BA CityFlyer will resume its London City service to Prague on Sunday (October 31), as the airport reports growing consumer confidence.
The return of Prague means that 13 of the 15 routes that BA CityFlyer operated in 2019 have now returned to the schedule – and the airport hopes that Milan Linate and Munich services will restart in the months ahead.
BA CityFlyer will also add flights to the ski destinations of Salzburg and Chambéry to its schedule in the winter, in addition to existing services to Zurich and Geneva.
London City has reported “strong growth” in passenger numbers, particularly in business traffic, since the easing of restrictions for passengers arriving into the UK.
The airport is set to see 145,000 passengers in October, 21% up on September.
Richard Hill, the airport’s chief commercial officer, said: “We are delighted with the strong performance through October. We’ve long maintained that business traffic would return and the demand from customers during October has given us real confidence heading into 2022.
“It’s also testament to the agility of our airlines in providing convenient flight times and competitive pricing that benefit our customers.
“The growing confidence in the market has led to British Airways announcing three new, exciting connections between London City, Prague, Salzburg and Chambéry.
“Passengers itching to get to the Christmas markets, or Alps for a much-deserved break – or flexible working destination – this winter, will be pleased to know they can now travel from the centre of London to these destinations in a few hours.”
The schedule for November also includes Swiss adding five-weekly rotations to Zurich; Luxair adding three to Luxembourg; KLM an additional rotation to Amsterdam and Lufthansa adding 11 to Frankfurt.
BA CityFlyer is increasing its Glasgow service by 10 weekly rotations, Edinburgh by seven, Berlin by six, Amsterdam and Florence by two.
Passengers arriving at London City from overseas will be able to book and take a lateral flow test at the airport’s on-site testing centre, operated by Collinson.
Commenting on the APD reduction on domestic flights announced by the chancellor, Hill added: “I would expect it to encourage more people to travel between London and the regions.”
Picture by Andrew Baker.