprojectwasperhapstwo-fold.

Air France was rumoured to be considering such

an operation with the new US – Europe bilateral

approvedandtheEUFreedomoftheSkiesgave

nolicensingproblems.Itwouldbeanewayof

promoting British Airways whole London City

AirportoperationownbyCityFlyer.

BritishAirwaysquicklymovedahead.

As far as the general public was concerned BA

wouldoffera high visibility routeto NewYork.

This would add to the dozen or so CityFlyer

(BAbranded)ightstotheUnitedKingdomand

mainlandEuropeandestinationsthatwereownat

thetime.Thepublicitydepartmentcameupwith

theightnumbersBA001outboundandBA002

return,thesameasthemuch-lovedConcorde.

Shannon was chosen as the stopover with

passengers deplaning and passing through the

USpre-clearance,allowingforadomesticarrival

at NewYork and a quick departure, luggage

permitting, at NewYorkJFKTerminal7. It was

clear that most passengers would be business

peoplewhotravellightandwanttobeawayat

speedonarrival.

Airbuswastheobviousaircraftsupplierwith

theA320 series the mainstay of the BA eet.

CrewingcouldbeoutofHeathrowfortheight

deck, a small band of pilots checked out for the

London City Airport steep approach but also

available for normal duties. Gatwick would be

thebaseforthecabinstaff.

InMarch2006,theEuropeanAviationSafety

Agency (EASA) certied a modied control

software enhancement to the Airbus A318

designed to allow the aircraft to perform steep

approaches. The software adapts the control

systems of the aircraft when the steep approach

function is selected by the crew, by automatically

deployingsomeofthespoilerpanelstoprovide

additional drag when the aircraft is in the

landingconguration.Italsoprovidesalternative

aural alerts to the crew and modies spoiler

deployment automatically below 120 feet on

landing. The A318 steep approach procedure

allows the aircraft to perform approaches at

descentanglesofupto5.5degrees,asopposed

tothestandard3degreesforanormallanding.

The steep, quieter approach was part of the

airport’splanningapproval.

Atestight wasconductedin May 2006to

prove the aircraft’s capability at London City

Airport.Thetestightalsoconrmedtheaircraft’s

compatibilitywiththelimitedmanoeuvringand

parking space at LCY. Subsequently, in August

2009 Airbus delivered the rst of two LCY

adaptedA318stoBritishAirways, which began

operatingtheroutethefollowingmonth.

Originally BA offered two services Monday

to Friday and a Saturday outbound and an

overnightSundayfromNewYork.WiththeUS

authorities reducing the opening hours of the

Shannon facility in early 2016, for the second

ight passengers had to try their luck at New

York Border Control with their long queues.

Oneofthebenetsoftheservicewasgoneand

thesecondoutboundwascancelled.

British Airways has been clever with the

revised timetable and now operates Monday

toThursdayoutboundat09:40witharrival,on

a Friday at 12:40 local, and on Sunday just as

the airport opens at 12:35 getting in at 17:00.

TravellersontheFridayandSundayightsneed

to gothrough the full formalitiesatJFK. Flight

time is scheduled at 9 hours and 15 minutes, two

hourslongerthanHeathrow.

In the other direction, it is non-stop 7 hours

25 minutes, 15 minutes more than Heathrow

but no aircrafttaxiingand a very quick access

totransport.FromKennedy,thefullBAlounge

facilitiesareavailablewithdeparture18:30every

day and an early morning arrival into London

scheduledjustbefore07:00.Youcaneasilybein

the City by 08:00 and there is also a courtesy

chauffeur service to the nearby Radisson Blu

(Edwardian) where a complimentary breakfast

andspafacilitiesareoffered.

Here I paraphrase a journey made several years

ago to New York when the service was twice daily and

brought up to date in terms of the current schedule.

‘British Airways prestige London City (LCY)

– Kennedy NewYork (JFK) service has been

operatingnowfornearlyadecade.Inaugurated

inAugust2009thesixtimesperweekightuses

apairofspeciallyadoptedAirbusA318offering

32lie-atseatsina2+2conguration.Itisagreat

waytoytoNewYorkinspiteoftheShannon

stopover.

Iewtheservicelastweek,outwardbound

overtheformerOlympicPark,nownamedafter

QueenElizabethII.Fabulousviews.

The passengers seemed a very mixed bag.

Business travellers appropriately dressed and

others with more relaxed attire. One couple

I spoke to were retired and off to New York

foraholiday.They were trying the service‘for

fun’. It was‘thumbs up’ as wegotoff.Another

New York to

London City Airport

with a stop

New York to London City Airport • 157

British Airways Airbus A318 interior – British Airways

operates with three cabin staff to look after 34 passengers.

The only private lounge within the terminal at LCY – For the

daily New York service.

158 • London City Airport

gentleman was based in Canary Wharf and Essex

andsaiditwas,forhim,theonlywaytoKennedy.

AnAmericanwastryingitforthersttime.

The London City fare structure is the same

asHeathrowandifitistheAviosschemeyou

use do get in as soon as the bookings open as

thenumberofseatsavailableisverylimited.You

can also go one way Heathrow and the other

LondonCity.TheBAticketingisfullyexible.It

allratherdependsonyourtravelrequirements,

origination and nal destination.The route is

alsoan alternativeto andfromNewYorkfor

many of the lesser mainland Europe airports

that do not service JFK direct but offer LCY

services.ItisfarquickertochangeatCitythan

alternativeairports.

The service is a success, but for unusual

reasons.Clearlyitdoesnotmakeanymoneybut

thatistinyintheschemeofthings.Itisaprestige

operationthat‘iestheag’.CAAstatisticsshow

a maximum of 24,000 passengers in 2014 which

would indicate a two-way load factor in the mid-

sixties.Therewereonly20of usonthisight.

In total ve crew and a purpose-built aircraft,

managinga veryhealthy4,500yinghoursper

yearwithjustthreelandingsperday.

The stopover in Shannon takes about 30

minutesonthegroundwitharequirementtogo

through US Border Control within the terminal

building. If youhaveholdluggagethatmustbe

claimedandnominallyinspected.Oncethrough

the US Border Control at Shannon passengers

aretechnicallyinAmerica.

LondonCity–NewYorkisaveryprestigious

route,hasexcellentpublicityvalue,andserves

the CanaryWharf and East London market.

