London City Airport Exceeds Growth Expectations

Capacity growth at London City Airport is running seven years ahead of schedule, the chief operating officer says.

The airport was purchased by a US investment consortium, backed by AIG and Global Infrastructure Partners, in late 2006, for £750m.

Chief Operating Officer Scott Stanley told the Irish Independent the airport is on track to handle 3.3 million passengers this year and aims to reach 8 million between 2015 and 2020.

"The challenge we have now is keeping up with the growth and trying to manage it," he says.

"To get to 8 million passengers, we're going to need a parallel taxi way and a lot of terminal development.

"That will require a master planning application. We're hoping to submit that this year."

By staff writer