Master Plan

Master Plan2016

I am pleased to introduce this Master Plan which outlines how London City Airport (LCA) plans to develop over the next decade and beyond. It has been updated following the public consultation undertaken earlier this year and I hope it provides a significant level of certainty and clarity for the local community, local authorities and wider business and tourism interests regarding our plans for the future.
London City Airport handles almost 2.5 million passengers a year (mppa) and is a vital contributor to London’s economic success. It is a key attractor for foreign businesses looking to locate in London and a key factor in London’s status as a world city, with 59% of LCA’s flights currently serving the Square Mile and wider business market. The Airport also has a check-in time of 10 minutes for all flights, a very attractive feature for the business traveller.
At a more local level, the Airport is a force for regeneration which has not only created jobs and prosperity in the immediate area, but has also helped to spearhead the success of landmarks like Canary Wharf and ExCel London and drive recent and future extensions to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
We are also very well placed to continue to drive the economic prosperity flowing from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
But to do all this, we need to grow. In 2003 the Government published its Aviation White Paper which required all UK airports to set out master plans to grow through to 2030 to meet the increase in passenger demand. One of the key objectives of this paper was to maximise the use of existing runways and infrastructure to delay, reduce and in some cases eliminate the need to construct new runways, particularly in the South East of England. The purpose of this Master Plan is to reflect the principles of the White Paper and outline how we intend to turn its objectives into reality at LCA.
This document responds to that requirement and sets out how we plan to develop to allow us to handle 8 mppa by 2030. None of the plans would require the need to create an additional runway at LCA. In ad- dition, we already have a planning consent which will enable us to deliver some of the necessary growth.
The growth at London City Airport will have very little impact on the existing operation of the Airport. It will not affect our ‘no flights at night’ policy nor our 24 hour period clear of any flights at the weekend. There will also not be any larger capacity aircraft operating at the Airport and the development itself will be accommodated almost entirely within our existing ‘footprint’ – the area we or our sister companies currently own, or within King George V Dock. Any increase in aircraft noise as a result of our plans will be marginal as improvements in aircraft technology and the current tight
i
restrictions we impose will continue. Alongside this the opening of the extension of the DLR to the Airport in December 2005 means we now have significantly improved public transport links with a higher proportion of passengers (49%) accessing the Airport by rail than any other UK airport. These links will be strengthened further by the operation of Crossrail in the future, and LCA is a key supporter of this project.
Through co-operating with a wide variety of interested bodies, we will seek to further improve our already good environmental record concentrating on reducing our contribution to climate change and man- aging all emissions, particularly waste. In addition, we support the aviation industry’s inclusion in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which will allow the issue of aviation greenhouse gas emissions to be effectively and responsibly addressed.
LCA continues to be well placed to meet the travel needs of Londoners and support London’s position as a World City. Our plans will create more good quality jobs and maximise the economic benefit for all in the surrounding area.
We will continue to work with our local communities, with government at local, regional and national levels and with our airline partners to ensure that future growth is delivered in a responsible and financially sustainable way.
I hope you find this useful, please don’t hesitate to contact me or my team about any aspect of it.
Richard Gooding Chief Executive
November 2006