From, say, The Bank the airport journey time is

22minuteswithaserviceeverytenminutes.If

youhavestrongnervesyoucancatchtheDLR

atjustafter08:30andbereadytogetairborne

at09:30.Ofcially itisa15-minutecheck-in.

From the same starting point allow up to two

hourstoHeathrowbycar,orsaya30-minute

taxi ride to Paddington and the Heathrow

Express, or change at Holborn and take the

Piccadilly Line.And allow plenty of time for

getting to the gate.Add at least another 30

minutesifyouwanttousethelounge.

At London City Airport there is a dedicated

New York check-in, one of the best organised

mechanised security operations around and the

boardinggateisthelounge.Therewasaselection

ofcoldmeatandsmokedsh,fruit,yoghurtand

pastries. Hardand soft drinks. No matter how

lateyouaresomethingquickcanbegrabbed.It

is all reminiscent of the old Concorde lounge

ambience.

The main airside waiting area at London City

Airport has been continuously updated, has all

the Duty Free and ancillary sales outlets needed,

andalsovariouseatingplacesifyouarriveearly.

No air bridges at London City and it is a short

walktotheaircraftsteps.Oneassumesif it is

raining an umbrella, with perhaps an escort, is

provided.

Drinksarenotservedonboardingbutyour

jacket is taken and stored away as per normal

ClubWorld.

Once on board the lounge atmosphere

is retained, a sort of private members’ club.

Three cabin staff but it is pre-packaged meals

on BA 001 (Concorde only offered high class

canapes),therstcourseservedontheLondon

–Shannonleg.Thereisachoicebutitislimited

although you can pre-order the whole range of

BA special meals. It is nothing fancy, a rather

uprated Club Europe experience, albeit in a

muchnicersetting.

The2+2fullylie-atseathasaresetbutton.

It will adjust for the ideal dining position, the

button marked with knives and forks. But you

have to climb across your seat partner if that

personisinthelieatmode.

Another unique oddity is a sign in the

overheadpanelwhichtellsyouwhenthemobile

connectionsystemisfunctioning.Theseathad

two personal power points that can accept UK,

EUandUSplugswithouttheneedforanadaptor.

OnAirhaveprovidedanSMS(text)andMMS

(multi-media) system that links seamlessly with

bothBlackberryandiPhonehand-helds.Youcan

link these into a laptop too, or use a dongle.

Email could not be easier and is inexpensive.

Textcosts50ppermessageandisfreeincoming.

Surngthewebcanbeveryexpensive.BA,asa

matterofpolicy,doesnotallowphonecalls.For

entertainment and information purposes iPads

aresupplied,veryeasytouse,sittingcomfortably

onthecocktailtableprovided.

There are not many places to put things but

anewspaperstoragebinisprovided.Thereisa

lavatoryateitherendandacleverlyintegrated

crewrestarea.

On the leg out of Shannon the second and

thirdcoursesareserved.Thenthereistimeto

stretchoutandusethefullsixfeetlie-atbed.

It is as good as any on a narrow-bodied aircraft

butnotthesameasperlong-haulservices.No

real privacy and a small divider at head level.

Standard blankets and pillows. I grabbed some

sleepandwoketospectacularviewsasweew

overGreenland.

About 90 minutes before landing, afternoon

teawasoffered.Notveryattractivesandwiches

and the normal, very pleasant BA scones. But

feeling full from the excellent luncheon steak I

hadtopassontheselectionofcakes.

How to summarize the London City – New

Yorkservice?

I for one thoroughly enjoyed it and would use

again.

Thebigproblemisthattheightisnowonly

dailyandhadIgonebytaxiandgotstuckintrafc

I would have had a serious problem, the only

alternativebacktoHeathrow,orindesperation

viaAmsterdamorFrankfurt.FromNewYorkitis

far easier with plenty of both British Airways and

partnerAmericanAirlinesservicesavailableifthe

ightismissed.

Althoughtheserviceisnotasgoodaslong-

haulClubWorld,IreallyenjoyedmyBA001ight.

Itcertainlyfeltveryexclusiveandasclosetoa

privatejetasyoucanget.Theextratimetaken

togettoNewYorkwasworthittohavesucha

hassle-free immigration process and quick exit

fromJFK.Iwouldcertainlyconsiderthisservice

againwhengoingtoJFK.Forthereturntheearly

landing was perfect and well rested I was able

to make a City appointment near the Bank of

EnglandviaDLRwellinadvanceofmyhostwho

hadstruggledinforoveranhour!Hewasalso

impressed!Rollonnon-stopightsbothways’.

New York to London City Airport • 159

Copying the original Heathrow Terminal 4 Concorde concept

a gate lounge at LCY offers canapes and drinks.

Flat bed BA A318.

160 • London City Airport

WhentheLondonCityAirportrstopened30

years ago the retail outlets were very limited,

both landside and airside. You could change

money,haveacupofcoffee,andbuyanewspaper.

Andthatwasit.

Today as you enter the airport from the DLR

on the left hand side there is Costa, a good place

foreitheraquietrendezvous,orjustformeeting

upbeforethehassleandbustleoftheairport.

In the terminal proper there are a further,

more or less essential, outlets with on your

immediateleftaninformationdesk.

Oncethroughsecurityifyourwaitisofany

time there is a choice of eateries and a good

selection for those who either need essentials

orareinforaretailtherapyburst.

Before Security:

Panopolis

Pret A Manger

Travelex

W H Smith

The pop-up space on the left as you enter the

terminalhoststemporaryretailers.

After Security:

Aelia Duty Free

AeroSpa (West Pier)

Boots

Brick Lane Brews Café-bar (West Pier)

Café Nero

City Bar and Restaurant

DixonsTravel

Expressamente Illy

JoMalone

Ladurée

Panopolis

PilotsBar&Kitchen

Pret A Manger (West Pier)

Travelex

Tumi

WH Smith July 2017

Chapter Thirteen

London City Airport

Private Jet Centre

It’s All About Retail!

Above Left: Panopolis landside at the airport.

Centre Left: Alia Duty Free in the departures lounge.

Left: WH Smith is both landside and airside.

• 161

162 • London City Airport

Away from the hassle and bustle of the main

terminal building on the approach road from the

Connaught Bridge is the London City Airport

Private Jet Centre. It could be renamed the

LCY Executive Enclave as it fulls a multi-task

engagement as the only gateway for private

aircrafttravellersactuallyinLondon,plusatrue

rst class service for airline customers, and a

businessclassloungefacilityfornormaltravellers

with a little time on their hands.Thereis also

available,upstairs,aprivateroom,24squarefeet,

capable of holding up to around a dozen people,

and with all the facilities required for a small

conferenceormeeting.

