City Airport chief: Post-Brexit London needs us to expand – and fast
London City Airport’s proposed expansion is “critically important” to keeping the capital ahead of international rivals, its chief executive has argued, as the business travel hub fights with a local council for permission to go ahead with the project.
City Airport has been locked in a battle with Newham Council over plans to expand its passenger capacity from 6.5 million to 9 million, by extending flying hours.
Estimates suggest the expansion would create over 4,000 jobs and contribute around £700 million in GVA to the capital.
However last month, Newham’s strategic development committee voted to block the proposals, citing concerns over noise pollution.
Speaking to City PM, Robert Sinclair said the airport – which continues to host the highest proportion of business travellers relative to its size across all of London’s hubs – needed to expand to allow the capital to compete.
“So I do think air travel and retaining that air travel and connectivity is critically, and I’ll use that word critically, important to London’s future.”
The airport promptly launched an appeal against the decision in a bid to keep the project alive. Both sides now await a verdict from the Planning Inspectorate.
Sinclair argued that in a post-Brexit era, which sees London “facing challenges from other global cities… for capital, for talent, for business,” greater international connectivity, especially for corporate travel, will be essential in staying ahead and taking advantage of the cities’ strong geographical position.
“There are challenges out there from Frankfurt, from Dubai, from Singapore, from Paris, from New York and I think one of the things that has always made London so attractive is its connectivity.”
The east-London hub’s struggles come amid a slew of activity in the sector, with airports including Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted and Luton currently at the proposal or implementation stage of plans to expand.
“For a piece of infrastructure that’s critical to London in terms of its international connectivity and its business travel… it’s right that there should be an opportunity for organisations such as us to appeal those local decisions,” Sinclair insisted.
“There are challenges out there from Frankfurt, from Dubai, from Singapore, from Paris, from New York and I think one of the things that has always made London so attractive is its connectivity.”
The airport itself – which serves major airlines such as British Airways, KLM and Lufthansa – is a favourite of the Square Mile, being just 13 minutes from Canary Wharf, which makes its passenger traffic crucial to the health of corporate travel from the capital.
3 million passengers passed through in 2022, down from pre-pandemic levels of over 5 million – with around 50 per cent of those being business flights.
Despite the aviation sectors’ record breaking summer season this year, there have been concerns over corporate travels’ lagging recovery from the pandemic – particularly ahead of the winter months when leisure demand typically quietens.
Sinclair told City PM he doesn’t expect most major airports to see business travel recover to pre-pandemic levels until next year, with some waiting until 2025.
“So your likes of Heathrow, Gatwick, which you know have been in this 85 to 90 per cent level…. they may not be back at pre-pandemic levels next year, but they might be getting close, so 2024 to 2025.”
However, he stressed that the airport was “optimistic,” about the recovery of corporate trips as a whole.
“There were plenty of people who were prepared to write off business travel in its entirety. Thankfully, those views were proven wrong very quickly,” he said, with demand still “growing steadily ever since [the pandemic].”
“There has always been and there will always be a desire for people in business settings to, you know, have a face to face meeting, so I think there will be an underlying demand for business travel.”
A spokesperson for Newham Council said that the strategic development committee “voted unanimously to reject” the Airport’s expansion plans due to environmental and noise concerns.