London City unveils 2011 improvements

Monday, 21 Dec, 2010 0

London City Airport is to increase the size of its airside departures area by 40% in February.

The airport will switch space currently allocated for landside passengers to airside.

Chief executive Richard Gooding said thanks to the use of online and self check-in the airport has been able to free up space previously allocated to check-in desks.

Speaking to TravelMole, Gooding also announced that London City will soon benefit from a new Docklands Light Railway line directly linking the airport with Stratford, the site of the 2012 Olympics.

The line will start operating on February 24 and will link the airport to other DLR, Central Line and overground services.

“This is also good news longer term as the Olympics site will be used for offices. We are very happy that this link will open up ahead of demand,” he said.

Gooding said 2010 was also likely to see the launch of more leisure routes from the airport, which has traditionally focused on business destinations.

“We have been experimenting with leisure routes to make use of off peak times,” he said.

“We’ve now got flights to Nice, Barcelona, Palma, Ibiza, Brive in the Dordogne, and Deauville in Normandy, and Malago and Faro will start in the Spring.

“We are talking to other airlines as there is still some spare off peak capacity, so I expect to see more routes.”

By Bev Fearis

Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.