In the future, when inside the building it might

be possible to hear trains rumble by sitting

directlyovertheElizabethLine(Crossrail)which

comestothesurfacejustacrosstheroad.

From the very rst day it opened London

City Airport offered a facility for private

aircraft, but they always took second place to

thescheduledtrafc.

All this changed in 2002 when the then owner,

DermotDesmond,anexecutivejetownerhimself,

invested in a properbusiness aviation centre at

the west end of the airport with its own apron

areaandhandlingservice.Thefacilitycandealwith

aircraftuptothesizeofaBAe146/Avro(asused

by Queen Elizabeth), and the large Bombardier

and Gulfstream corporate jets. It has also from

time to time provideda London showplace for

aircraftvisitorsfromabygoneeraincludingaDC6

andLufthansa’shistoricJunkers52.

InaviationterminologyLondonCityAirport

Private Jet Centre is called a ‘Fixed Base

Operation’ or FBO. By road it is four miles

from the Canary Wharf complex (12 minutes)

and seven miles from the Bank of England (20

minutes).TothestartoftheA406atitsjunction

with theA13 and onwards to the M11/M25 is

aboutveminutes.

The Centre’s greatest claim to fame is what

it calls its‘90 second rule’. Customers can be

in their car landside within 90 seconds of their

aircraft coming to a halt on the apron and within

eithertwoorveminutesoflanding,depending

onthe winddirection. Itisalsopossibleto be

on one’s aircraft within 90 seconds of coming

through the facility’s door and then passing

throughsecurity.Allthisismuchappreciatedby

theregulars.Awayfromthemainterminalitisall

verydiscreet.

The Centre provides a complete corporate

aviation package including various lounges, a

dedicated stand for aircraft as they ‘turnaround’,

parking for up to 20 aircraft and immigration,

customsandcrewfacilities.Dedicatedstaffareon

handtoprovideightplanning,weatherbriengs

and landing clearances.They also organise slot

requests, ground handling arrangements, ight

watch, cleaning, catering, line maintenance,

refuelling,baggageandaircrafthandling.

Whatever service you use, arriving at the

LondonCityAirportPrivateJetCentreisrather

like an entry to a ve-star hotel, extremely

unobtrusive,exclusiveandmuchinfavourwith

topbusinessmen,politiciansandcelebrities.Any

paperworkisquietlydealtwithaswithluggage,

collected from one’s transport, tagged and

dispatchedtotheaircraft.

The rst class lounge in particular has the

‘wow’ that certain airlines’ facilities offer at

Heathrow.CopiedperhapsfromtheBoeing787

ithasa privacy settingforthe windowswhich

turns them opaque at the ick of a switch.A

veryprivatesmallsideroomisavailable.Ifyou

want a bath or shower that is there too, or just

somewheretochange.Thereisarangeoffood

anddrinkwithhighqualitywineandChampagne

but if you need something more substantial a full

menufromthemainterminalcanbeprovided.All

theservicesexpectedofahighqualityloungeare

onhandincludingatscreentelevision,charging

pointsandfreehigh-speedwi-plusaconcierge

servicereadytohelp.

Then it is through the dedicated security

and short drive to your scheduled aircraft to

arrivejustbeforethedoorcloses.Thepresent

charge is £95 per person. Inbound clients can

use the privacy in reverse, including customs

andimmigrationwithbaggagedeliveredtoyour

transport via the airport’s specialist baggage

handlerAirPortetoaspecicdestinations.

Itisonewayofavoidingthepaparazzi.

Fora private jet client it is much the same

except it is the operator who pays the bill and

your aircraft will either be parked directly outside

thebuilding,averyshortwalk,orifnecessary,a

chauffeureddrive.Normallyprivatejetsoperate

with just two or three passengers although the

Centrecanhandleuptoaround30for,say,an

executiveAvro.

For the business class lounge it is essentially

a scaled down version of the facilities offered

in rst class with one essential difference.

Passengers need to check-in at the main terminal

fromwheretheywill bedriventotheLondon

CityAirport Private Jet Centre landside.Then

it is time to relax and wait to be called about

30 minutes before the ight and then another

chauffeured drive to the terminal and security.

Forthisthechargeis£35.Ifyouhavetimeand

wanttorelaxanddosomeworkitisperfect.

Fractional ownership, where businesses buy

apercentageofanaircraft,representedinight

hours,drasticallyreducethecostofprivateair

travelandnowaccountsforapproximately55%

of the Private Jet Centre’s business. Another

growth has been the sale of what used to be

called‘dead legging’.A charter customer buys

a one-way ight into or out of London City

London City Airport Private Jet Centre • 163

164 • London City Airport

Airport knowing that he must also

pay for the positioning operation.

Specialist brokers will often sell

this leg at ‘give-away’ prices, an

activemarket.Somesavvypeople,

either to impress, or as a present,

have been known to buy a ight

which might nish up at, typically,

OxfordAirport and continue on

fromthatpoint.Notmanycansay

theyhaveownonaprivatejetout

ofLondonCityAirport.

In June 2006, the London City

Airport Private Jet Centre was

awardedthecontracttoprovidea

PremierPassengerServiceatRAF

Northolt,acontractwhichcontinuestothisday.

The aerodrome, famous in World War II as the

base for the No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron,

perfectly complements London City for West

London sitting on the A40 dual carriageway with

easy access to the Hyde Park area one way, and

Buckinghamshireintheotherdirection.

Opening hours are much the same as LCY

and it is multi-functional operating as a military

baseandalsoacivilairportrestrictedtobusiness

aircraftonly.

The big news for 2017 is the announcement

by GlobeAir of a partnership with the Private

JetCentre. Claimed to be Europe’s leading air

taxi operator with the world´s largest eet

of Citation Mustang jets, it noted a boom in

businessaircraftmovementswitha34%increase

forLondon-baseddeparturesfrom368in2015

to492in2016.

Chapter Fourteen

City Airport

Development Plan

(CADP)

Above and Below: Dassault Falcon 8X private jet interior and

the same aircraft getting airborne.

• 165

OnWednesday27July2016LondonCityAirport

receivedplanningpermissionfora£350million

privatelyfundedinvestmentwhichincludesplans

forsevennewaircraftstands,aparalleltaxiway

andthepassengerterminalextension.

