Thursday 14 September 2017 9:20 am

London City Airport is ramping up efforts to secure a new Crossrail station

London City Airport is ramping up efforts to secure a Crossrail station at the airport, chief operating officer Alison FitzGerald said today.

Speaking at the London Infrastructure Summit, FitzGerald said the airport was looking to lobby Crossrail “to see if we can get a Crossrail station at the airport”.

London City plans to embark on a new £370m development to build a much larger departure lounge, a flurry of new aircraft stands and a parallel taxi rank, and the airport is mulling how to cater for the improved capacity it will have in 2021, with passenger numbers forecast to grow from 4.5m to 6.5m.

“Over 51 per cent of our passengers are business, so they are very discerning,” FitzGerald said. “Speed is at the heart of our proposition.”

"What we need to make sure is all of the access to the airport is as optimum as it can be", FitzGerald said.

A London City spokesperson added:

The Elizabeth Line will be transformative for east-west travel in London and as the Royal Docks becomes an increasingly popular place to live, work and visit, we think there is a strong case for a station on the existing Crossrail route at Silvertown, serving the local community, businesses, and London City Airport, which last year welcomed a record 4.6m passengers.

The station concept is in development following an initial feasibility study, which demonstrates it is viable.

We are confident it would contribute to further regeneration and growth of the area.

Sir Terry Morgan, chairman at Crossrail was appointed the chairman of London City Airport in March this year.

And Transport for London (TfL), which will run the Elizabeth Line when the £14.8bn Crossrail project is complete, is not yet ruling out the development.

Howard Smith, operations director for the Elizabeth Line, said: “Our focus is on delivering the agreed Crossrail scheme on time and to budget, with the economically vital service through central London due to open in December 2018. At this point, we have not seen any formal feasibility or funding study from London City Airport on the potential extension of services.”