London City Airport Expansion Approved

London City Airport have had their plans to expand approved by ministers in August 2024.

The Expansion

During 2023, London City Airport had whisked away over 3.4 million passengers [1]. The expansion will look to increase their annual passenger capacity from 6.5 million to 9 million by 2031 [2], primarily accomplished by accommodating more flights, with propositions to increase the number of weekend and early-morning flights. As a result of this, the airport will incorporate three additional flights between 06:30 and 06:59 from Mondays to Saturdays. The airport had also proposed to extend their operational hours by an additional six hours on Saturdays with a closing time of 18:30 instead of 12:30; however, this was rejected [3].

Not ‘Plane’-Sailing

An increase in noise pollution was one of the biggest concerns for the proposal. The  decision found it unlikely that here was unlikely to be harm from any extra noise pollution caused, and that it was needed to accommodate for the predicted demand of flights. In tandem with the expansion, airlines will replace older-generation planes with new-generation ones which will be quieter [2].

The recent approval of the expansion had also been criticised by The Climate Change Committee, who have recommended there should be no expansion if the country is going to meet its legally binding target of net zero emissions by 2050. The approval said the decision to expand the airport was “in line with national policy” on the climate crisis [3].

Remaining on the Flight Path to Sustainability 

London City Airport state that it ‘will be a net zero carbon airport by 2030’ [4] and that the expansion will be in-line with their current goals to achieve this. The airport had been working towards this long before their expansion plans were approved by not using single-use plastics (by staff and tenants), and reusing and recycling 100% of non-hazardous materials generated (by staff and tenants) [4].

Located in Newham, London City Airport recognise the challenges the local area faces with regards to cost-of-living. As part of the expansion, a new Community Fund of £3.8 million over ten years will be distributed directly to local good causes. The expansion also introduces other advantages such as 2,200 additional jobs – 1,340 of which will be at the airport itself [2].

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References 

Figure 1: Henry Ren (2024) from Unsplash.com. Last accesses on 15th Sept 2024. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-large-jetliner-sitting-on-top-of-an-airport-tarmac-nlCpX_W2Kak

[1] London City Airport (2024), https://www.londoncityairport.com/corporate/corporate-info/facts-and-figures

[2] London City Airport (2024), https://www.londoncityairport.com/corporate/corporate-info/future-airport-and-planning

[3] Helena Horton (2024), ‘London City airport expansion given green light by ministers’, https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/19/london-city-airport-expansion-green-light-ministers

[4] London City Airport (2024), ‘https://sustainability.londoncityairport.com/?_ga=2.107709252.734716144.1726135511-998615873.1726134925&_gl=1*cnzn0s*_gcl_au*MTkxNDQxNDc0Ny4xNzI2MTM1NTEx*_ga*OTk4NjE1ODczLjE3MjYxMzQ5MjU.*_ga_ZFDCV1C429*MTcyNjEzNDkyNC4xLjEuMTcyNjEzNjE3NC42MC4wLjEzNTMwMzQ0MDI.’