London City Airport 'gateway for 2012 Games'

As customer dissatisfaction mounts at Heathrow, London City Airport in the Docklands is looking to expand and become a primary gateway for travellers at the 2012 Olympics.

Last week the hub submitted a planning application to allow for its growth up to 2010, involving an increase in flight movements from 80,000 to 130,000, meaning that it would handle up to 3.9 million passengers by that date.

Despite the proposed rapid growth, the airport does not foresee any change in its opening hours and does not plan to introduce night flights - something that is sure to please residents in the area.

Richard Gooding, London City Airport chief executive, told The Evening Standard: "We are planning to expand by 50 per cent in the next few years and we believe we can do that without adding stress or strain to our level of service.

"Our expansion will coincide and be complete very much in time for the Olympics. We are two miles from the Games site and people will be able to take the DLR from City Airport right into the heart of the Olympic village. There is no question how significant we will be to serving the area during the Games."

London City Airport has a STOL (short take-off and landing) runway and is used primarily by businesspeople arriving from the business districts of London - the City and Canary Wharf. Both of these areas are connected by the Docklands Light Railway.

Many of the flights on offer are short-hop services to other European business centres, with new services this year including CityJet for Air France routes to Belfast City, Geneva, Madrid, Nice and Zurich.

But while the east London airport thrives, west London's Heathrow is suffering from long queues and a generally poor customer experience.

In fact, many business travellers are put off by what they call "Heathrow hassle" and actively try to avoid using the airport - something that could threaten inward investment in the capital.

Gooding said: "Heathrow is obviously creaking at the seams right now and cannot cope with the volume of passengers coming through the airport."

The airport is the world's largest in terms of international passengers, with more than 70 million passing through over the last 12 months.

However, the situation is due to improve when Terminal 5 opens next year, and the queues at security ought to be eased in the autumn when the "one item of hand baggage" rule is likely to be relaxed (as reported by Cheapflights).

In the meantime, London City Airport continues to boom and it says that 1,000 new jobs will be created if its expansion application is approved.

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