London City Airport targets leisure travel with bid for A320neo
London City Airport has submitted an application to Britain’s aviation regulator to enable flights using Airbus’s A320neo aircraft, it revealed on Monday.
The Newham-based hub said it sees the introduction of the A320neo as “key to building its leisure offering,” given the aircraft can carry over 180 passengers and travel over 1,000km.
London City has traditionally been seen as a business travel-focused hub and is popular among City folk due to its proximity to Canary Wharf.
But demand for business travel has recovered more slowly than expected following the pandemic, with a surge in home working and use of Zoom and Teams for office meetings meaning last minute trips from London to Zurich are becoming less frequent.
“The potential introduction of the A320neo aircraft at London City Airport is incredibly exciting,” Alison Fitzgerald, London City’s chief executive said.
“It would broaden the range of leisure destinations for our passengers, enable growth without increasing the number of flight movements, deliver much needed economic growth and accelerate re-fleeting to cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft.”
The move comes after the government in August granted the airport permission to expand its passenger cap from 6.5m to 9m by 2031, overturning a prior ruling from Newham Council.
Regulatory approval would enable London City to reach its permitted passenger passenger cap with “fewer flight movements, stimulating economic growth while maintaining operational efficiency,” the airport claimed on Monday.
According to Sky News’ Mark Kleinman, Fitzgerald had written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves earlier in January to inform her of the hub’s plans.
It was widely revealed last week that Reeves is set to give her backing to major expansion plans at Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton Airport as part of her pledge to revive economic growth.