Zurich is open for business......

With the news that Switzerland has moved to the UK's Green List, what better time to see the return of Swiss Air Lines to London City Airport for four weekly flights to Zürich. 

Set alongside a stunning lake and framed by alpine mountains, Zürich is a seamless blend of the indoor and outdoor. Stroll around the Old Town, explore the Viadukt and then take a dip in a ‘badi’ or open-air swimming pool, as loved by locals.

For the best views, hop on a train and head towards the mountains, or for the high life of a different kind, take a stroll down Bahnhofstrasse, one of the world’s most expensive shopping streets.  Zürich also loves to party, with an exciting network of bars and clubs open into the small hours and beyond.

Yesterday evening, Thursday 2 September 2021, saw an important debut for city centre airport, as at 1749, an Embraer E190-E2 made its first commercial flight there, The Helvetic Airways aircraft, registered HB-AZG, flew from Zurich to London in 1 hour 20 minutes. Flight LX 456, operated by Helvetic Airways on behalf of its partner company Swiss International Air Lines, was welcomed by a water salute from London City Airport’s fire service. Onboard the sold-out flight were 110 passengers, including representatives of the international media, business travellers and those visiting friends and family.

London City Airport Chief Operating Officer Alison FitzGerald said: "Welcoming Swiss and Helvetic back, and with the newest LCY-capable aircraft, Embraer’s E190-E2, is a significant milestone for London City. It demonstrates how we are collaborating with manufacturers and airlines to introduce more low-emission, low-noise aircraft to our airport, as well as re-establishing a vital business connection which we believe will go from strength to strength as the UK Government begins to further reduce barriers to travel. Our ambition is to be one of the most sustainable airports of our size in Europe, and it is my expectation that we will be welcoming more of these aircraft with more airlines as the industry recovers from COVID-19."

Destination London comes to London City Airport - public art at its best.....

London City Airport has unveiled its first-ever public art commission – Destination London, by the critically acclaimed East London artist, Anne Hardy. This unique work, located in the West Pier arrivals corridor, will greet millions of international visitors as passengers return to the airport and London reopens to the world. The commission, which will be in place for two years, transmits a message of optimism and positivity from nature, providing a unique welcome to the Royal Docks and its diverse and vibrant cultural scene as City Airport once again connects travellers from across the globe to the heart of London.

 

Curated by The Line, East London’s public art walk running between Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and The O2, Destination London aims to communicate a vivid sense of the layered histories of London, expressed through the diverse but often overlooked botanical life found around London City Airport.

Presented as a series of imagined and atmospheric landscapes through a sequence of 4 large photograms, the works are made with a cameraless technique in a darkroom through the manipulation of light and materials on paper.

Visitors will encounter the rich flora found by Anne Hardy at London City Airport, on the airfield and from the original dock side, as well as in the wild spaces of Bow Creek and the exotic species to be found in nearby urban gardens and allotments.

London City Airport “We can’t wait to welcome you back”

London City has released a new video to welcome back and support passengers as they resume travelling through the airport this summer. 

Momentum is building at the airport with the restart of more international flights and destinations for the summer holiday season. The release of the new passenger video comes on the back of the airport’s busiest week of the year, with over 15,000 passengers travelling through London City, a 35% increase on the previous week.

As demand returns and travel restrictions ease, London City will provide connections to 24 domestic and European destinations in August, with home-based carrier BA City Flyer offering flights to popular summer holiday destinations including the Greek Islands, Balearics, and the Côte d'Azur, direct from London’s most central airport.

Robert Sinclair, Chief Executive of London City Airport said:  “After the year we’ve all had, passengers are keen for a well-deserved getaway this summer and we can’t wait to welcome them back.

London City Airport is offering flights to 24 domestic and European destinations this summer from the heart of London, enabling passengers to visit friends and family, take domestic staycations, or to enjoy outstanding global travel experiences once again.

We understand travelling internationally has changed for the time being, but we’re taking steps to support our passengers. We have been working hard to maintain the fast, convenient, and friendly airport experience for which London City is renowned, and our testing centre and internationally-recognised health measures are enabling safe and speedy journeys for passengers as they resume travelling.”