The approval will enable the airport to

welcome 6.5 million passengers by 2025 and

inject£1.5billioneachyearintotheeconomy.

The announcement came within days of

Theresa May becoming Prime Minister.  Philip

Hammond,theChancelloroftheExchequer,and

a former Secretary of State for Transport, and

LordAhmadofWimbledon,atthetimeAviation

Minister,madeasurprisevisittotheairportto

givethego-aheadfollowingformalconrmation

from Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and

CommunitiesSecretarySajidJavid.

DeclanCollier,CEO,LondonCityAirportsaid

on the occasion:

‘Today,thenewGovernmenthasshownitis

ready to act in the best interests of the British

economy.ExpansionatLondonCityAirportwill

create more than 2,000 new jobs in East London,

addmuch-neededaviationcapacityintheSouth-

East, and generate an additional £750 million per

yearfortheUKeconomy.Astheairportserving

byfarthehighestproportionofbusinesstravellers

in the UK (52%), who do some £11 billion of

tradeinEuropeannually,todaytheGovernment

has sent a strong message that London and the

UKareverymuchopenforbusiness.Iwelcome

thedecisionandlookforwardtodeliveringnew

airportcapacityfortheSouth-Eastby2019.’

Thedevelopmentwilltransformtheairport,

one of East London’s largest employers, to

welcome more airlines and with it more

passengers. The airport has aspirations of a

Silvertown for London City Airport Elizabeth

Linestation.

Overthelast30yearsLondonCityAirportand

its 1199m runway has become the benchmark for

newquieter,nextgenerationaircraft,largerand

withagreaterrange.Themajorconstraint has

been runway capacity but with the introduction

of a parallel taxiway landings and take-offs,

knownasmovementsinairlinelanguage,canbe

increased by up to 45 per hour without infringing

thelegalcapacityoftheairport.Whentheairport

rstopened15movementsanhourwasthought

to be good going, but when the runway eastern

holdingpointwasaddedin2003thiswasmore

thandoubledto32.Thirty-eightmovementsan

hourhavebeenrecorded.

The latest jet transport aircraft, such as the

Bombardier CS100 have a greater wingspan

than their predecessors which could restrict

manoeuvrability.Theincreasedareawillalleviate

this problem. Typically the Canadian aircraft,

partly built in Belfast, will offer airlines the

opportunity to consider longer-haul destinations

including The Gulf and Middle East, Turkey, Russia

andtheeastcoastoftheUnitedStates.Withup

to 130 passengers the throughput per aircraft

canincreasebyonethird.Theyarequietertoo

thanthepreviousgeneration.

The construction phase of development is

expected to create 500 jobs and a further 1,600

posts once completed. Under the plans the

airportcanaddapproximatelyafurther30,000

ights by 2025, movements which are already

permitted, helping to unlock more air capacity

withinLondon’sairportsysteminadvanceofa

newrunwayfortheSouth-EastofEngland.

Essentially there are two aspects to the

development,theparallelrunwayandincreased

apron space, and the far more complex rebuilding

and extending the easterly end of the existing

terminalbuildingtoprovideanewarrivalshall;

EastPierandnewaircraftstands.

Theparalleltaxiwaydevelopmentisrelatively

simple and involves pile driving into the dock

bed thus extending the existing deck in certain

locations by up to 920 feet to accommodate the

terminal extension and East Pier. Seven more

aircraftstandswillbeprovided,withessentially

adesignevolutionofthesuccessfullyrefashioned

original gates towards the west, and approximately

a further 820 feet of taxiway to join up with the

existing holding area at the eastern end of the

airport.Thereisnothingverycomplicatedtothis

engineering work except that care needs to be

taken to ensure that no unknown World War II

bombsfoundareinadvertentlydetonated.Most

of the work will be done during normal airport

operational hours although some will need to be

undertaken when the airport is closed for safety

reasons.

Within the last 12 months the walkway to the

westerngateshasbeenextensivelyremodelled

with an open-plan layout offering more places

to sit and a bright, modern environment to

enjoy,withworkspacesandquietareas.APret

A Manger has enhanced the airside food and

beverage offerings, together with Brick Lane

Brews, a café/bar concept, and an airport beauty

lounge,AeroSpa.

In charge of the project are the award-winning,

airport architects Pascall+Watson who have

been involved with London CityAirport since

2011, in particular the very much modernised

departurelounge.TheirworkincludesHeathrow

Terminal2,Gatwick’srevisedNorthTerminaland

anumberoflargeairportprojectsinChina.

While the runway and taxiway will be a highly

visible creation, the largest outlay in nancial

terms will be the construction of the extended

terminalovertheexisting dock.Coveringover

550,000 square feet in total the extended

passenger facilities will include a new baggage

hall, security and border control facilities,

improvedretailprovision,andanenlargedairside

loungearea.CIPandVIPfacilitiesforscheduled

ights,currentlyaccommodatedinthePrivateJet

Centre, areexpectedtobeprovided.Thenew

City Airport Development Plan • 167

This aerial view clearly shows the extended aircraft taxiway.

Still at an early stage the plans call for an extension of the

existing terminal to the east and a new ‘drop off’ area.

168 • London City Airport

eastgateswillbeservedbyan innovativepier

designandwalkway.

Anewairtrafccontroltowerisalreadyon

itsway.ItwillbetherstintheUKtooperate

as a single digital source of air trafc control

and will put the airport at the forefront of a

global aviation trend.The scheme is part of a

safer generation of technology for air trafc

management, offering increased capabilities to

thecontrollers.The164-feethighstructurewill

use the latest Saab data technology to feed an

operations control room based at the National

Air Trafc Services (NATS) headquarters in

Swanwick,Hampshire.

The digital solution is a multi-million pound

investment utilising state-of-the-art 360-degree

HD cameras on a newlyconstructed tower.A

livefeedwitha panoramic viewof the aireld,

along with sensory and operational data, will be

sent via super-fast secure bre connections to

a control room in Swanwick where air trafc

controllers will perform their operational role,

using the live footage displayed on 14 HD

screensthatformaseamlesspanoramicmoving

image,alongsidetheaudiofeedfromtheaireld,

andradarreadingsfromtheskiesaboveLondon,

toinstructaircraftandoverseemovements.

The state-of-the-art technology from Saab

DigitalAirTrafc Solutions, which is tried and

tested and already in use at Örnsköldsvik and

Sundsvall airports in Sweden, offers several

advantagesforefcientairtrafcmanagementat

LondonCityAirport.

