London City Airport is not allowed to grow any further following a decision made by Newham Regional Council. Specifically, an application to extend operating hours and increase the maximum number of passengers who may use the inner-city airport was rejected. On the other hand, the operating company wants to go to court.

In contrast to the other commercial airports associated with the British capital, London City Airport is actually located within the metropolitan area of ​​London. This was built in the area of ​​the former King George V Docks and was not put into operation until 1987. Strict noise regulations apply from day one and the opening times are also restricted. Due to the comparatively short runway, this airport is currently mainly served by aircraft types such as Embraer 190, de Havilland Dash 8-400 and ATR32/72.

In the past there were also flights to New York offered by British Airways. These were carried out with Airbus A319s, which had pure business class seating. in the direction of the USA a refueling stop had to be made in Shannon. The immigration formalities were also taken care of there, so that the machine was equivalent to a domestic flight upon arrival.

In December last year, the operating company of London City Airport announced that it would like to handle nine million passengers a year in the future. For this purpose, the operating hours should be extended. For example, they want to be open until 18:30 p.m. on Saturdays and be able to accommodate more flights during the week. It should be noted that there is an extended break on weekends for noise protection reasons. This has long been a thorn in the side of operators.

City argues with noise and climate protection

The Newham Borough Council unanimously rejected the LCY's request. It should remain the case that no flights are allowed between Saturday 12:30 p.m. and Sunday 12:30 p.m. It was also argued in the rejection that relaxation could lead to increased carbon dioxide emissions. This would be in stark contrast to the climate targets of the City of London and the UK government.

London City Airport sees this quite differently. One is upset about the decision and announces that one will go to court against it. A media statement read, among other things: "The airport believes that this was the wrong decision and that the limited impact was not properly balanced against the very significant benefits of the proposals, particularly in the context of government policies, including making the best use of the existing ones Runway capacity. The proposals would create 4.500 additional jobs across London, add £702m (US$917m) in gross value added to the London economy and improve connectivity and passenger choice as airlines could serve new routes.”

BA Cityflyer also wants longer hours of operation

Airport director Robert Sinclair now hopes that the competent administrative court will decide quickly and possibly the basis on which the operating restrictions will be overturned. The manager said: "If the appeal is decided soon, our airlines will be able to start the transition to cleaner and quieter new generation aircraft earlier, which means more choice for passengers and more jobs for the local population and the community Total noise pollution already reduced next summer”.

There is support from the largest customer, the British Airways subsidiary BA Cityflyer. The company says that the International Airlines Group, to which it belongs, would invest heavily in modernizing the fleet destined for London City Airport. However, the prerequisite would be that the operating times be extended. Not only would this improve connectivity, but it would also create up to 4.000 additional jobs across the supply chain. Furthermore, it is argued that today's modern aircraft are not comparable to those of the 1980s in terms of noise and pollutant emissions. In other words: BA Cityflyer takes the view that the ban on flying at weekends on the grounds of noise protection would be "obsolete".