UK Government Approves Controversial Expansion of London City Airport

The United Kingdom’s new Labour government has approved proposals to expand the passenger capacity of London City Airport (LCY) by a third. Climate activists and local campaigners have criticized this decision.

Last summer, the local government Newham Council initially rejected the airport’s expansion plan due to concerns about air and noise pollution in the heavily populated area. Eight other nearby boroughs also opposed the expansion plan.

Following an appeal process this week, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh partly overturned Newham’s decision.

Details of the Expansion Approval

LCY will now be permitted to operate three additional flights during its first half-hour of operation, between 6:30 AM and 7:00 AM on weekdays. Accordingly, the cap on airport passengers will rise annually from 6.5 million to 9 million by 2031.

However, the government rejected the airport’s proposal to extend its Saturday operating hours to 6:30 PM. Currently, LCY closes at 12:30 PM on Saturdays.

Photo: London City Airport. Courtesy of Kate Olfans / Unsplash

The government approval stipulates that only “cleaner, quieter, next-generation aircraft” should be used for LCY’s additional morning flights. The use of newer aircraft means fewer people would be “exposed to significant levels of daytime noise” in 2031 than in 2019, even with the additional flights, it noted.

The decision also requires LCY to contribute more to its community fund, which supports non-profits in the communities around the runway, and pay for sound insulation in nearby homes and businesses.

Reactions and Concerns

Newham Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said she is “deeply concerned that our residents will be seriously harmed by the impact of further air-flight noise” from the additional flights.

A spokesperson for London Mayor Sadiq Khan echoed those worries. “The mayor has a long-standing position on airport expansion in London linked to the negative impact on air quality, noise, and London’s ability to reach net zero by 2030,” they said.

Photo: London City Airport. Courtesy of Andrew Baker

The expansion also contradicts the advice of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), the government’s independent climate change advisor, which has recommended no increase in UK airport capacity.

Four other London airports—Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), Stansted (STN), and Luton (LTN)—are also angling to grow through either additional runways or expanded terminals. Johann Beckford, a senior policy adviser at the think tank Green Alliance, said the government’s decision on LCY’s expansion “sets a worrying precedent” for future airport planning applications.

With Zoom meetings replacing business trips in the post-pandemic era, LCY saw just 3.4 million passenger movements in 2023, down from 5.1 million in 2019. During the first quarter of 2023, a quarter of flights departed LCY with fewer than half of their seats filled, London Assembly Member Zack Polanski from the Green Party found.