London City Airport expands testing facilities in partnership with Collinson

•  New facility, located 10 metres from the terminal building, opening in time to provide additional capacity for customers travelling during the peak summer season 

•  Facility open for any traveller looking for a convenient central London location in which to get tested 

•  London City Airport CEO & Collinson Joint-CEO call on the Government to trust the testing system to safely restart international travel this summer

The closest airport to the city of London has confirmed today that it is expanding its testing capabilities with a new, larger facility in partnership with Collinson - an expert in global medical assistance and travel experiences.

London City Airport says this new facility is located less than a minute’s walk from the airport terminal and has the capacity to administer over 200 tests per hour.  Passengers will be offered a full range of Government-approved COVID-19 testing solutions, and for passengers returning from amber list countries, the London City facility will offer same day Test to Release service, to enable passengers who receive a negative test result to end their quarantine on day five.

 

Luxair “Be pride. Be Luxembourg” aircraft lands at London City Airport

Photo London City Airport / Luxair

On June 11th a Luxair Bombardier Q400 aircraft, sporting a new special livery, celebrating pride month, landed at London City Airport.

 

The new livery was designed in partnership with the Luxembourg association Rosa Lëtzebuerg, which has been actively fighting for the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community since 1996. The fuselage and cabin interior decoration now bear the rainbow colours of the pride flag. With its "Be pride. Be Luxembourg", Luxair will spread the message of inclusiveness throughout Europe. 

Luxair decided to partner with Rosa Lëtzebuerg and show its support to the LGBTIQ+ community with well-defined activities, both internally and externally, and to convey, once again, a clear message, which encourages everyone to express their true personality and live their identity freely.

Photo London City Airport / Luxair

Luxair is also launching a range of products to commemorate the event and encourages everyone to wear the Luxair colours for Luxembourg Pride Week, which will take place in Esch-sur-Alzette from the 3rd to 11th July 2021. Among the products offered, customers will be able to discover: mugs, thermal bottles, T-Shirts, pins and "remove before flight" key rings. They will be available as of June 2nd, in the Luxair Travel Stores, in the departure hall at Luxembourg Airport and in Munsbach, 25 rue Gabriel Lippmann, Munsbach. All profits from these sales will be donated to the Rosa Lëtzebuerg association.

London City Airport issues a statement on UK Government update on traffic light system for international travel

Robert Sinclair, Chief Executive of our favourite small airport, London City is the latest airport and travel boss to attack the UK Government over its announcement last night regarding the traffic light system for international travel.

He said yesterday's announcement was a setback for millions of people waiting to book summer holidays as well as the travel industry.  "With no new additions to the Green list, and the removal of Portugal, there is a risk that passenger confidence will be further dented. Looking to Europe, the EU is pressing ahead with restarting aviation and establishing health certification which will allow people to realise the benefit of vaccination programmes."

 

The next Government review of the traffic light positions will be at the end of the month and will be critical for the travel industry in being able to salvage anything from the summer season. 

 

"In the meantime, we would strongly encourage the Government to make urgent progress on making COVID-19 tests more accessible and affordable, reduce or eliminate the need for quarantine, particularly for those passengers arriving from amber countries who have been vaccinated, and on ensuring the borders are fully resourced for the passenger volumes we still hope to see this summer."

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London City Airport receives CAA and Public Health England accreditation for new health measures

London City Airport receives CAA and Public Health England accreditation for new health measures

As international travel ramps up from UK airports ahead of the summer, the health and safety measures in place at London City Airport have been formally approved as COVID-secure by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Public Health England (PHE), in line with the CART Take-Off guidelines set out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

During a rigorous two-day assessment, which included a full audit of the passenger journey for both departure and arrival, CAA and PHE officials saw first-hand the range of health measures that the airport has put in place, including enhanced hygiene measures, support services to staff and processes to ensure passengers can move quickly, and safely, through the airport, whilst still delivering a great customer experience.

 

London City Airport is one of the first airports in the UK to receive the ICAO-approved health accreditation

London City Airport will operate more routes this summer and see an increase in passengers, with flights to Green-listed Portugal commencing from Friday 21 May

SWISS restarts a twice-weekly service from London City Airport to Zurich

London City Airport has welcomed the restoration of connections to Zurich (ZRH), with SWISS to resume flying to Switzerland’s largest city from today.

 

SWISS will operate two rotations per week to Zurich initially, although their schedule will increase in line with the anticipated surges in demand for leisure and business travel as travel restrictions are relaxed in the UK and Europe this summer.

