LONDON CITY AIRPORT REPORTS GROWING ‘LOCAL APPEAL’

London City Airport’s appeal with the local population is growing, with new data showing that more people living within a three mile radius of the gateway used it in 2018 than ever before.New analysis by the airport of 2017, and 2018 Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) postcode data, has found that in 2018, 143,000 departing passengers used the airport who live within a three-mile radius – a 22% increase from 117,000 passengers in 2017.


When residents are combined with departing passengers that were visiting or working in the local area, the number of passengers in a three-mile radius totalled 547,227 in 2018, more than 11% of the total passengers using the airport last year.


Journeys originating in four East London boroughs nearby also saw a marked increase.

Residents, local business workers, and tourists starting their journey in Barking and Dagenham grew by the highest margin year-on-year, up 75%, alongside Greenwich (34%) and Hackney (7%).

In the airport’s home borough, Newham, passengers increased 10% year-on-year, representative of 350,000 passengers.


A new video released released today, introduces some of the local people choosing London City Airport (LCY) as their gateway for trips abroad, with destinations including Split, Rotterdam and Ibiza.

The airport has added Prague, Budapest, Vilnius and Antwerp to its route map this year.

The rise in local passengers reflects an ongoing trend around London City Airport, in the heart of East London, which is home to one of the fastest-growing populations in the UK – outstripping anywhere else in the city in terms of growth in jobs, homes and office space.

LCY’s CEO, Rbert Sinclair, said: “While the airport remains the firm favourite for business travellers across London, it’s clear from this new analysis that more and more local people are taking advantage of our extensive network of destinations, and the convenience of their home airport.

“The ‘fly local’ trend is good for passengers and we look forward to continuing to share the benefits of our growth with the community, not just in terms of job creation and educational and charitable contributions, but increasingly as an airport they can use for holidays and business trips.”

Recent online YouGov polling of nearby boroughs found that local people want to use the airport, with 42% likely to use the airport in the future, particularly those aged 25-54 or living in Newham (56%), Greenwich (52%) or Tower Hamlets (52%). 

Respondents generally cited the lower fares and an increased choice of destinations as aspects that would encourage greater usage.

Dispelling the myth that London City is a uniformly expensive airport, recent work by Aviation Economics, using Apex fares data, found London City‘s average fares in August 2018 were below Heathrow and Gatwick on a like-for-like basis.

Indeed, in the peak summer season, the fares for leisure destinations served from London City, the city’s most central airport, were comparable, or indeed cheaper, than the two largest London airports.