Sadiq Khan ‘concerned’ over London City Airport passenger cap expansion

The mayor has joined several other politicians expressing environmental concerns after it was announced on Monday that the Government had approved plans to increase the airport’s annual passenger cap from 6.5 million to 9 million per year.

Another proposal to extend the airport’s Saturday cut-off time for flights from 12:30 to 18:30 was rejected by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

In a statement to the MyLondon news website on Tuesday, Mr Khan’s spokesperson said: “The mayor has a long-standing position on airport expansion in London linked to the negative impact on air quality, noise and London’s ability to reach net zero by 2030.

“The mayor welcomes that the Government has said it intends to implement a number of measures to mitigate noise, including the retention of the curfew period for flights, but he remains concerned about the overall impact that expansion will have on the local area.”

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Alison FitzGerald, the airport’s chief executive, welcomed raising the passenger cap but said she was “disappointed” the curfew was not changed.

She added: “As the Government has recognised in its decision, rejecting our request to extend our Saturday afternoon operating hours will slow down airlines bringing cleaner, quieter next-generation aircraft to the airport.

“Local residents would have had the added benefit of these aircraft operating at the airport throughout the week, not just in the extended operating hours.”

Under the plans approved by the Government, total annual flights – or ‘aircraft movements’ – will remain capped at 111,000. In 2023, the airport transported only about 3.4million passengers, using a total of 52,000 aircraft movements. 

According to Civil Aviation Authority data, this was down from the airport’s record set in 2019, when it transported 5.1 million passengers and facilitated 84,000 aircraft movements.

Other politicians at City Hall were also unhappy with the Government’s decision.

Green London Assembly member Zack Polanski said it showed that Labour only “pretended to care about the climate crisis”, while his Liberal Democrat colleague Gareth Roberts said it would “benefit those taking private jets at the expense of local communities across east London”. 

City Hall Conservatives were approached for comment.

Newham Council’s planning committee had unanimously rejected the expansion plans in July last year, but an appeal was brought to the Planning Inspectorate.

A Government spokesperson said this week: “We are committed to securing the long-term future of the aviation sector in the UK while protecting our environmental obligations.”