Article from BTNews 4 JULY 2022
City Airport expansion plans *
London City Airport (LCY) has published details of its proposed expansion plans backed up by a 10-week consultation process.
No mention is given to the potential resurrection of the old North London Line Silvertown for London City station which the new Elizabeth Line passes by, nor the possibility of non-stop flights from LCY to JFK (New York Kennedy). Or an approach to the CAA for a very limited runway extension.
The airport expects to welcome three million passengers this year and is predicting a return to pre-pandemic passenger numbers (2019) of five million, as soon as 2024.
The consultation outlines how the airport can meet future demand of up to nine million passengers by 2031, by making best use of its existing runway and infrastructure, in line with its 2020 master plan and the UK Government’s aviation policy.
LCY is inviting views on additional flexibility to operate on a Saturday afternoon and evening, as well as additional elasticity in the first and last half hour of daily operations (06:30−07:00 and 22:00−22:30). No increase to the current annual limit on flights is proposed.
In order to meet its targets of achieving 80% of journeys to and from the airport by sustainable transport modes, no additional car parking is proposed either. Whether the DLR, already crowded at peak times, can cope with the nearly doubling of passenger numbers is not mentioned.
Amsterdam (AMS) is currently the airport’s busiest route and British Airways (BA) the major operator with over 50% of aircraft movements. Will AMS lose any LCY slots? (See Amsterdam restrictions in this week's BTN.)
With the withdrawal of the Avro 146, BA’s largest aircraft is the Embraer E190. Both the later Airbus 220-100 and Embraer E2 can carry more passengers which will help the airport achieving its target figure.
www.londoncityairport.com
by Malcolm Ginsberg
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum
Jason Whitaker , Shepperton, UK
I have a Facebook page that asks for: a New Heavy rail station at Silvertown, 5 minutes walk to London City airport (LCY): on the Elizabeth Line (was called Crossrail). This rail station location is ideal for travellers, at LCY to connect, to: 1. London Heathrow airport, 2. the City of London, 3. the West End. 4.Berkshire rail stations in Silicon Valley and 5. North Kent rail stations. I have lobbied countless times to have this New railway station built and connected to LCY with travalors (horizontal escaloters) But Not One Word or Any Inkling of Any movement Forward to build this Railway station on the new Elizabeth Line. COME ON LONDON CITY AIRPORT GET THIS RAIL STATION BUILT!
Joe Finestein, Holborn
Strange goings on at City Airport. Why no rail station plans and can someone tell me if the current Mayor has ever visited?
Timothy Procter, United Kingdom
Has anyone ever penned a book on London City? And petitioned for its own railway station? Just a fleeting thought.
Shelia Timms, Holborn
The thing about City is not a lot of people and minimum walking. Even the little Embraer’s are nicer than what we are offered at Heathrow. I say stay as it is.