Summary London City Airport (LCY) has been allowed to increase its annual passenger numbers from 6 to 9 million by 2031. However, the airport was not allowed to extend its operating hours on Saturdays from 12:30 to 18:30. That was despite the fact that LCY offered to only allow next-generation aircraft to operate during the extended periods, including on Saturdays.
While London City Airport (LCY) has been allowed to increase its annual passenger cap from 6 to 9 million, the airport failed to convince local lawmakers to extend its operating hours on Saturdays. Raising the cap On August 19, LCY announced that its annual passenger cap had been raised from 6 to 9 million, with the airport also being allowed to operate three additional flights during the first 30 minutes of operations each working day. According to the 2022 application to the London Borough of Newham, the passenger cap would increase to 9 million by 2031.
LCY begins operating flights at 6:30 local time (UTC +1), with the now-approved plan of the airport’s operations resulting in nine flights operated between 6:30 and 6:59. Previously, the cap was six flights during that timeframe. At the same time, LCY emphasized that its application did not include an increase in the maximum annual flights from/to the airport or any significant infrastructure changes.
Still, the airport highlighted that its plan included the country’s first commitment to only allow “cleaner, quieter, next-generation aircraft” to operate from LCY in any of the extended periods. Will the approval to operate out of London City Airport (LCY) improve the Embraer E195-E2's marketability? Disappointment about Saturday’s operating hours Alison FitzGerald, the chief executive officer (CEO) of LCY, stated that the airport welcomed the increase of its annual passenger number cap yet was disappointed that it was not allowed to operate until 18:30 on Saturdays. When it pushed forward its application, LCY expressed the desire to extend the closing time on Saturdays from 12:30 to 18:30, with an additional hour for arriving flights only during the summer (up to 12 maximum flights).
“As the Government has recognised in its decision, rejecting our request to extend our Saturday afternoon operating hours will slow down airlines bringing cleaner, quieter next generation aircraft to the airport.” The airport’s CEO added that local residents would have benefited from having only next-generation aircraft flying from/to LCY throughout the whole week and not only the extended operating hours during the weekdays and on Saturdays. In addition to the limited flying hours on Saturdays, the airport has an eight-hour night curfew and was permitted to welcome flights between 12:30 and 22:00 on Sundays.
In total, all airlines have been allowed to operate up to 111,000 flights per year at the airport, with an annual cap of 400 flights that can arrive or depart LCY within the last 30 minutes of operations. Compared to a year prior, LCY will have two additional destinations on its map this winter season. Fewer flights and seats However, data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that in 2024, airlines have scheduled 48,623 flights, compared to 50,825 flights in 2023.
While that has resulted in a preliminary 4.3% drop in the total itineraries from/to the airport, there have been only 0.2% fewer seats from/to LCY.
Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) have increased by 6.1% year-on-year (YoY). The overall experience was pleasant.
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