London City Airport “consulting” on extra flights and extended operating hours at weekends
Newham Council, the planning authority for London City airport, formally started consulting on its expansion proposals on 15th February. It will last until 17th March. Newham’s Strategic Development Committee will then later this year decide whether or not to approve the proposals. The detailed application is on Newham’s website It is a very long consultation with many dozen documents, only available online and hard to plough through. Local campaign group, HACAN East summarise the key points as an extra 6 – 7 hours flying on Saturdays; an extra 2.5 million passengers a year using to the airport; and extra early morning flights. At present no flights are permitted between 12.30pm on Saturdays and 12.30pm on Sundays. London City proposes for flights on Saturday to end at 6.30pm (7.30pm in summer). It plans to increase passenger numbers from 6.5m to 9m a year. It plans 3 extra flights during the first hour of operation, from 6.30 – 7am. It is not proposing to introduce night flights, or lift the cap of 111,000 allowed to use the airport each year. HACAN East is arranging meetings for local people to find out more.
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London City Airport wants to add extra flights and extend opening hours at weekends
By Charlotte Manning
Monday 13 Feb 2023
London City Airport could be about to add extra flights on Saturday afternoons – but there is already opposition from some local groups.
The airport currently has cut-off times of 1pm on Saturdays, but wants to extend until 6.30pm all year round.
Passengers could see 12 extra flights on Saturday afternoons during the summer, between 6.30pm and 7.30pm.
There could also be three extra flights in the morning.
Aerial Views Of London City Airport in the Canary Wharf District
The airport wants to maintain its yearly flight limit of 110,000 but hopes to increase its passenger numbers from 6.5million to 9million a year.
The plans were submitted to Newham Council back in December, with a public consultation currently ongoing.
Campaign group HACAN East, which represents residents underneath London City’s flight path, is opposed to the proposals.
It claims that while aircraft are quieter during take-off, flights are still noisy when flying overhead.
Flights from City Airport often travel over parts of East London such as Bow and Poplar, Leyton, Leytonstone, Wanstead, Barkingside and Romford.
But the airport argues that later cut-off times would mean ‘more leisure routes’ could be added as well as flights to ‘more distant locations’.
They add that it could ‘incentivise’ airlines to invest in quieter and more fuel efficient planes.
It’s not the first time the airport has attempted to raise the flight cut-off time at weekends.
In 2022, it was proposed that the airport allow flights until 10pm on Saturdays.
But this was scrapped due to fierce opposition from locals, with more than 5,000 responses in a public consultation.
Over 70% of residents commenting did not support the proposed passenger increases ‘at all’.
The public consultation will close on February 27.
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Briefing from HACAN East
Newham Council, the planning authority, formally started consulting on London City’s expansion proposals on 15th February. It will last until 17th March.
Newham’s Strategic Development Committee will then later this year decide whether or not to approve the proposals.
The detailed application is on Newham’s website: https://pa.newham.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=RNYU92JY5NA00
It is a very long consultation with many dozen documents, only available online and hard to plough through.
Local campaign group, HACAN East summarise the key points below.
Newham is consulting the following boroughs:
Greenwich, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Bexley, Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Hackney, Southwark, Redbridge, Corporation (City) of London, But not Lambeth, for some reason.
Newham is leafleting households within the 57 decibel contour , i.e. areas close to the airport.
Newham will not be holding any public meetings.
HACAN East will hold three online public meetings on zoom for you to hear more about the consultation and to ask questions.
Please feel free to invite friends, neighbours and colleagues.
Here are the dates of the meetings and the zoom links:
22nd Feb 7– 8pm https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84469152094
25th Feb 11am – 12pm https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85735958622
1st March 11am – 12pm https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89728843921
Everybody welcome!
Each meeting will cover the same ground. We will record the meetings and put the link on our website, facebook page and on twitter.
This link leads to more details about the meetings, including how to join by phone. Please feel free to email it to neighbours or members of your organisation (if you represent one). And particularly to people who might not see it onli
What London City is asking for:
- An extra 6 – 7 hours flying on Saturdays
At present no flights are permitted between 12.30pm on Saturdays and 12.30pm on Sundays. London City proposes for flights on Saturday to end at 6.30pm (7.30pm in summer).
- An extra 2.5 million passengers a year using to the airport
London City plans to increase passenger numbers from 6.5m to 9m a year
- Extra early morning flights
London City plans 3 extra flights during the first hour of operation, from 6.30 – 7am.
It is not proposing to:
- Introduce to introduce night flights
- Lift the cap of 111,000 allowed to use the airport each year
It will only allow ‘quieter’, cleaner planes during the extended hours
The ‘quieter’ planes London City talk about are not all what they appear to be. The airport is hoping the proposals will provide the incentive for airlines to re-fleet and transition more quickly to efficient modern aircraft with lower carbon emissions which are quieter. In terms of noise improvements, the new generation aircraft can be 3.2 decibels quieter on arrival and 5.4 decibels on departure than the main plane currently using the airport, the Embraer E190..According to the Civil Aviation Authority a 3 decibel difference is not noticeable to the human ear. 5 decibels is noticeable but it only applies on departure and only for areas close to the airport. If the proposals go ahead, by 2030 the airport expects there will be double the number of flights they are today, both landing and departing. For most communities that will cancel out any benefits from the quieter planes.
I will be sending out another Update in about 2/3 weeks but, if you have and questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me in the meantime,
John Stewart
Chair HACAN East
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See also
London City airport – there may be a consultation about allowing flights on Saturday afternoons
There is speculation about London City airport consulting about changing the times on Saturday afternoons, when the airport is open. However, local group Hacan East says that, as far as they know, Newham Council has made no official announcement about the start of the public consultation into London City’s expansion plans, but they will be contacting the Council (10th February) to find out the position. The expectation is that instead of flights ending at 1pm on Saturdays, they would continue until 8.30pm. This would be deeply opposed by residents in the area, who suffer from considerable plane noise. It is thought that the airport applied for this, to Newham Council, in December. City Airport previously tried to extend Saturday flight times to 22:00, but backtracked after a public consultation in late 2022. 70% of responses to that consultation opposed any expansion. The airport also wants 12 extra Saturday flights between 18:30 and 19:30 in the summer months, and 3 more planes taking off each morning. And it hopes to increase the yearly cap on passengers from 6.5 million to 9 million.
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