Flights rise at City airport

CITY Airport yesterday won approval to increase its number of annual flights by 50 per cent by the end of 2010.

The increase at the airport, where 70 per cent of passengers are business travellers, is expected to boost the number of people flying per year from 3.3m to 3.9m.

The CBI welcomed the news, saying it was vital to London’s development, and to the 2012 Olympics.

The expansion, which takes the maximum number of flights per year to 120,000 from 80,000, is expected to create around 1,000 new jobs.

Newham council gave the planning application the go-ahead yesterday, saying it would pump £26m into the economy. More than ten airlines use City, including British Airways (BA), Air France and Lufthansa. BA is set to launch a business-only service to New York JFK from the airport at the end of September.