Controllers will be able to utilise a range of

viewingtoolssuchashighdenitionzoomand

enhancedvisuals,whichprovidedetailedviewsof

activityontheaireld,includingclose-upviews

of aircraft movements along the runway, with

pan-tiltzoomcamerasthatcanmagnifyupto30

timesforcloseinspection.

They will also have real-time information,

including operational and sensory data, to build

anaugmentedrealityliveviewoftheaireld.For

example,the abilitytooverlaythe imageswith

weather information, on-screen labels, radar data,

aircraftcallsigns,ortotrackmovingobjects.

The sophisticated tools of a digital set-up

signicantly improve a controller’s situational

awareness,enablingquickandinformeddecisions

thattherebyoffersafetyandoperationalbenets

fortheairport.

The new control tower is located in the

airport’s long-stay car park, in line with the mid-

way point of the runway, adjacent to King George

V Dock. It is due to be completed in 2018,

followed by more than a year of rigorous testing

and training, during which the existing 30-year

old tower will continuetooperate.The digital

towerwillbecomefullyoperationalin2019.

Chapter Fifteen

London City Airport

Consultative Committee

Not at LCY. The new digital control operation will be at NATS

HQ at Swanwick in Hampshire.

• 169

170 • London City Airport

Oneofthegreatsuccessesoftheairportover

theyearshasbeentheConsultativeCommittee

which initially met monthly in the early years but

by1994itwasdowntoveannually.Ithasnow

tapered off to three or four a year as the airport

has matured.  The original Secretary, Stuart

Innes, who had been Reg Ward’s assistant in the

London Docklands Development Corporation

(LDDC),retiredin2015.

Besides the airport and airline users,

the Consultative Committee includes

representatives of the local boroughs, local

authorities and public bodies, local communities

and other interested parties including the

Royal Docks Management Authority, Greater

London Council, Metropolitan Police and the

DepartmentforTransport.

London City Airport’s Consultative

Committee (LCACC) is as old as the airport

itself.Whenplanningpermissionfortheairport

(then known as STOLPORT) was rst given

inthemid-1980sthedeveloper,JohnMowlem

& Co Plc, entered into an agreement with

the former LDDC, the London Borough of

Newham, the Port of London Authority and

thethenGreaterLondonCouncil.Itspurpose

was to regulate the environmental impact of

the airport including, in particular, noise and the

hoursduringwhichtheairportwouldoperate.

The agreement required the setting up of a

consultative committee to ‘monitor all aspects

oftheoperationoftheairportandtoadviseon

operatingprocedures...withaviewtominimising

noisepollutionorothernuisancefromwhatever

source’.The committee was charged also with

monitoring the implementation of the agreement

and to‘advise from time to time on the need

foranyrevisionthereof’.Itwasagreedlaterthat

the committee would also ‘discuss and act on

complaintsfromthepublic’.

LCACC’s role is to provide a positive,

inclusive and interactive forum for discussion

onallmattersconcerningthedevelopmentor

operationoftheairportwhichhaveanimpact

ontheusersoftheairportandonpeopleliving

andworkinginthesurroundingarea.

In the autumn of 1986 a Steering Group was

setuptoestablishtheCommitteeandtherst

meetingwasheldon30June1987.InJuly2012

the Committee Meeting celebrated its 25th

Anniversaryandthelongservingcontribution

ofitsmembers.

The LCACC Chair and Secretary positions

arecompletelyindependentfromtheairport.

Most large airports in the UK have

ConsultativeCommitteeswhichhavetheirroots

intheCivilAviationActof1982andsubsequent

issuance of Guidelines by the Secretary of State

in1996.Since1980theChairandSecretaryof

these committees have met annually to share

experience and to discuss matters of common

interest. Annual meetings are hosted by a

different airport each year.Thereare now 23

ACCsthataremembersofUKACCs.Tobea

member of UKACCs the ACC’s airport must

either have a passenger throughput of more

than 600,000 passengers per annum or be an

airportofparticularregionalsignicance.From

the outset London City was considered as one

ofthose.

FormanyyearstheChairof LCACC, John

Adshead, and the Secretary, Stuart Innes,

attendedtheUKannualmeetings.

John was invited by London City Airport

tohelpsetuptheLCACCintheearly1980s.

BothJohnandStuartwerethestalwartsofthe

Committee.Their commitment and reliability

wascommendable.

JohnAdsheadresignedin2016andDuncan

Alexander was appointed as Chair with George

Masters as the new Secretary, whose full-

time position is at the House of Lords as a

Committee Assistant to the European Union

Select Committee, managing the relationship

between the Select Committee and its six sub-

committees.

Today the LCACC meets quarterly and

has two Sub-Committees; Community and

Environment.Through these meetings a wide

rangeoftopicsiscoveredincludingcommunity

engagement, airport development, noise and

airqualityandotherissuesimpactingthelocal

community.

Recently, for example, the issue of Uber

Taxis occupying streets around the airport was

reportedasanincreasingnuisance.Thematter

was raised in the sub and main Committee

meetingsandsubsequent actionwastakenby

the local council and the planning department

to provide better staging facilities for Uber

and other taxi companies.This has eased the

impact on the local community but still allows

a choice of surface transport to be provided.

This is a good recent working example of how

the LCACC strives to live up to its motto

‘Community,Communication,Collaboration’.

Membership of the Committee is diverse

whichreectsthenatureoftheairport’simpact

on the local area. It includes representatives

from local councils and surrounding boroughs,

The London DevelopmentAgency, the Royal

Docks Management Authority, local tenants and

residentsassociations,theairportandairlines.

Inadditionothersareinvitedtoattendtoshow

their support and to hear of what are the latest

developments including the local police and

representatives from schools and community

centres.Themeetingsareopentothepublic.

Oneofthekeyparticipantsinthemeetingsis

theAirportMonitoringOfcer(AMO).

Newham Council and London City Airport

work closely together to try to ensure that

theeconomicadvantageswhicharisefromthe

operation of the airport can be maximised, and

any potential problems which may adversely

affectthelocalpopulationcanbepreventedor

minimised.

One of the main means of dealing with

potential or actual problems is through planning

controls, called Planning Conditions and S106

Agreements. Currently parts of two sets of

planning controls are in force: those attached

to the planning permission dated 9 July 2009

and those attached to the planning permission

dated26July2016.Thelatersetwilleventually

fullyreplacetheearlierone.