Commenting on the resumption of SWISS flights, London City Airport’s Head of Aviation, Anne Doyere, said:  "We are delighted that SWISS has returned to the airport to restore an important business and leisure connection between London City and Zurich. Zürich is a key centre for international business, finance and tourism, so this is very positive news for our passengers who can once again enjoy safe and speedy journeys to Zurich direct from the heart of London."

As the UK’s vaccination programme continues and international travel restrictions are relaxed further in the coming weeks, it is expected that more passengers will return to flying from London to destinations across Europe.

 

Saab’s Technology Makes London City Airport First Major UK Operator of Remote Air Traffic Control Tower

Technology pioneered by Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions has enabled London City Airport to become the first major international airport in the world to be fully controlled by a remote digital air traffic control tower.

Saab’s Digital Tower is a next-generation air traffic control system that significantly improve controllers’ situational awareness, enabling quick and informed decisions that advance safety and operational efficiency. The Digital Tower has also allowed London City Airport to expand its area of operations due to the increased coverage it provides, thereby allowing the airport to maximise its air traffic capacity.

The technology presents increased levels of information to air traffic controllers on digital window screens: such as identifying flight and radar data, the ability to zoom in and out, as well as additional graphics and augmentation to enhance visibility.  These functionalities can be used by control rooms that are offsite.

London City Airport has become the first major international airport in the world to be fully controlled by a remote digital air traffic control tower

London City is the first major airport controlled

by the remote digital tower

The UK's closest airport to the city of London has become the first major international airport in the world to be fully controlled by a remote digital air traffic control tower!

Plans and preparation have been ongoing for a long time, at least since 2019, and during the pandemic lockdown, intensive testing and live trials of the revolutionary technology has afforded London City Airport to start operations with the remote tower. Now aircraft coming in and going out of London City are being directed by a team of controllers some 70 miles /115kms away in Swanwick, which is where NATS’ air traffic control centre is located. 

 

Whilst remote towers and controllers have been in operation for a number of years at some military airfields, this is the first time such technology has been used at a major commercial international airport.  At London City, you'll find a state-of-the-art 50m digital tower, plus a number of high-quality cameras, I think sixteen or so as well sensors to capture a full 360-degree view of the docklands airport.

Super-fast fibre connections take what is happening at the airfield to NATS’ air traffic control centre in Swanwick where a dedicated team of controllers use the live footage, an audio feed from the airfield, along with radar information to instruct aircraft movements in and out of the airport.

 

New Passenger Travel Portal launched by London City Airport

New Passenger Travel Portal launched by London City Airport 

 

Photo London City Airport

The London City Airport Travel Portal, designed by Effect Digital and powered by Netflights, is now live.

In one place, it provides passengers with information to support their summer travel choices, from booking flights to departure and arrival testing requirements for all of London City Airport’s current and upcoming destinations.

New routes this summer include Gibraltar, Jersey, San Sebastian and Split.

 

As Britain gears up for a summer like no other, London City Airport has produced a new travel portal to help passengers make informed travel plans.

With the latest travel guidelines set out by the UK providing only part of the picture, the portal is a one-stop-shop for understanding the entry requirements of individual countries, links to the latest tourist board information and COVID-19 rates, as well as local expectations on where travellers will need to wear a face mask. For example, it reflects the latest update announced by Portugal that UK visitors no longer need to quarantine on arrival.

From the portal, passengers will be able to directly book the lowest possible fares for their destination as well as the necessary pre-departure or UK arrival test at London City’s onsite testing centre.

Domestic routes to resume as City Airport gears up for the Great British Summer

Key regional connections restored between London City and three Scottish cities in boost for domestic tourism.

BA CityFlyer to restart flights to Edinburgh on 15th April 

Loganair’s route to Dundee to resume from 16th April

BA CityFlyer to resume flying to Glasgow on 17th May 

London City Airport (LCY) has welcomed the restoration of key regional routes, with flights to resume to Edinburgh, Glasgow (both with British Airways) and Dundee (with Loganair), re-establishing important domestic connectivity and tourism links between Scotland and the heart of London.

As momentum starts to build ahead of the summer and the potential restart of international travel, British Airways operated by BA CityFlyer (BACF), will resume flying to Edinburgh on 15th April and Glasgow from 17th May. Both routes will start with two rotations per week, but as the UK gears up for the summer holiday, the expectation is that frequencies will increase. 

