London City Airport can increase flights by 40%

There has been widespread anger at the Government’s decision to approve  London City Airport’s expansion plans, which will increase the number of passengers passing through the airport from 6.5 million to 9 million.

The airport’s weekend curfew will remain however, meaning no flights will take off from between 12:30pm Saturday and 12:30pm Sunday.

The original plans were rejected by Newham Council last year, but have now been approved by the Planning Inspectorate, on appeal.

Following the announcement, the New Economics Foundation said on X (formerly Twitter): ‘This decision puts the interests of a small number of wealthy frequent flyers over the wellbeing of us all. London City Airport operates low-efficiency planes, on routes doable by train, for high-income passengers.’

Prior to the decision they had published new analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data to support this, reveaing that nearly two thirds (64%) of flights from London City in 2019 could have been completed in two train journeys or less. 

Furthermore, around 43% of seats were occupied by passengers who flew at least once every two months, while the median household income of leisure passengers at the airport was around 34% higher than the average UK air passenger.

The smaller aircraft that use the airport are also problematic, with per passenger emissions being 60% higher than at other London airports, on the same routes.

Dr Alex Chapman, Senior Economist at the New Economics Foundation said: ‘The new government is keen to cut planning red tape and get the country building but not all proposals are made equal. New developments can’t come at the expense of the climate or low-income communities.

‘The proposed expansion of London City airport fails on both tests. Indeed, the proposed expansion directly contravenes the advice of the Climate Change Committee – an expert group created by the last Labour government.

‘Our analysis shows that expansion will not only make it harder for the UK to meet its climate commitments, but it will also offer little to no economic benefit, all while damaging the wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of people who live nearby.’

Once the decision was made public, Social media reacted quickly:

Dr. Aaron Thierry: 18th July – @theCCCuk recommendeds an immediate halt to any airport expansion. 19th August – @GOVUK approves the expansion of London City Airport. And here I thought we were in a #ClimateEmergency

Patrick Lee: London is already the most exposed city in the world to air pollution from planes. The planes at London’s six airports expose inhabitants to the equivalent of 3.23 million cars’ worth of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions every year. Shameful decision!

Alex Chapman: The new government has approved the expansion of London City Airport’s capacity from 6.5m to 9m passengers per year. Disappointing that it took Labour just 6 weeks in office to breach the advice of the Climate Change Committee – the advisory body Labour created in 2008.

Cllr Benali Hamdache: Labour had a choice on London City Airport. Expanding it: more flights for the wealthiest and climate disaster for the rest of us. Or closing it and building tens of thousands of new affordable homes.