The controlscovera wide range of issues,

includinginparticularnoise,butalsoairquality

and biodiversity, and sets targets for the

employmentoflocalresidents.

Bothsetsofcontrolsspecifywhatisrequired

of the airport and when a smaller number of

controlsapplytothecouncil.

Bothpermissionsincludearequirementfor

theemploymentofanAMObytheCouncil.The

AMOpostwascreatedbythe2009agreement

to ensure that the airport complies with the

approvedPlanningConditions.

TheAMOisemployeddirectlybyNewham

Council and is completely independent of the

airportcompanies.TherstAMOcommenced

employmentwiththecouncilin2010.

The role of theAMO can be divided into,

rstly,functionsrelatingtoenforcement,should

targets or standards not be met in any way,

and secondly, functions relating to facilitation,

whereby compliance with certain obligations,

for example completion of strategies and action

plans by the airport, is done in a timely and

effectivemanner.

A summary of activity related to planning

controls is reported quarterly by theAMO and

within the Annual Performance Report that is

publishedbothontheairportandLCACCwebsite.

At recent meetings regular updates have

been providedon the progress with the new

planning permissions and on how the airport

is meeting its obligations for environmental

targets,inparticularnoiseandpollution.

The LCACC provides an important

proactivelinkbetweenallthestakeholdersof

theairportandthewidercommunity.Withthe

continued expansion of the airport, future links

with Crossrail, local economic and residential

development, its role and importance will

continuetogrow.

London City Airport Consultative Committee • 171

Duncan Alexander, Chair of London City Airport Consultative

Committee.

(50routesasofJuly2017)

Aberdeen Flybe

Amsterdam British Airways,

 KLM/CityJet

Antwerp CityJet

Avignon CityJet

Basel/Mulhouse Skywork

Belfast City Flybe

Bergerac British Airways

Berlin–Tegel British Airways

Bern Skywork

Billund British Airways

(SUN-AIR franchise)

Cardiff Flybe

Chambéry British Airways

Dublin British Airways,

 CityJet

Düsseldorf British Airways

Edinburgh British Airways, Flybe

Exeter Flybe

Faro British Airways

Florence British Airways

Frankfurt British Airways,

Lufthansa

Geneva BritishAirways,

SWISS

Glasgow British Airways

Granada British Airways

Ibiza British Airways

Isle of Man British Airways

 (ownbyEastern

Airlines),

Jersey Flybe

(Blue Islands

franchise)

Lisbon TAP

Luxembourg Luxair

Mahon British Airways

Málaga BritishAirways

Menorca British Airways

Milan–Linate Alitalia,

British Airways

Mykonos British Airways

NewYork–JFK BritishAirways

Nice British Airways

Palma de Mallorca British Airways

Paris–Orly BritishAirways

Prague British Airways

Quimper BritishAirways

Reykjavík BritishAirways

Rennes CityJet

Rome–Fiumicino Alitalia

Rotterdam British Airways

Santorini British Airways

Skiathos British Airways

Toulon CityJet

Venice BritishAirways

Zürich British Airways,

SWISS

London City Airport winter 2017-2018

destinations

(summer only routes 2017 are shown in red, but are expected to be largely the same for 2018)

172 • London City Airport

Chapter Sixteen

Corporate Social

Responsibility

• 173

From day one London City Airport has been

community conscious.This is now expressed

as Corporate Social Responsibly (CSR).

ThetestlandingatHeronQuayson30June

1983wasasmuchtogainlocalacceptanceas

to demonstrate to the Inspector the safety

and practicality of the proposed airport.

Mowlemwasquicktobriefthelocalpublicof

the advantages the new airport would bring.

Brymon Airways played its part too ying

down from Heathrow local leaders and media

highlighting the efforts made at Plymouth with

industryandmunicipalitytoensurearst-rate

relationship.

The ne rapport by London City Airport

with its neighbours has continued to this day

with LCY now one of the largest employers in

the Borough of Newham with 2,100 members

ofstaff,65%ofwhichcomefromthelocalarea.

TheTake Off IntoWork job scheme, run by

Newham Workplace and London City Airport

to help local people into employment, has in the

summerof2017placedover600peopleintoa

jobattheairport.

This initiative started in 2009 with the

airport getting together with the East London

Business Alliance.  It functions by providing

work experience, job trials and classroom-based

training to Newham residents to help them

secure employment with many contractors on

the site, and the airport itself. There are 54

concessions,airlinesandotherbusinesspartners.

DeclanCollier,CEOofLondonCityAirport,

said: ‘With the airport’s focus on job creation,

training and education in the community, Take

Off IntoWork has developed into a agship

schemefortheairport.

“The 600 successful candidates have been

abletoexplorediversecareerpathswithinthis

exciting industry, and I continue to follow their

progression.Manymorelocaljobopportunities

willbecreated,theCityAirportDevelopment

Programme creating 500 jobs during the

construction phase, with 1,600 jobs and as the

airportgrows.”

EntrantsintheTakeOffIntoWorkscheme

have secured jobs in departments across the

airport including customer services, security

and aireld operations as well as with other

onsite employers such as airline cabin crew,

passenger handling and the foreign exchange

bureau.

Overthreedecadestheairporthasworked

tirelesslyininvolvingitselfwithnumerousjoint

projects.  In 2010 it gained the prestigious

LordMayor of London’s DragonAward. This

recognisestheairport’ssignicantcontribution

and commitment to the economic regeneration

of London through the Take Off Into Work

Programme which is aimed at young aspiring

students.

In 2015 Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary

Corporate Responsibility Group inaugurated

theNationalBusinessChampionaward.

The Speaker of the House of Commons

John Bercow said: ‘I congratulate London

City Airport on winning the 2015 National

ResponsibleBusinessChampionaward. It was

described by Stephen Timms (MP for East Ham),

a former Corporate Responsibility Minister, as

an‘exemplarofcorporateresponsibility’.

The speaker cited LCY’s investment in the

localcommunity;itscommitmenttoproviding

pathways into work for unemployed residents;

itsworkwithschoolsanduniversities.

The momentum continues to be built, in

2016 some 4,241 students participating in LCY’s

educational programmes including 110 young people

taking part in a new agship science, technology,

engineeringandmathsprogramme(STEM).

Work experience is another vital part of

the CSR efforts and offering local college and

university students a chance to participate in

a week-long experience working alongside

industry professionals in such areas as ramp

operations,nance,customerservicesandthe

PrivateJetCentre.

