Grounded: Council blocks plan for London City Airport passenger and hours expansion
Newham Council has voted unanimously to reject London City Airport’s plans to expand its passenger capacity from 5m to 9m and lengthen flying hours.
Following an extended meeting this afternoon, councillors on Newham’s Strategic Development Committee voted to block the airport’s bid due to concerns over noise pollution.
London City said it was “disappointed with the decision” adding that its revised proposals would have created almost 2,200 jobs at the airport and contributed an “additional £702m in GVA to London’s economy”.
“We firmly believe in our proposals, which are carefully balanced and make best use of our infrastructure. We are actively considering next steps,” the airport added.
The application will now be referred to the GLA for a final decision.
The east London hub – which is popular among business travellers due to its proximity to the City – had been plotting to boost passenger numbers and extend the airport’s flying hours, but has faced push-back from local councillors and campaigners.
Its proposals aimed to extend operating hours to 6:30pm on Saturday, with an additional hour added in the busy summer season for arriving flights.
A previous 25 year curfew had banned planes from flying between 12.30pm Saturday and Sunday, with the intention of quelling residents noise concerns.
From Monday through to Friday, three additional flights would also have been added in the first half hour of the day – between 6:30am and 7am.
Arguing in favour this afternoon, Robert Sinclair, London City’s chief executive, said “with demand for air travel now returning strongly, we need to plan ahead for the future and the two main aspects of our proposals are as follows, to increase the current annual passenger cap from 5m to 9m.”
“Extending the operating periods on Saturday afternoons will allow our airlines to serve the very significant demand for travel on weekends, with flights leaving and returning on the same day, giving more choice and more destinations.”
He added: “Our major airlines, including British Airways, support these proposals. They believe this additional flexibility will unlock this additional investment.”
Lloyd Johnson, chairman of Newham’s Chamber of Commerce, said “for me, it’s so important that we see growth within the borough and if we are asking the airport to not grow we’re essentially asking the airport to go backwards.”
Johnson argued that the plans needed to be pushed forward in order to “bring more jobs, bring real honest jobs to local people within the borough and really help them improve their skill sets.”
On the opposite side, councillors from regional boroughs and local campaign groups said that raised noise levels during the additional operating hours would harm Newham’s residents, and raised concerns over the project’s environmental impact.
Nate Higgins – speaking on behalf of the Green party – described the airport as a “blight” on residents and “an inexcusable misuse of land in such a densely populated London borough.”
London City refute that the proposals would add to noise pollution levels, as only cleaner, quieter “new generation aircraft” would be allowed during the extended Saturday hours.
This, they say, would also “incentivise airlines to replace older fleets in order to benefit from the flexibility,” offered by the airport’s new hours.
According to the briefing summary submitted to Newham, an environmental statement accompanying the proposals concludes that “no significant adverse impacts” of the plans had been identified.
London City’s rejection comes amid a slew of activity in the airport sector, which has seen numerous major hubs – including Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick – attempt to push ahead plans to expand capacity.
Last week, Gatwick Airport submitted a planning application to the government for a £2.2bn second runway which it said would double per-annum passenger numbers to 75m.
London Stansted and Luton are both seeking to boost passenger capacity through planning submissions, whilst Heathrow is currently awaiting the outcome of a review over its long-delayed third runway.
A spokesperson for Newham Council said this afternoon that “the refusal reflects the council’s continued concerns over the noise and environmental impact of the airport on those living nearby. These concerns were shared by a number of other boroughs who also submitted objections to the proposals.”