London City Airport: 20 Years and Going Strong
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A brand new DLR station was constructed right at the airport, and in December, 2005, at last, London City was finally connected to the City by the London Underground. The DLR journey time to Canary Wharf is about ten minutes, and about 30 minutes to central London. London City’s day had arrived. New airlines were adding services as quick as they could. In 2005, Luxair launched ERJ-135 service, SAS started service to Copenhagen, and passenger volumes were approaching the 2 million mark.
During 2006, Airbus brought their A318 to London City for compatibility tests, with a view to eventual certification for operation at this growing market. Over the past several years, the awards have been flowing in with London City being rated as Regional Airport of the Year (2003, 2004 and 2005) and Best UK Airport (2006, 2007), and passenger volumes are now pushing towards 2.5 million.
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London City’s runway is still considered short, and current day aircraft such as Dash 8s, Saab 2000s, Dornier 328s, Fokker 50s, Embraer regional jets, biz jets, and BAe 146s are the regular visiters at London City. Fokker 50s of VLM and BAe 146s (various operators) make up the lion’s share of the traffic, and current schedules are such that London City is the BAe 146 capital of the world!
Hardly a month goes by without new flights being announced from London City. Belgian regional carrier VLM Airlines is the largest operator at London City, with a fleet of 19 Fokker 50s, and in April VLM commenced London City -Rotterdam jet service using their first 92-seat BAe 146-300 (wet leased from Flightline) to meet the increasing passenger demand during peak times as Fokker 50s were too small. CityJet has also recently announced significantly increased services from London City with no less than eight new routes that compliment their siz daily Paris flights and five daily Dublin flights.
London City Airport Today and the Future
On any given day, London City now sees over one hundred scheduled flight arrivals and departures, with at least a few dozen corporate flights added to the mix. During the time of Airliner’s visit in April, 2007, Netjets was the bizjet business leader with flights approximately once an hour.
Visitors to the airport will be amazed to see aircraft almost continuosly lined up on aproach with movements taking place basically one after another, with no let up from early morning to early evening. London City ’s tranquil water setting and many accessible vantage points around the airport make for an aircraft lover’s dream airport. The best viewing spot is from the North side, adjactent to the R10 hold point by the water’s edge at the Beckton Park DLR station.
London City’s airport management foresees continously increasing local economic development will sustain a potential for five million passengers per year within a decade. These historic grounds (and waters) have been the point of arrival and departure of goods and people at London for some thousand years. And if the last ten years is any indication, London City could well achieve the five million mark sooner than later.
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