In 2017 more volunteers than ever before

took part in London City Airport’s annual

VolunteeringFortnight,with61stafftakingtime

out of their working weeks to participate in the

initiativeandmakeameaningfulcontributionto

localorganisationsandcharities.

Airport employees from across all parts of the

businessvolunteeredattendifferentcommunity

partners and charities in East London, dedicating

theirtime,skillsandexpertisetoactivitiesand

causesinsixboroughs–Barking&Dagenham,

Greenwich,Havering,Newham,TowerHamlets

andWalthamForest.

It is the fourth year in a row that that the

airport has organised the fortnight, coinciding

withNationalVolunteers’Week,witheightofthe

activities set up in collaboration with the East

London Business Alliance, including those at Barking

FoodBank,SpitaleldsCityFarm,andtheWaltham

Forest Disability Resource Centre. Volunteering

Fortnight is part of the airport’s continued work

and investment in local communities, with 2,333

hoursvolunteeredin2016,andcameinthesame

month that the airport collected an award at the

InternationalCSRExcellenceAwards2017.

Local charities and organisations are eligible

fortheairport’s30thanniversaryfund,a£30,000

endowment to support groups which enable

signicantandpositivechangeforcommunities

nearLondonCityAirport.

OneofLondonCity’sproudestachievements

has been its longstanding support for Richard

House Children’s Hospice, raising close to

£900,000sinceitrstbeganfundraisinginitiatives

over two decades ago. Sited just north of the

Royal Albert Dock, by the Connaught Bridge, the

residential unit provides care for children and

youngpeoplewhohavelife-limitingillnesses,and

supporting their families.The children love to

watchtheaircraftlandingandtakingoff.

OnFriday7July2017,52cyclistssetofffrom

LondonCityintheJulyheatforagruelling185-

mile bike ride to Amsterdam to raise money for

thehospice.Theairportisoncoursetoraise

£30,000thisyearforthecharity d e s c r i b e d

by Stephen Timms, who took part, “as doing a

tremendousjob”.

(Left to right) Sir Robin Wales (Mayor of Newham), the 600th

recruit, Jasjoot Mudhar, a baggage tracing agent, and Declan

Collier.

Fun day was very busy on the apron.

London City Airport

and the community

LONDON’S ROYAL DOCKS are fast evolving into a

vibrant 21st century environment to live, work and

visit. Find out more about the ambitious plans to

create the latest exciting chapter in the evolution

of an area of the capital that has barely stood still

in 200 years.

email info@londonsroyaldocks.com

www.londonsroyaldocks.com

London’s unique and

historic water space

LRD_240 x 177_Advert_Artwork.indd 1 14/07/2017 14:49

Chapter Seventeen

The Future of the

Royals

• 177

Mike Luddy, Managing Director, Royal Docks

Management Authority Ltd (RoDMA), sits in his

ofcesjustbytheRiverThameslockentranceto

theKingGeorgeVDock(thesouthernexpanse

ofwateratLondonCityAirport).

He can watch aircraft on ‘nals’ for their

approach to the airport and in the past has seen

the big cruise ships manoeuvring as they made

their way to the Royal Albert Dock (to the

north of the London City runway) to berth as

accommodation for the 2012 London Olympic

Games.DuringTheLondonBoatShowinJanuary

awholeeetofboatsandsuperyachtswillpass

by,andeveryotheryearforDefenceandSecurity

Equipment International (DSEI), an international

navyotilla.Theywillbemakingtheirwaytothe

thirdoftheRoyalDocks,theRoyalVictoriaDock,

whichnowfeaturesExCeLLondon.

Luddy is no stranger to aircraft, or vast

engineering projects. Managing Director since

June2011,Mike’sjobistoleadtheregeneration

ofwhatwasoneofVictorianEngland’sgreatest

enterprises and at the time the greatest docks in

theworld.

Anobviouschoice,heknewLondon’seastern

gateway well, previously leading a project to

develop the Spectator Experience for the

London Olympic Games. He had spent four

yearsas Chief CommercialOfcer at Gatwick

Airport, responsible for some £400 million of

revenue,andtakingtheairportthroughthe£1.2

billion sale from BAA Plc to Global Infrastructure

Partners (GIP). Previously, as Project Director

for London and Continental Railways, Mike

was responsible for devising and implementing

the award-winning commercial and operational

regeneration strategy for the iconic St Pancras

International station which reopened on

14November2007.

In many ways RoDMA is a true successor

to the London Docklands Development

Corporation (LDDC) although not entrusted

with any statutory authority.  It maintains the

lifting and swing bridges, the lock gates, pumping

housesandotherdockinfrastructure.Thethree

docks collectively once formed the largest

enclosed docks in the world, with a water area

ofnearly250acresandanoverallestateof1,100

acres.Thisisequivalenttothewholeofcentral

LondonfromHydeParktoTowerBridge.The

area was designated a Special Enterprise Zone

in2012.

King George V Dock

Begun in 1912 by the Port of London Authority,

the King GeorgeV was the last of London’s

upstreamencloseddockstobebuilt.Afterdelay

by World War I, construction was completed

in1921.Althoughat64 acresofwaterit was

smaller than the other Royals, it had its own

entrance from the Thames through a lock and

bascule bridge.The dock could berth liners as

large as the RMS Mauretania.Atitswesternend

was a large graving dock (since lled in) and

machine shop used for ship repairs by Harland

andWolff.Itclosedtocommercialtrafcalong

withtheotherRoyalDocksinthe1980s.

The dock’s major feature today is London

City Airport (LCY), whose single runway has

been built on the length of the north side of

the dock.The western end has been lled in

andtheairportterminalbuiltonthelledarea.

The rest of the dock is still in water, acting as

a buffer between the airport runway and the

surrounding area. The southern quayside has

been cleared of dock buildings and is now largely

used as car parking for the airport with a hotel

andotherdevelopmentsplannedforthefuture.

The London City Airport land extends as far as

SirSteveRedgraveBridgeattheeasternendof

thedock.

Royal Victoria Dock

At the westernextremity, RoyalVictoria Dock

brings thousands of visitors to exhibitions,

events,watersportsactivities,bars,restaurants

and gardens. ExCeL London comes under its

remit and moored at the western end is the

GoodHotel,activelypromotedbyRoDMA,part

socialenterpriseandpartawayofovercoming

hotelaccommodationneeds.(SeeChapterEight

onExCeLLondon.)

