London City Airport (LCY) is on the cusp of an exciting stage of growth, with plans to introduce larger, more modern aircraft operations and a government approval to increase the number of passengers travelling through the airport to nine million per year. Regional Gateway visited LCY on 18 June to speak with the airport’s Director of Aviation Strategy, Graeme Murray, to learn more about the upcoming plans.
London City Airport is going through a significant period of change – it recently concluded the public consultation stage of its Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) to allow A320neo aircraft to land at London City. Currently going through a review process, a decision is expected to be announced in autumn 2026.
Graeme Murray, Director of Aviation Strategy, London City Airport
Graeme Murray, Director of Aviation Strategy at London City Airport met up with Regional Gateway to share more about the proposed changes as well as new premium leisure routes and the airport’s community initiatives.
Murray has a long career in aviation, with his 15 years of previous aviation experience spanning IAG, Jetstar, Etihad & Virgin Atlantic across different roles in operations, procurement and strategy. Most recently, Murray led global strategic transformation for Etihad’s ground handling and catering as well as strategic long-term negotiations for Etihad and Virgin Atlantic with key global airports.
London City Airport’s Airspace Change Proposal seeks to introduce an additional, slightly shallower 4.49-degree landing approach for certain next-generation aircraft, alongside the airport’s existing 5.5-degree approach. This would enable larger, quieter and more fuel-efficient aircraft, to operate from the airport.
“Our aspiration is to open up the airport to the A320neo,” he confirmed. “While it’s not going to do anything radical in terms of range, it clearly opens us up to airlines that don’t have aircraft that can fly into LCY at the moment. For example, of the traffic serving London at the moment, only four per cent of that is able to land at London City.”
He noted that this would increase into well over 20 per cent with A320neos – aircraft that will increasingly become the predominant fleet along with the B737s for airlines within Europe. “We will simply have access to a lot more airlines than we have today and that will naturally, as part of our discussions with airlines, open us up to a whole host of new destinations.”
Currently, airlines such as British Airways’ subsidiary BA Cityflyer, KLM, ITA Airways, Lufthansa, Air Dolomiti and Loganair operate from the airport.
The rise of premium leisure travel
While business travel is the bread and butter for the airport, and very important, Murray explained that London City is expanding its leisure offering in response to evolving passenger demand, with an increasing number of destinations catering to short-break and premium leisure travellers.
British Airways launched a route to Toulon recently from LCY, reflecting growing demand for European leisure destinations that are easily accessible from central London and bringing the French Riviera within easy reach for the summer season. The new route complements the airport’s existing links to Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, with Toulon–Hyères Airport serving as the closest commercial airport to St Tropez.
The growth of the leisure network supports LCY’s ambition to broaden its passenger base while maintaining its position as London’s most convenient airport for both business and leisure travel.
“It’s a good new route and a great example of how the unique ability of this airport attracts these premium leisure routes which we’re increasingly playing a part in,” Murray said, continuing that it is an exciting part of the very strong partnership between LCY and British Airways, the airport’s largest carrier.
In addition, BA Cityflyer relaunched its route to Madrid from LCY in December. The airline is now operating an 11-times-per-week service from London City to the Spanish capital.
London City currently has a 60:40 split between leisure and business travel. “Pre-COVID we were much more of a business-focused airport – that is changing,” Murray noted.
Regarding further expansion for destinations, Murray confirmed that LCY is and will continue to be, even in a post ACP world, a European network airport. However, another growth area of focus is connecting passengers with more long-haul airport hubs, with LCY already offering connections through major hubs such as Madrid, Zurich, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
Internally, changes are happening too – London City Airport will be opening its first luxury pre-flight hospitality experience in partnership with Swissport International’s airport hospitality brand, Aspire Pre‑Flight Hospitality. It will feature a modern luxury design aesthetic that will welcome guests as they access the space via a 5* hotel-like lobby within the departures lounge. The lobby offers seamless transition from the security lane to total relaxation and inside, customers will experience a beautifully curated interior with a view of London City Airport’s unique runway.
The lounge is unaffiliated with any airline and will be accessible to all passengers travelling through London City Airport via online or walk-in purchase.
Serving the community
When it comes to community impact, London City Airport is a major socioeconomic contributor to the east London region and has donated more than £500,000 to local charities since 2019 through the Community Fund. It contributed £1.4 million to Newham in 2024 and supported TfL’s new Docklands Light Railway (DLR) fleet entering service in 2025.
Satu Dahl, Group Editor of Inflight, Regional Gateway and LARA, on the London City Airport runway.
The airport believes the future of aviation growth must balance connectivity, community impact and environmental responsibility. It recognises the impact of aircraft noise and operates under some of the UK’s most stringent noise controls.
LCY’s Noise Action Plan sets out clear measures to monitor, manage and reduce noise and the airport continues to work with airline partners to accelerate the introduction of new generation, significantly quieter aircraft.
Regarding employment, LCY is the largest private sector employer in the London Borough of Newham with over 2,100 employees onsite. Around 640 of these people are direct London City Airport employees and over two-thirds of our employees live in the local area.
Murray noted that for LCY, it is very important to support young people and explained that the airport works with schools to showcase aviation and to support young people’s ambitions, showing them what an aviation career could look like for them and the different channels that they can pursue.
It is also clear that for young people, this is certainly a very exciting time to join London City Airport, with so many significant developments in the pipeline. And with the airport’s 40th anniversary approaching next year, it is certain LCY will continue to grow and expand its work on further development.
