London City Airport requested approval of a new flight procedure

One of London’s six airports, London City (LCY), is located in the heart of London’s financial district. As the airport is located in an urban area, various noise management activities are implemented to minimise its impact. Due to the same locational requirements, a steep approach angle is required for aircraft to land at the airport. Furthermore, one of the airport’s characteristics is its relatively short runway, with a total length of 1,508 metres.

Following the above, London City Airport announced on 27 January 2025 that it had submitted an application to the Civil Aviation Authority to allow Airbus A320neo aircraft to operate at the airport, reports Simple Flying. The airport is requesting approval for a new flight procedure, as the current approach angle limits access to only those aircraft that are certified for steep approaches. Due to these restrictions, the largest aircraft currently permitted to operate from London City Airport are the Airbus A318, Airbus A220-100, and Embraer E190-E2 and E195-E2. The capacities of these aircraft limit the number of passengers carried per operation, and the range of destinations to which flights can be made from the airport.

The official website of London City Airport states that one of the factors regulating noise in the area around the airport is the restriction of the airport’s operating hours. It is stipulated that aircraft are allowed to take off and land between 6:30 am and 10:30 pm on weekdays. The restrictions are much stricter at weekends, with Saturday operating hours being from 6:30 am to 1:00 pm, and Sundays between 12:30 pm and 10:30 pm. As the airport planned to increase the number of passengers from 6.5 million to 9 million by 2031 in its annual passenger growth plan in 2024, it planned to achieve this by introducing quieter and more environmentally friendly aircraft of a newer generation and a larger passenger capacity, without increasing the number of flights due to the aforementioned operational limitations per day. In this way, the potential approval of the acceptance of the Airbus A320neo aircraft at the airport would also enable the introduction of new routes, covering most of Europe, and potential modifications of the said aircraft, in order to reduce its overall weight, would theoretically enable the transatlantic connection of London City Airport. Several airlines, which are already present at London City, such as British Airways, easyJet and Wizz Air, have Airbus A320neo in their fleet, and with the aforementioned approval, London City could also attract low-cost carriers.

All of the above would provide a range of economic and environmental benefits while reducing the impact on the environment and local populations near the airport, supporting sustainable aviation, as well as increasing the choice of potential destinations to which one could fly from London City Airport.

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