Separately, Loganair has announced that it will resume operating the only direct flight between Dundee and London from 16th April. It too will operate with two rotations per week initially, enabling Dundonians to travel from the Tay to the Thames in less than two hours.  

                 Check out Best Staycations in Ireland

Two new routes from London City Airport from British Airways...... Gibraltar and Jersey added to the destinations on offer.

British Airways has today announced the launch of two new routes to Jersey and Gibraltar from London City Airport.

Operating initially over the summer period, the routes will launch on 25 June, 2021. Two flights a week will operate to Jersey and Gibraltar – on Mondays and Fridays - offering important air links for business travellers, holiday makers and those visiting friends and relatives as regulations ease, as well as for cargo.

With fares starting from just £42 to Jersey and £43 to Gibraltar each way*, customers can book from today via ba.com. Customers benefit from British Airways’ flexible booking policy, offering customers no change fees or a voucher exchange for bookings made for travel before the end of April 2022, giving customers a large variety of options should their plans change.

New London City Airport community programme

London City Helpers programme launched to help local communities in East London recover from Covid-19

London City Airport's new community engagement programme to deliver education, employment and volunteering initiatives to support vulnerable local residents

Mentoring scheme established to raise disadvantaged young people’s aspirations and support their mental health and wellbeing

Volunteers from the airport delivering careers talks and skills workshops with local schools and assisting with food bank deliveries

Applications open for the latest round of funding from the airport’s £75k Community Fund

 

One year on from the escalation of the Covid-19 crisis and the first national lockdown, London City Airport has renewed its commitment to supporting its local communities in East London with the launch of the London City Helpers programme.

 

This new programme, delivered in partnership with the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) and with support from other community partners, will see the airport deliver bespoke engagement activities in the community to tackle unemployment and address inequality, raise the aspiration of disadvantaged young people and support the mental health and wellbeing of residents in Newham and across East London.

72% of frequent flyers want to return to travel when restrictions are lifted........

New Survey Insight Points to Summer Lift Off for UK Holidaymakers.  A national representative survey commissioned by London City Airport following the Prime Minister’s February 22 nd lockdown roadmap points to optimism amongst UK travellers

72% of frequent flyers want to return to travel when restrictions are lifted

71% believe that travel should be allowed to and from countries that have

COVID-19 under control

Significant support for “Covid-Certificates” that permit international travel

British Airways plan a significant summer programme from London City with 25

destinations on offer, including Mykonos, Ibiza, Split and a London City only

service to San Sebastian

A nationally representative survey of 2100 people across the UK has demonstrated a strong desire to return to domestic and international travel as soon as restrictions are eased by Government.

The survey, which took place on the weekend following the Prime Minister issuing the Government’s roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions, builds on the spike of new bookings made by the British public since February 22 nd and points to a resurgence for the UK travel industry. 

The survey results also showed a willingness to adapt to the post Covid landscape with three quarters accepting the need to supply a negative COVID test prior to travel, if required. And building on recent results relating to travel certification, three quarters would be willing to carry proof that they had been vaccinated if it meant being allowed to travel. Interestingly, amongst the over 65’s, the number rises to 89% but for 18-24 year olds it is 67% - which may indicate that overall acceptance will increase once every adult in the UK receives their first vaccination by July.

London City Airport celebrates completion of key airfield infrastructure projects

London City Airport confirmed this week that it has completed key improvements to its airfield infrastructure as part of the City Airport Development Programme (CADP), including the construction of a full-length parallel taxiway and eight new stands capable of handling larger and more fuel-efficient aircraft.

 

The airfield infrastructure at London City Airport has been transformed in the past three years, with the construction of a new 70,000m2 concrete deck to house the parallel taxiway and aircraft stands.

 

The deck was created by drilling 1,000 piles of concrete 20m below the bed of the King George V Dock - one of the most challenging and complex civil engineering and inland marine construction projects in Western Europe. The deck is equivalent to the size of 10 football pitches and its completion required the work of 45 contractors and took over 1.2 million hours. Not even the discovery of a World War II bomb in the dock bed hindered progress for long.

