London City Airport records busiest Bank Holiday ever
Friday 25th May was also the airport’s single busiest day ever, with a total of 19,496 passengers either departing from, or arriving at, London City Airport.
The most popular route over the weekend was Amsterdam, with 5,218 passengers travelling between London and the Dutch city, many of which for Bank Holiday downtime. Dublin also received a boost in passengers as the third most popular route during the long weekend (3,780 passengers), with an influx of London-based Irish citizens returning home on Friday to cast their vote in the referendum on the 8th amendment of the country’s constitution.
The latest figures point to further passenger growth in 2018, driven by an increase in leisure travellers, as well as continuing strong demand from businesses.
Robert Sinclair, CEO of London City Airport, said: “Many people associate London City Airport with business travel only. While this is an incredibly important core market for us, we are also seeing passengers who value our speed and convenience, using the airport for leisure travel, particularly during off-peak periods and weekends.”
“Our bumper Bank Holiday points to this trend and demonstrates consumer confidence to fly, providing a shot in the arm for the airport’s passenger numbers, hot on the heels of CAA confirmation that we’re the UK’s most punctual airport and in readiness for the summer getaway.”
The top five routes over the Bank Holiday weekend (accounting for 44% of all passengers) were:
Amsterdam: 5,218 passengers
Zurich: 4,001
Dublin: 3,780
Milan Linate: 3,733
Edinburgh: 3,434
For the summer ahead, the upward trend in passenger numbers looks set to continue over the airlines’ seasonal schedules. British Airways hot spots include Bergerac, Malaga, Granada, Skiathos, Santorini and Mykonos, while city breakers can unwind in Lisbon and Porto, operated by TAP Air Portugal all year round. Amsterdam’s popularity is set to continue with frequent services available on KLM, British Airways and Flybe.
To accommodate the increased summer traffic, the airport is using technology to prepare behind-the-scenes. Recent improvements to outbound baggage capacity mean that London City can now process over 5,500 bags per day, which is crucial for leisure travellers with bags to check-in. Through rigorous analysis of data, the airport has also improved aircraft turnaround times, helping the airport achieve an On Time Performance of 81.6% in 2017 – the best in the country - according to data collected and recently published by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Punctuality statistics are calculated for 25 UK airports using the planned time flight operation mapped against actual time of operation – determining the average delays at each airport.
A four-year £480 million airport development is now underway, which will deliver a new airport experience for passengers, airlines, businesses and local communities. The City Airport Development Programme includes eight new aircraft stands, a parallel taxiway, and an expanded and reconfigured passenger terminal, quadrupling in size and due for completion in 2022, enabling the airport to accommodate 6.5 million passengers per year.
The airport in London’s Royal Docks has a convenient location and fast passenger experience – from the front door to departure lounge in 20 minutes or less and from plane to train in 15 minutes or less, upon arrival. Currently eleven airlines serve 44 domestic, European and US routes.