At the eastern end the land surrounding

the King GeorgeV lock makes it ideal for

sizable marine projects (the Olympic Rings

werebuilthere).Facilitiesincludeaccessfor

cranes, metered electrical power and water,

pump out facilities, quayside working areas,

parking,equipmentstorage,24-hoursecurity,

toilets for staff, refuelling and a staffed

workboat.

RoDMA supervises three major enterprises

withatotalexpanseof14millionsquarefeet.

The key to the whole rejuvenation of the

easternendofthedockswasthedevelopment

of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from

Canning Town on both sides of the Royals

opening at the end of 2005, to Beckton via

Custom House (for ExCeL) in 1994 and to the

farendoftheKingGeorgeVDockviaLondon

CityAirporteffectivelyreplacingtheoldNorth

Woolwichstation.

The Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) dissects the

whole area with a station at Custom House

(for ExCeL), dropping under the Connaught

Bridge and resurfacing just past the London City

AirportPrivateJetCentre.Therearenofurther

stations until the railway reaches the other side

oftheriver.

TheUniversityofEastLondoncampus,sited

opposite the airport across the dock and well

to the right opened in 1999, has 1,200 student

rooms, together with shops, cafés and restaurant,

launderette and an open-air tness suite.The

SportsDock, a £21 million sports and academic

centre,openedinMarch2012.Itservedasthe

High-Performance Training Centre for Team USA

duringtheLondon2012OlympicGames.

Cyprus station of the DLR, on the Beckton

extension is adjacent to the campus, making

accessveryeasy.

Royal Albert Dock

Launched in October 2016 with great aplomb

at the Mansion House by President Xi Jinping

of China, alongside UK Prime Minister David

Cameron, the £1.7 billion Advanced Business

The Future of the Royals • 181

Above: University of East London student housing

northside, east end Royal Albert Dock.

Left: Watching the aircraft y over. The western end of the

Royal Victoria Dock offers a man-made beach.

Park (ABP) sits to the north of the Royal Albert

DockfacingLondonCityAirport.Itsstatedaim

was as a launch for Chinese and Asian businesses

intoEurope.TheBrexitvoteandchangeofPrime

MinisterinJune2017causedwhatturnedoutto

beablipandworkisprogressingatspeed.The

deal will make the project the biggest real estate

developmentdeliveredintheUKbyaChinese

constructioncompany.Itwillbeworth£6billion

totheUnitedKingdomeconomycreating30,000

newjobs.

ABP joined forces with CITIC Group, the

largest conglomerate in China and an established

global player, with businesses coveringnancial

services, resources and energy, manufacturing,

engineering contracting and real estate. It is

ranked in the top 200 of the Fortune Global

500List.

Work is now well under way with the plan

todelivermorethan600,000squarefeetofce

space beforetheend of 2018. It will take 6–8

yearstocompletethescheme.

Silvertown (Pontoon Dock)

DirectlytotheeastoftheairportisSilvertown

area, being delivered by The Silvertown

Partnership,aconsortiumconsistingofChelseld

Properties, First Base and Macquarie Capital,

all in themselves substantial and experienced

propertydevelopers.Thesiteisthebiggestinthe

Docksat62acresofbrowneldlandwithonly

threeexistingbuildings.

InApril2015,NewhamCouncilgaveoutline

planning permission for a new £3.5 billion

redevelopmentofthearea,includingMillennium

Mills. The iconic 500,000 square feet building

is destined to become a centre for start-up

businesses.WorkbeganinJanuary2015toclear

the building of asbestos, following an initial £12

milliongrantfromtheGovernment.

The rst phase of the development will

deliver5,000newjobs,1millionsquarefeetof

commercialspaceand850newhomes.Thiswill

starttobeavailablefrom2019onwards.

Everyyear,TheSilvertownPartnershipalong

with the Greater London Authority; who are

the landowners open Millennium Mills and

Silvertown to the public as part of the annual

Open House London weekend. Visitors get

to see rsthand the scale of the building, hear

aboutitssignicancetotheareaandtheplans

to transform it into a hub alongside restaurants,

barsandevenaroof-topsocialspace.

When complete, Silvertown will deliver

5 million squarefeetof commercial space and

over 3,000 homes. This new community will

employover21,000peopleandcontributeover

£260millioninadditionalrevenueforLondon.

In 2014, Singapore-listed Oxley Holdings,

togetherwithleadingIrishdeveloperBallymore,

announced a joint venture to develop a new

waterfront township of Royal Wharf, situated on

theRiverThamesbetweenWestSilvertownand

PontoonDockstationsontheDLR,with3,385

newhomeshousingover10,000residents.Royal

Wharf is a mixed-usedevelopment comprising

homes, shops, restaurants and ofces.The nal

phase is known as Mariner’s Quarter which

has the tallest building standing at 19 storeys,

overlookingtheRiverThamesandCanaryWharf.

The development is situated between Barrier

Park and Lyle Park,with 45% of the site given

over to public space including a 2.4-acre park,

pocketparksandgardensquares.

Toput the RoyalDocksintrueperspective

the huge complex is expected to generate more

some£15bnofindustrialdevelopments,40,000

jobs,4.000homesovernext10–12years.InEast

London 262,220 new homes and 210,950 new

jobsareexpectedby2035.LondonCityAirport

sitsinthemiddleofitall.

Left: Royal Victoria with the Emirates Air Bridge in the far

background.

Airport

Total

passengers

% Change

2015–2016

1 Edinburgh 528,029 0.9

2 Amsterdam 517,305 6.0

3 Dublin 449,657 0.4

4 Zürich 385,933 2.9

5 Frankfurt 241,084 0.0

6 Glasgow 235,075 1.4

7 Rotterdam 219,857 5.3

8 Geneva 219,607 24.5

9 Luxembourg 183,097 2.1

10 Milan Linate 180,068 9.7

11 Belfast City 111,944 2.6

12 ParisOrly 111,015 9.9

13 Florence 98,773 3.2

14 Ibiza 88,376 16.9

15 Düsseldorf 74,580 24.7

16 Isle of Man 74,001 26.0

17 Madrid 70,900 15.4

18 Aberdeen 64,452 1.6

19 Málaga 57,772 11.4

20 Antwerp 54,885 6.3

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LONDON CITY AIRPORT 2016

• Voted Best Regional Airport in the world*

• Only 20 mins from terminal entrance to departure lounge

• On arrival, just 15 minutes from plane to train

22 mins to Bank 25 mins to Westminster 14 mins to Canary Wharf

30 YEARS OF SERVING LONDON

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