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Chancellor hails ‘ambitious’ £344m expansion plans at London City Airport

London City Airport has been given the go green light to commence with a £344m expansion programme that will create 1,600 airport jobs and significantly expand capacity at the Docklands airport.

In a joint announcement from the Chancellor Philip Hammond, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, plans for an extended terminal, new aircraft taxiway and more parking spaces for planes have now been approved.

Once completed the airport, which serves mainly business executives and private planes, will benefit from more frequent flights and will be able to support more modern, quieter aircraft, with more terminal space for the projected increase in passenger numbers.

The Chancellor hailed the ‘ambitious’ expansion plans, which he said would increase the City of London’s international connections and sends a clear message that ‘Britain is open for business’ despite gloomy economic projections following the EU referendum.

He said: “Making it easier to visit and do business in the City of London will help drive forward our economy and further strengthen the city’s status as the world’s leading financial centre.

“This is a real vote of confidence in the resilience of our economy, creating over a thousand new jobs.”

The airport estimates that expansion could potentially add £1.5bn to the UK economy by 2025, with a further 500 construction jobs created during the length of project and the opportunity for UK firms to bid on £294m-worth of procurement contracts.

London City Airport has also agreed to contribute £2.6m to fund additional trains for the DLR and improve taxi, bus and cycling routes to and from the Docklands airport.

The expansion comes after the airport was acquired by a Canadian consortium of investors for £2bn in February, after previous owners Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) had their own expansion proposals turned down by former Mayor Boris Johnson.

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