London City airport has been granted the rights to increase the number of early flights as part of an expansion plan, but a bid to extend weekend operating hours has been rejected.
The airport’s operator – following an appeal against previously-refused planning permission in July 2023 – will be able to raise its annual passenger cap from 6.5 million to 9 million.
But while it will be permitted to handle three additional early weekday flights over its first 30min of operations, the operator has failed to convince the UK government to allow the airport to remain open another 6h on Saturdays.
Chief executive Alison FitzGerald says the operator is “disappointed” with the decision not to allow the airport to operate beyond the Saturday 12:30 curfew.
It had sought to incentivise carriers to accelerate re-fleeting with more efficient aircraft, by limiting use of the additional slots – both in the morning and during the extended weekend hours – to new-generation types such as the Embraer E2 and Airbus A220.
The government’s decision, however, states: “While the extension to Saturday operating hours would increase the rate of re-fleeting, this would be necessary in any event…albeit it would occur at a slower rate.”
It acknowledges that the additional morning flights and removal of the curfew “would encourage growth” but says “they are not in themselves vital to unlock the potential for growth”.