“New Taskforce can give business air travel a much needed shot in the arm” says the boss of London City Airport

New polling shows widespread demand for air travel among UK business leaders

Data shows UK domestic aviation sector contributed £15billion to the UK economy before the pandemic

The importance of domestic and international travel to the economic prospects of individual businesses and the wider economy is highlighted today in a new report by WPI Strategy. The report reveals the majority of UK business leaders see air travel as key to their future economic prospects and would return to the skies if quarantine measures were eased. 

According to new polling of 515 business leaders by Survation contained within the report: 

64% of UK business leaders see air travel as key to their future prospects

88% of leaders of businesses with over 250 employees believe air travel is important to the future success of their business

48% thought that the Government’s travel and quarantine restrictions was the single biggest barrier to business air travel

76% believe that airport testing would increase confidence when travelling

 

The chief executive of London City Airport has urged the new Global Travel Taskforce to move quickly to get business air travel up and running again.

 Welcoming the creation of the Taskforce as a positive first step forward, Robert Sinclair, said that he hoped the group would “acknowledge the fundamental importance of business air travel to the economic recovery prospects of the UK and other sectors such as hospitality and leisure.” Sinclair, supported by a range of industry and political voices, urged the Taskforce to move with the utmost speed, setting out a clear roadmap for the introduction of a testing regime which would ultimately lead to the elimination of quarantine. This call is also supported by  KLM who operate services from their global hub in Amsterdam to 15 airports across the UK.

London City Airport Achieves International Health Accreditation Standard

London City Airport has become the latest international airport, and second in the UK, to be awarded with certification from the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Health Accreditation programme.

The programme, which was introduced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, recognises airports across the world that deploy world-leading health and safety practices.

Before re-opening on June 23rd, London City carried out a root and branch review of airport operations, for both passengers and staff, to ensure it was COVID secure. Measures introduced included:

An enhanced cleaning regime, including a long-life anti-microbial surface treatment used throughout the airport

Touch-free hand sanitiser stations

One-way systems

Perspex screens at key points of interaction, such as check-in desks

Clear signage and floor markings to help maintain social distancing and to guide passengers through the airport

Advanced crowd monitoring technology to identify and manage busy areas, using CrowdVision

Non-contact, automatic temperature checking technology for rapid preliminary screening

Staff using face coverings and or visors and gloves

Flights between London City Airport and Zürich resumed - more connections from the heart of London.

5x weekly service restores important international route – London City's fourth most popular last year

 London City Airport welcomed the return of flights to Zürich (ZRH) on Monday.

Five flights a week, operated by home-based BA CityFlyer, will go between London’s most central airport and Zürich. The route was London City Airport’s fourth most popular in 2019, seeing 429,019 passengers fly between the UK capital and Switzerland’s largest city.

Welcoming the return of the flights, London City Airport Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Hill, said: 

“This is a positive step for the airport, good news for business travel, and important step in the economic recovery. Zürich is a key hub of international business, finance, and government. So, it is crucial that London has strong, fast and easy connections direct from the centre of the capital.

British Airways axes prestigious London City - New York JFK route

Photo British Airways

British Airways has decided to axe its special all-business-class service between London City Airport and New York's JFK, citing a downturn in business during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. 

A British Airways spokesperson said: "As we adapt to the decrease in passenger demand as a result of the Covid-19 global pandemic we can confirm that we will no longer operate our business class-only flights from London City to New York, JFK via Shannon."

The specially configured Airbus A318 with just 32 seats has been operating the route since 2009 and on the outbound sector, the flight operated via Shannon - where passengers cleared US customs and immigration.  The airline saw the importance of the route and even assigned it the former Concorde flight numbers of  BA1/BA2.

Photo British Airways

Photo British Airways

Dropping the service came as little surprise after IAG quietly slipped in that BA would retire the A318 baby bus fleet, with no fanfare or flurry as the group battles huge losses, despite taking vast amounts of government money and sacking lots of staff.   

The service was popular amount some in the business community, despite the enforced stop in Shannon,  mainly because of the weight take-off restrictions at London City meant the aircraft was not able to fly the whole journal without refuelling.  Although BA didn't offer the same business class seats on the A318 as it did on its other transatlantic aircraft and the A318s lacked personal IFE screens, it still managed to break even and turn a small profit for the carrier according to its operations department. Yet, nothing stays the same,  new special entry procedures sped up arrivals in New York, combined with a new business class offering on BA's other transatlantic fleet, the LCY service lost most of its appeal. 

Photo London City Airport

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