London City Airport (IATA: LCY, ICAO: EGLC) is an airport in London.

It is located on a
former Docklands site in theLondon Borough of Newham, some 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) east of
the City of London and a rather smaller distance east ofCanary Wharf. These are the twin centres of
London's financial industry, which is a major user of the airport. The airport was developed by the
engineering company Mowlem in 198687 and is now owned by a consortium comprising AIG
Financial Products Corp. and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
[1][not in citation given]

London City Airport has a single 1,500-metre (4,900 ft) long runway, and a CAA Public Use
Aerodrome Licence (Number P728) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for
flight training (but only for training necessary for the operation of aircraft at the airport).
[3]
Only multi-
engine, fixed-wing aircraft with special aircraft and aircrew certification to fly 5.5 approaches are
allowed to conduct operations at London City Airport.
[4]

In 2013, London City served over 3.3 million passengers, a 12% increase compared with 2012 and a
record total for the airport. It was the fifth busiest airport in terms of passengers and aircraft
movements serving the London area afterHeathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton and the 15th
busiest in the UK.

The airport was first proposed in 1981 by Reg Ward, who was Chief Executive of the newly
formed London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) that was responsible for the
regeneration of the area. He in turn discussed the proposal with Sir Philip Beck (Chairman of John
Mowlem & Co plc) and the idea of an airport for Docklands was born. By November of that
year Mowlem and Brymon Airways had submitted an outline proposal to the LDDC for a Docklands
STOLport city centre gateway.
[5]

On 27 June 1982 Brymon Captain Harry Gee landed a de Havilland Canada Dash 7 aircraft
on Heron Quays, in the nearby West India Docks, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the
STOLport project. Later that year the LDDC published a feasibility study, an opinion poll amongst
local residents showed a majority in favour of the development of the airport, and Mowlem submitted
the application for planning permission.
[5]


The terminal buildings
A 63 day planning inquiry started on 6 June 1983. By the middle of the following year, Nicholas
Ridley the Secretary of State for Transport had indicated that he was disposed to agree the
application, but asked for further details. After the failure of a court case brought by the Greater
London Council in 1985, outline planning permission was granted in May of that year, followed by
the grant of detailed planning permission in early 1986.
[5]

Construction began on the site shortly after permission was granted, with Charles, Prince of
Wales laying the foundation stone of the terminal building, designed by R Seifert and Partners, on 2
May 1986. The first aircraft landed on 31 May 1987, with the first commercial services operating
from 26 October 1987. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened London City Airport in November of the
same year.
[5]

Placing a commercial airport into congested airspace (the London Terminal Area (TMA)) was a
challenge for the National Air Traffic Services (NATS). In the event, a
new airspace authority, Thames Radar, was established to provide a radar control service and
provide safe separations for London City arrivals and departures

Opening and runway extension[edit]

de Havilland Canada Dash 7making its steep approach to LCY from the west as another London City Airways DHC-7
prepares to depart to Amsterdam in 1988

BAE 146 aircraft takes off from London City Airport
In 1988, the first full year of operation, the airport handled 133,000 passengers. The earliest
scheduled flights were operated to and from Plymouth, Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. With a
runway of only 1,080 m (3,543 ft) in length, and a slope of theglidepath of 7.5 (for noise abatement
reasons), the airport could only be used by a very limited number of aircraft types, principally
the Dash 7 and the smaller Dornier Do 228. In 1989, the airport submitted a planning application to
extend the runway, allowing the use of a larger number of aircraft types.
[5][6]

In 1990 the airport handled 230,000 passengers, but the figures fell drastically after the Gulf
War and did not recover until 1993, when 245,000 passengers were carried. By this time the
extended runway had been approved and opened (on 5 March 1992). At the same time the
glidepath was reduced to 5.5, still steep for a European airport (the slope of an airport glidepath is
normally 3.0), but sufficient to allow a larger range of aircraft, including the BAe 146 regional
jet liner, to serve the airport.
[5]
But anyway, with a wind direction from the east (of 14 knots or more),
approaches must be done from the west and the City of London. Here several tall buildings makes
approaches from the west unnecessarily hazardous and may disturb both ILS-system (the localizer
and glideslope instrumentation in cockpit). Tall buildings also forces pilots to use "canyon landing"
techniques (which among other things calls for the use of the so-called speed brakes). Also for
approaches from the east, the tall buildings make go-arounds unnecessarily difficult, and due to the
short runway late go-arounds are more often called for.
By 1995 passenger numbers reached half a million, and Mowlem sold the airport to Irish
businessman Dermot Desmond. Five years later passenger numbers had climbed to 1,580,000, and
over 30,000 flights were operated. In 2002 a jet centre catering to corporate aviation was opened, as
well as additional aircraft stands at the western end of the apron. In 2003 a new ground holding point
was established at the eastern end of the runway, enabling aircraft awaiting takeoff to hold there
whilst other aircraft landed.
[5]

