Guide to London City Airport
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Guide to London City Airport LONDON CITY AIRPORT Business Traveller Airport Guides 1 CONTENTS 02 History 03 Overview 06 Check-in/which airlines fly where 07 Getting there/parking 08 Departure lounge: dining and retail 09 Hotels/meetings 12 Area map EDITORIAL TEAM Perry Publications, Cardinal House, 39-40 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4TE tel +44 (0)20 7647 6330 www.businesstraveller.com www.twitter.com/btuk Editorial director Tom Otley Deputy editor Michelle Mannion Art director Annie Harris Features editor Felicity Cousins Sub-editors Jenny Southan, Richard Rees Online editor Mark Caswell Contributor Hannah Walker Editorial tel number +44 (0)20 7647 6356 Email address [email protected] Map design Annie Harris. Map based on Googlemaps and is not for navigational purposes. Publisher Rania Apthorpe Managing director Julian Gregory Online sales manager Ahmar Shah Advertising tel +44 (0)20 7647 6361 Email address [email protected] Subscriptions tel +44 (0)844 477 0943 email [email protected] LONDON CITY AIRPORT Business Traveller Airport Guides 1 LONDON CITY AIRPORT HISTORY LONDON CITY has come a long way in the in the borough of Newham. Its location Throw in the fact that although City capacity and scheduled services have been past couple of decades, writes Tom Otley. has always been both an advantage and airport’s convenience should have made it an transformed beyond all recognition, as can be When it opened in 1987, only two small disadvantage. Because of nearby housing, immediate success, the roads were poorly seen from the articles on the following pages. airlines used it – Brymon Airways and Eurocity the airport was given planning permission on signposted, public transport inconvenient We hope you enjoy our guide to London Express. Both operated slow turbo-prop the condition that it operated only at certain and the local area didn’t generate many City airport. We intend to update it, so please planes on two of the most popular business times, with weekend flights cut to a minimum. passengers – since Canary Wharf and the let us know your thoughts at talktous@ routes at that time, Paris and Brussels. That restriction still stands, so weekday Excel exhibition centre had yet to be built – businesstraveller.com Originally conceived as a specialist morning flights don’t get under way until after and it’s a wonder anyone thought it was a facility for short-range flights to major 6.30am, with the last service landing at about good idea to construct an airport there. business cities in the UK and mainland 9pm. In addition, its short runway – it was Fast forward 23 years and the story is Europe, London City was built within the originally 762 metres long – meant that only a very different one. An extended runway former King George V docks at Silvertown certain plane types could use it. has helped to increase London City’s LONDON CITY AIRPORT Business Traveller Airport Guides 2 LONDON CITY AIRPORT: OVERVIEW THE FINANCIAL CRISIS wasn’t a good time be completed in January 2011. Most of the for anyone in the aviation industry – so imagine work is being done out of hours to minimise what it was like for a niche airport serving the disruption – the airport is closed weekdays business and financial services population of the from 9.45pm to 5.15am and from 12.40pm City and Docklands, writes Michelle Mannion. on Saturdays to 11am on Sundays. “We had a particularly difficult 2009,” says “Security is the only part of the airport Richard Gooding, chief executive of London that the regular passenger now touches,” City airport. “We were running at about 14 per Gooding says. “They’ve checked themselves cent down on the previous year in terms of in before they arrive, are travelling with hand passenger numbers. It was the business luggage only and they know their way through community and, in particular, the financial the airport. But there’s this one dominant services community that hit us hard.” transaction in the middle, so we wanted to do Thankfully, things are picking up. “We’re it right, and make sure it was swift because currently looking like we’ll recover about half that’s what the core London City (LCY) of that in 2010 – we should have handled passenger comes here for – to get here easily 2.9 million passengers by the end of the year, and pass through the facilities quickly.” and I would expect to get the rest of it back After security procedures were tightened in [in 2011],” Gooding says. “We’re cautiously December 2009, this was an area the airport optimistic that there are some signs of global was struggling with. “We were not operating at recovery in financial services, in which case we the through-put rates that we would have been should see a return to growth before long.” happy with, which was causing some queuing To keep it on the road to recovery, the – and you don’t do queuing at LCY,” Gooding airport is upgrading its facilities to be ready says. To combat this, it put in two temporary for when passengers return. Some £7 million lanes in February 2010, to be replaced by is being invested in putting an extra floor the permanent ones. “That has enabled us to into the terminal building, providing a further get the queuing process down to an average 400 sqm of space (for a walk-through video of of three minutes. We’re achieving that at the how the completed terminal will look, visit lcy. moment but as we grow, we’ve got to make co.uk/downloads/flythroughvideos.zip). “We’re sure we keep in line with it,” Gooding says. anticipating growth returning and we want to be ready for it, so we are doing the building LOUNGE REVAMP work upfront of the demand so that less people The departure area is also receiving a revamp, are affected,” Gooding says. with further seating, dining and retail outlets. “There’s been a gradual switch over the past SECURITY BOOST five to ten years – we used to have lots of The number of security lanes is being doubled landside facilities but passengers don’t want from four to eight and the departure lounge is that now as they are spending less time in the being expanded. The floor has now been put check-in area, so we need to concentrate the in and is being fitted out, with the project to space allocation on airside,” Gooding explains. LONDON CITY AIRPORT Business Traveller Airport Guides 3 LONDON CITY AIRPORT: OVERVIEW There are no details yet on what kind of departure and arrival. shops will be added, but he says: “We’re London City says that looking to be more specialist and niche if you are travelling rather than selling 200 Marlboro and a with hand luggage bottle of whisky. Our jewellery outlet [Gassan, only – as about half of which opened in 2008] has exceeded our its passengers do – expectations and that might give a clue as and arrive 15 minutes to the sort of direction we might go in.” before departure, Making sure the departure area is fit for you will get your flight purpose is vital because London City doesn’t (20-25 minutes with have individual airline lounges. “Our approach checked bags), while is to make it a bit like a business class lounge on your return you anyway,” Gooding says. “So you’ve got comfy can go from plane to seats and somewhere to plug your laptop taxi in five minutes in – the only difference is you pay for a drink, (15 minutes with but some airlines give you a voucher for a free checked bags). one.” Complimentary wifi is also available. “[The plan is to] stay in our market BUILT FOR SPEED niche as a primarily In the next 20 years, LCY estimates that it business travel airport,” can develop its facilities to handle about eight Gooding says. “We million passengers a year, and in 2008 it was are not equipped for granted approval to move from 80,000 to larger aeroplanes – the 120,000 movements (take-offs and landings) airport is built around 100-seat aircraft – or for creative and innovative, but just to be routine pretty good given it was a rotten year,” Gooding a year. To handle those extra numbers, its plan the needs of a low-cost leisure market. We’re and thorough and nice, those sorts of words says. “The stop in Shannon has become a huge is not to do anything overly ambitious such as built around the idea of getting people through that people tend to forget about.” success because it takes only 25 minutes and extend its 1,508-metre long runway – which quickly and being close to the centre of London you’ve cleared US customs and immigration, so would allow it to increase its current maximum – we save people time. That’s the plan going NEW YORK, NEW YORK when you get to New York it’s only five minutes flight length of about two and a half to three forward because we think there is a part of the Still, that isn’t stopping London City from from plane to taxi [if you are travelling light].” hours, but which would be “wildly impractical” market that wants to buy that.” spreading its wings – in September 2009, it saw Mike Doyle, customer experience product in terms of space and economics, Gooding He adds: “We’ve squeezed in to provide this the launch of its first transatlantic route, British manager at BA, says: “It has received some says.