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Commercial Property to Rent near London City Airport & Serviced Offices to Let City of London Airport

London City Airport is a single-runway STOLport, an airport, specifically for use by Short Take Off and Landing airliners.  It is the UK's leading business airport serving over 30 destinations across the UK and Europe and connections to the rest of the world through major European hubs.  London City Airport is located on a former Docklands site 11 km or 6.9 miles to the east of the City of London in the east London Borough of Newham.

London City Airport was rated, in 2009, the fifth busiest airport in terms of passengers and aircraft movements serving the London area after Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton and the fifteenth busiest in the UK.  London City Airport is the only airport actually in London and is less than a mile from the world-class events venue ExCeL London; just two miles from the site of the 2012 Olympic Games; three miles from Canary Wharf and six miles from the City of London. Passengers travelling to and from the airport enjoy fast transfers on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Bank London Underground Station with onward access to the rest of London and the other four airports and to Poplar with connections to Canary Wharf.

London City Airport, located on the edge of the City of London, is viewed as a vital component in the City’s financial success and plays an integral part in supporting its growth.  London City Airport therefore receives considerable support from the business community, which recognises the advantages of the airport’s location and facilities that provide faster check-in times than any other of the London airports.  London City Airport has been designed with the business traveller in mind and by observing the needs of passengers offers its passengers an environment conducive to work or relaxation as the airport has a silent departure lounge policy of no tannoy announcements or boarding calls.

The idea of a City based airport was first mooted in 1981 by the newly formed London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC), which was responsible for the regeneration of the area and following discussions with the construction company John Mowlem & Co plc, the idea of an airport for the Docklands was born and Mowlem and Brymon Airways submitted an outline proposal to the LDDC for a Docklands STOLport city centre gateway.  The following year Brymon Captain Harry Gee landed an aircraft on Heron Quays in the nearby West India Docks, to demonstrate the feasibility of the STOLport project. The LDDC published a feasibility study and an opinion poll amongst local residents showed a majority in favour of the airport development and Mowlem submitted the application for planning permission.  A planning enquiry began in June 1983 and by the middle of the following year Secretary of State for Transport indicated that he was disposed to agree the application, but asked for further details.  After the failure of a court case brought by the Greater London Council in 1985, outline planning permission was granted in May of that year, followed by the grant of detailed planning permission in early 1986.   Construction began on the site shortly after permission was granted and the first aircraft landed in May 1987 and the first commercial services began operating in October and in November, London City Airport was formally opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Placing a commercial airport into congested airspace (the London Terminal Area (TMA)) was a challenge for the National Air traffic Services (NATS) and in the event, a new airspace authority, was established to provide a radar control service and to provide safe separations for London City arrivals and departures.  In 1988, the first full year of operation, the airport handled 133,000 passengers.  There were operational constraints with a runway of only 1,080 m (3,543 ft) in length, and a glideslope of 7.5 degrees (imposed for noise abatement reasons), the airport could only be used by a very limited number of aircraft types.  In 1989, the airport submitted a planning application to extend the runway, allowing the use of a larger number of aircraft types and by 1990, the airport was handling 230,000 passengers, falling away drastically after the Gulf War and passenger numbers did not recover until 1993, when 245,000 passengers were carried.  However, by this juncture, the extended runway had been approved and opened in early 1992 and at the same time, the glideslope was reduced to 5.5 degrees, still steep for a European airport, but sufficient to allow a larger range of aircraft to serve the airport.

In 1995, Mowlem sold the airport to Irish businessman Dermot Desmond.  The passenger throughput had reached 500,000 and five years later numbers had climbed to 1,580,000, and over 30,000 flights were being operated.  In 2002, a jet centre catering for corporate aviation was opened making it the closest jet centre to Central London and widening the airport’s operating remit.  London City Airport changed hands again in 2006 with passenger numbers at around 2.3 million when it was purchased by a consortium of AIG Financial Products Corp and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and in the final quarter of 2008 GIP became the sole owners of the airport.  However, 2009 saw a fall in passenger numbers of some 14.2%, to 2.8 million passengers compared to 2008.

The airport has stringent rules imposed to limit the noise impact from aircraft operations and its own physical limitations and overall complexity caused by the lack of taxiways mean that the airport gets very busy during peak hours.  The size of the airport is also constrained by the water-filled Royal Albert and George V Docks to the north and south respectively, meaning that there are no covered maintenance facilities for aircraft.  The airport flight path restricts the maximum height of new skyscrapers in and around Canary Wharf, and the management keeps a watch on planning applications for tall buildings in the area.

London City Airport is at its busiest during the winter months, when a number of airlines fly to ski resort gateway destinations.  In December 2005, the London City Airport Dockland Light Railway station was opened providing rail access to the airport for the first time with an interchange to the London Underground and providing rapid links to London's new financial district at Canary Wharf and to the traditional financial district of the City of London.  The station is situated immediately adjacent to the airport terminal building, with enclosed access to and from the elevated platforms.  The airport is also served by several London bus services providing links to local East London destinations. The airport has a short-term and a long-term car park, both within walking distance of the terminal and a taxi rank outside the terminal door.

The airport has produced a master plan outlining their vision for growth up to 2030. The plan shows an expansion of the airport to a maximum capacity of 8 million passengers per annum, without the addition of a second runway, or significant expansion of the airport boundaries.  However, this has of course met with considerable local resistance on amongst others environmental grounds and the impact on local quality of life.  In June 2010, a meeting is to be held at City Hall to hear people’s views on the expansion of the airport and the environmental controls currently in place.  There is also an online survey to gauge public opinion about how flights to and from the airport may already be affecting local people.

Although London City Airport itself does not have much in the way of independent commercial development to offer other than for the aviation industry and its service industries, the immediate areas of the financial districts of the City of London, Canary Wharf and the Docklands offer excellent transport connections and a comprehensive range of offices for all business needs.  The area of the Docklands, Canary Wharf, E14, E16 and surrounds offer a full range of commercial property to rent along with serviced offices to let, virtual offices and meeting rooms to hire.  For help in identifying and securing the most competitively priced deal on office space to rent in the areas around London City Airport or commercial offices in this transport hub, please contact London’s leading office broker via http://freeofficesearch.co.uk or call our City of London Head Office on 020 7788 1030.  We guarantee that a member of our team with expert knowledge of the London City Airport area will be able to save you money on your office rental.  Contact us today for instant, impartial and free advice.