| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 08/10/01 |
| Author: | Page Number: 22 |
| Copyright: Other |
Boost: the expansion will allow five more aircraft than usual to be at the airport at one time
London City outlines £25m investment plan
figure, according to managing director Richard Gooding, without expanding runway capacity, providing more stands and building a holding area.
Gooding said the development, which would allow 17 aircraft – five more than currently – to be at the airport at one time, will drastically reduce noise and congestion.
“At the moment, aircraft start their engines and wait to depart beside the terminal, so the holding point and stands at the east end of the runway will reduce noise levels,” he said. “The holding area will also allow aircraft circling the airport to land quicker, and make our operation much slicker.”
Building stands into water is five times more expensive than building stands on land, so the airport must be confident the demand is there for more flights from London City.
“In spite of all the difficulty the industry is experiencing at the moment, I think things have to return to normality at some stage,” said Gooding.
London City has already expanded the terminal and car parks in expectation of doubling its 1.7 million annual customers by 2010, and recently started work on an aviation centre for business travellers.
* Lufthansa is launching services to Hamburg, Dortmund and Munich from London City this winter. Confirmation of the airport’s winter schedule has been delayed due to last month’s USattacks.