This report by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) argues the case for closing London’s City Airport and redeveloping the site to create jobs, boost local business and build new homes. It asserts that the airport:
- creates little added value – Despite occupying 500,000 square metres at the heart of London, its direct contribution to the UK economy in 2011 was £110m – less than a fifth of the nearby ExCeL Exhibition and Conference Centre.
- costs jobs in the area – the airport has never delivered on initial jobs promises and its safety crash zone limits business development across a 3 mile radius. The extra 1500 jobs from current plans to expand City Airport compare with the 9,000 jobs expected to result from the nearby Silvertown Quays development.
- places all of the costs on local residents but does not allow them to collect any of the benefits – the average salary of a London City Airport passenger is over £90,000, while 40 per cent of Newham residents earn less than £20,000. Eighteen thousand nearby residents suffer high levels of noise pollution and poor air quality.
- is no longer needed by the London transport network – City Airport’s passengers account for just 2.4 per cent of London’s total flight demand, and its numbers could be readily absorbed by Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted. By 2019 Crossrail will allow City workers to reach Heathrow in just 30 minutes.
The report concludes that that need to cut noise, pollution and carbon emissions and tackle economic and social inequalities demands urgent reform of how aviation is managed in the UKs cities. This study from NEF argues that London City Airport as an unproductive use of precious inner city land and calls for it to be closed at the soonest opportunity.