London City Airport has announced more than five million passengers travelled through the airport in 2019 with business travellers making up 45 per cent of the total, the highest amount in the airport’s 33-year history.
The announcement comes just a month after the airport was awarded ‘Level 3+ (Neutrality)’ status – its highest accreditation – in recognition of its work in managing, reducing and offsetting all the CO2 emissions under its control. Gatwick Airport is the only other London-classed airport to have this accreditation.
The increase in passengers using London City Airport is largely down its proximity to central London and the continual addition of new flight routes, such as Dundee and San Sebastian launching in 2020.
“The airport is about getting people into London as quickly as possible. It only takes roughly 10 minutes to get through the airport and passengers can be on the DLR and at Bank in 20 minutes, so it’s feasible to be in your meeting 45 minutes after leaving the aircraft,” Joe Rankin, head of communications at London City Airport told M&IT.
The airport is currently undergoing an investment of half-a-billion pounds with the aim of increasing capacity and improving facilities.
“We’re in the middle of City Airport Programme redevelopment which will transform an airport built in the 80s for far fewer passengers, into an airport that can meet the expectations of more than five million passengers. Following that, there will also be terminal redevelopment work,” added Rankin.
The most popular route remains Amsterdam, with a total of 664,621 passengers travelling between the Dutch capital and London City Airport in 2019, representing an increase of 6.9 per cent on the previous year.
Edinburgh (511,116) and Dublin (460,132) continue to be the second and third most popular routes, respectively.
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A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
