£344m development plan for London City Airport

The UK government has granted London City Airport planning permission for a large-scale expansion which would permit the accommodation of 6.5 million passengers to the UK airport.

London City, situated in East London, is a major employer in the area and the expansion aims to welcome more developed, quieter aircraft as well as a passenger capacity increase.  

The plans come following London City’s best ever year as it welcomed well over four million passengers last year.

In a statement, Declan Collier, CEO London City Airport, said: “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 (€900m) 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 (€13bn) of trade in Europe annually, today the government has sent a strong message that London and the UK are very much open for business.”

It is estimated that the expansion will further boost the capital’s economy by £1.5bn by the year 2025.

“Today the new government has shown it is ready to act in the best interests of the British economy,” concluded Declan Collier.  

Further to this, the construction process itself will create working opportunities in the region; initially 500 jobs and a further 1,600 jobs by the end of the project.

Moreover, the expansion will also open up the potential for long-haul flights, including to the Gulf and Middle East, Turkey, Russia and the east coast of the United States.