London City Airport (LCY/EGLC) has applied to the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for approval to operate the Airbus A320neo from its London Docklands runway.
If approved it will significantly increase the possibilities available from the airport which is limited on the aircraft it can handle due to the steeper glideslope angle which is 5.5° as opposed to the normal 3° and its relatively short runway.
Part of the application to the CAA is a request for the approval of a new flight procedure (RNP AR) which will reduce the approach angle at both ends of the runway.
Currently, the Airbus A220 and Embraer E-Jet range are the main jets that operate from London City Airport in addition to turboprops such as the Bombardier Dash 8 and ATR42/72.
The recent approval by the government to allow the airport to increase to 9 million passengers came with no provision for extra flights so the introduction of larger jets such as the A320neo which can carry up to 180 passengers could be beneficial in helping the airport achieve those numbers.
Alison FitzGerald, CEO of London City Airport, said: “The potential introduction of the A320neo aircraft at London City Airport is incredibly exciting. It would broaden the range of leisure destinations for our passengers, enable growth without increasing the number of flight movements, deliver much needed economic growth and accelerate refleeting to cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft.”.
British Airways had previously operated a modified Airbus A318 to New York (via Shannon) from there but this stopped a number of years ago.
