RESIDENTS DISMAYED BY LONDON CITY AIRPORT EXPANSION PLANS TO DOUBLE FLIGHT NUMBERS

Date added: 29 June, 2019

London City’s Master Plan has been released, for consultation, and it is very bad news for local residents who suffer from the noise of its planes.  It is proposing to double the number of flights by 2035; to end the break when currently there are no flights between 12:30pm on Saturday and 12.30pm on Sunday; and to bring in more planes in the early morning and late evening. Residents are dismayed by the London City expansion revealed in its Master Plan published today.  The airport wants to lift the current cap of 111,000 flights allowed each year to 137,000 by 2030 and to 151,000 by 2035. Last year there were just over 75,000 flights. John Stewart, chair of HACAN East, which gives a voice to residents under the airport’s flight paths, said, “For all its green talk, this plan would be disastrous for residents.  Flight numbers could double from today’s levels.” Increasingly the airport caters for leisure passengers, not business. The consultation ends on 20^th September.  The airport would need to go to a Planning Inquiry to get permission for any proposals it intends to take forward, after applying to Newham Council for its plans. Newham borough has pledged to make the borough “carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050”.  The airport will not be helping with that.
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Friday 28th June

London City Airport begins public consultation on draft
master plan that sets out a vision for the airport to 2035

London City Airport press release

London City Airport has published a draft master plan, detailing how it could respond
to continued demand for business and leisure air travel, in a sustainable and
responsible way, over the next 15 years.

It follows a 42% increase in passengers at London’s most central airport over the past
five years and the continued shift in London’s centre of gravity towards the east,
where the rate of growth in population, homes, jobs and office space is higher than
any other part of the capital.

At the heart of the draft master plan is sustainability, with measures that will
encourage airlines to accelerate investment in the latest generation of cleaner and
quieter aircraft that are 17% more fuel-efficient compared to their predecessors. The
draft master plan forecasts that these new aircraft, like the Airbus A220 and Embraer
E2, could comprise 75% of all jet aircraft by 2035. Several major airlines currently
operating from the airport have recently announced plans to re-fleet to these new
generation aircraft.

The airport will be carbon neutral by the end of this year and committed earlier this
week to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, consistent with the emerging
policy of the UK Government, the Mayor of London and the London Borough of
Newham.

The draft master plan also sets out how the airport will work with partners to further
improve its position as the UK’s best airport for public transport use, raising the
proportion of people travelling to and from the airport by public and sustainable
modes from 69% today to 80% in 2035. This could be achieved by more capacity and
earlier start times on the DLR, the new Crossrail service, adding walking, cycling and
riverboat routes, and expanding sustainable transport initiatives for staff.

The airport will retain its eight-hour night time closure, and not permit any noisier
aircraft than those currently operating. Most importantly, the airport will also continue
to operate within its existing noise contour limit, and seek to reduce this area over the
duration of the draft master plan.

The airport can respond to demand by making best use of the existing runway and
infrastructure with only limited further development required to 2035. The draft master
plan does not consider any provision for a new or extended runway or a new
terminal.

The airport predicts that the growth of the airport could create up to 2,500 additional
jobs for local people, and will deliver an overall economic contribution of £2 billion
per year by 2035. The airport plans to further enhance its excellent track record of
sharing the benefits of growth with the local community, and is keen to hear
suggestions for how this can be delivered.

With the airport set to welcome over 5 million passengers by the end of this year and
based on current trends in the industry and in London, the draft master plan forecasts
that the airport will reach its current passenger cap of 6.5m and 111,000 flights in
2022. It also forecasts demand for up to 9.8 million passengers by 2030 and 11 million
passengers by 2035, representing only 4% of the London market at that time.

Views are also being sought on some additional operational flexibility in the current
restrictions in the first and last 30 minutes of operations and at weekends.

Consultation on the draft master plan lasts for 12 weeks, starting today (Friday 28th
June) and ends on 20th September. The airport is encouraging communities and
stakeholders to review the documents and provide feedback on how the airport
can grow sustainably.

Robert Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer for London City Airport, said:
“This draft master plan is a long-term vision for London City Airport, detailing how
London’s most central airport can meet continued demand sustainably, create jobs
and opportunities for East London, and support the capital as a major global city for
tourism and business.

“These proposals reflect the airport’s changing role, with an increasing proportion of
leisure passengers choosing the airport, and East London’s continued transformation.
Most importantly, sustainability is central to our thinking. We have carefully developed
these plans to strongly incentivise our airlines to re-fleet to cleaner, quieter new
generation aircraft, minimise further construction activity, reduce emissions, limit
aircraft noise, preserve air quality, and create meaningful opportunities for our local
community.”

A final master plan, taking into account the feedback received during the public
consultation, will be published before the end of the year.
ENDS

Notes for editors

• The current capacity limits of London City Airport, set by the London Borough
of Newham, are 111,000 air traffic movements (ATMs) per year and 6.5 million
passengers per year.
• The draft master plan forecasts that by 2030, passenger demand to use
London City Airport could increase to 9.8 million per year and to 11 million per
year by 2035. It is envisaged that the forecast demand could be met with
137,000 movements by 2030 and 151,000 movements by 2035. These forecasts
represent 33,000 fewer movements in 2030 than the 2006 master plan, and
20,000 fewer movements in 2035 (a 12% decrease versus the 2006 master plan
overall).
• Following a 50/50 split of leisure and business travellers last year, the trend
towards a broader customer base at London City Airport is expected to
continue, with new forecasts that by 2035 around 64% could be leisure travellers
and 36% flying for business purposes.
• The airport is seeking views on allowing more flexibility on the number of flights
in the following periods:

o in the first half hour of permitted operations when there is increased
demand. This first half hour between 0630hrs – 0700hrs is currently limited
to 6 movements;

o in the last half hour of permitted operations for delayed take-offs or
arrivals. Flights in the last half hour between 2200hrs – 2230hrs are

o at weekends to allow the airport to respond to airline and customer
demand for more flexible flight times. There is currently a 24-hour closure
at weekends from 1230hrs on Saturday to 1230hrs on Sunday.

• The draft master plan is subject to public consultation for 12 weeks from 28
June to 20 September 2019. Five consultation events are planned:

o Greenwich: Broadwater Village Hall. 1C Goosander Way, West
Thamesmead, SE28 0ER/ Tuesday 9th July, 3.30pm until 7.30pm

o Newham: Canning Town Library, Rathbone Market, 18 Barking Rd, E16
1EH. Thursday 10th July, 4.30pm until 7.30pm

o Central London, The City Centre. 80 Basinghall Street, EC2V 5AR.
Wednesday 11th September, 12.00pm until 7.00pm

o Tower Hamlets: Southern Grove Community Centre, Southern Grove,
Mile End, E3 4FX. Thursday 12th September, 3.30pm until 7.30pm

o Newham: Royal Docks Learning and Activity Centre, Albert Road,
Royal Docks, E16 2JB. Saturday 14th September, 10.00am until 4.00pm.

• Interested parties can respond in person, by post, email and online. More
information can be found at www.londoncityairport.com/consultation [note:
website will go live on Friday 28th June]

• The City Airport Development Programme (CADP) is a £500 million investment
which includes eight new aircraft parking stands, a parallel taxiway and an
extended and reconfigured passenger terminal. This development received
planning permission in July 2016 and is already in progress, with facilities
coming from 2022. The draft master plan forecasts take this new infrastructure
into account, as well as the UK’s exit from the European Union.

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Posted: Saturday, June 29th, 2019. Filed in Blog, General News, News about Airports, Noise News, Recent News.