Capital flight: 3m flew from London City Airport in 2022 in bid to avoid travel chaos at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted
London City Airport has delivered its year-end goal of 3 million travellers after banking on the disruption that plagued its rivals over the past summer.
The Newham hub announced today passenger levels were up 318 per cent on last year’s levels, but nevertheless trailed behind 2019’s 5.1 million visitors.
The airport capitalised on rivals’ delays over the summer, reporting a significant growth in leisure travel, as all of its five busiest days were recorded between June and July.
“2022 proved how resilient we are as a business and just how much our passengers value the speed, convenience and consistently high levels of customer service which we offer at London City,” said chief executive Robert Sinclair.
London City (LCY) was crowned in November as the UK’s best airport for security waiting times.
A survey by consumer champion Which? showed that the airport’s average queuing time at security was 12 minutes – well below the likes of Heathrow, Luton and Gatwick.
According to Sinclair, the airport will be even better positioned in 2023 as flying from LCY will be “easier in the year ahead, with significant investments in security and in our departures area.”
Passengers will no longer be required to remove their laptops and liquids from their carry-on luggage as the airport is upgrading all its security lanes with 3D scanners by April.
LCY made the headlines last month after it submitted a revised planning application to the borough of Newham.
Aiming to expand its annual passenger cap to nine million by 2031, the airport said the revised proposal incorporates feedback from a 10-week consultation it launched earlier this year.