Further expansion[edit]
On 2 December 2005, London City Airport DLR station opened on a branch of the Docklands Light
Railway, providing rail access to the airport for the first time, and providing fast rail links to Canary
Wharf and the City of London. By 2006, more than 2.3 million passengers used London City Airport.
In October 2006, the airport was purchased from Dermot Desmond by a consortium comprising
insurer AIG Financial Products Corp. and Global Infrastructure Partners(GIP). In the final quarter of
2008 GIP increased its stake in the airport to 75%, the remaining 25% belonging to Highstar
Capital.
[7]

London City Airport was granted planning permission to construct an extended apron with four
additional aircraft parking stands and four new gates to the east of the terminal in 2001. Work is now
completed, with the four new stands and gates operational as of 30 May 2008. They are carried on
piles above the water of the King George V Dock.
[8]

In September 2009, British Airways commenced the first scheduled transatlantic flights from the
airport, with a twice daily service to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport using a
specially configured Airbus A318 aircraft. (Technically, only the eastbound leg is transatlantic, as the
plane cannot carry enough fuel due to take off weight limitations because of the short runway at the
airport; on the westbound leg, the plane stops in Shannon Airport to refuel, during which time
passengers avail of US border preclearance.) The A318 is the smallest airliner to
operate transatlantic since BA's corporate predecessor, BOAC, began transatlantic jet flights on 4
October 1958, with the De Havilland Comet 4. The first day of the service, one week after Willie
Walsh of British Airways pledged to the UN that aviation would deliver deep cuts in carbon
emissions, was disrupted by activists from Plane Stupid and Fight the Flights dressed up in business
suits.
[9][10][11]

London Olympics 2012[edit]
Before the Games of the XXX Olympiad it was reported that over 7 million (in 2011) was invested in
the terminal to extend the Central Search area and adding other improvements.
[12]
During the
Games, though, the airport operated only restricted hours and experienced street block closures (for
security), and the low capacity ramp and short runway excluded most long-range arrivals. However,
it was the closest airport to Olympic Park, with normal scheduled travel by road of 15 min.
[13]

2030 vision[edit]
In early 2013 work is expected to start on a 15m investment programme to refurbish the western
pier with new departure gates and improved lounges and to redevelop the international arrivals hall
and baggage handling areas.
[14]
The airport also has produced a master plan outlining their vision for
growth up to 2030. The plan shows an expansion of the airport to a maximum capacity of 8 million
passengers per annum, without the addition of a second runway, or significant expansion of the
airport boundaries.
[15]

Operations[edit]

London City Airport runway withCanary Wharf in the background.
Due to the airport's proximity to Central London, it has stringent rules imposed to limit the noise
impact from aircraft operations. This, together with the physical dimensions of the 1,508 m (4,948 ft)
long runway and the steep glideslope, limits the aircraft types that can use London City Airport.
Mid-range airliners seen at London City include the ATR 42 (both 300 and 500 variants), ATR
72, Airbus A318, DHC Dash 8,BAe 146/Avro RJ, Dornier 328, Embraer ERJ 135, Embraer
170/175,
[16]
Embraer 190/195 and Fokker 50. On 30 January 2009, trials were completed
successfully with the ATR 72500, leading to its approval for use at the airport.
[17]
The Embraer
190SR underwent trials from 28 March 2009, and thereafter gained approval.
[17]
The Fokker
F70, BAe Jetstream 41, Saab 340and Saab 2000 also have approval for scheduled operations at the
airport. A number of airlines including Swiss and Odysseyhave ordered the Bombardier CS100 with
the intention of operating it from London City once delivered and approved.
[18][19]

Corporate aircraft such as the Beechcraft Super King Air, Cessna CitationJet series, Hawker
400, Hawker 800, Piaggio Avantiand variants of the Dassault Falcon business jets are increasingly
common. The airport is not available for use by single-engine aircraft or helicopters; recreational
flights and single-pilot operations are also not permitted.
[3]

The size and layout of the airport and overall complexity caused by the lack of taxiways mean that
the airport gets very busy during peak hours. The air traffic controllers have to deal with over 38
flights an hour on a runway requiring a lengthy backtrack for each aircraft needing to depart from
runway 27 or land on runway 09.
Operations are restricted to 06:30 to 22:30 Monday to Friday, 06:30 to 13:00 on Saturdays and
12:30 to 22:30 on Sundays. These restrictions are related to noise.
[1]

The size of the airport, constrained by the water-filled Royal Albert and King George V docks to the
north and south respectively, means that there are no covered maintenance facilities for aircraft.
Terminal[edit]
London City Airport is small compared with the other five London international airports. Owing to its
proximity to London's Docklands and financial district its main users are business travellers, but the
number of leisure destinations served (like Palma de Mallorca or Chambry) has increased in recent
years. Inside the terminal there are 17 check-in desks plus self-service kiosks for Air France, British
Airways, Lufthansa, Luxair and Swiss European Air Lines. There are fifteen gates at the Airport.
London City Airport is also the closest private jet centre to central London.