Latest data reveals that more than half of the journeys taken from London City airport last year can be reached in six hours or less by train.
The Labour government is said to be preparing to make the final call on the airport’s application to significantly increase its passenger numbers. The airport wants to increase capacity from 6.5 million to 9 million passengers a year by putting on more weekend and early morning flights.
The analysis, undertaken by the New Economics Foundation thinktank (NEF) and the environmental charity Possible, found that destinations served by the airport were mostly in mainland Europe and could be reached easily by train.
It found that 43.7% of the airport’s destinations could be reached in under five hours, 54.1% in under six and 66.2% in under eight. The most popular routes – including Amsterdam, which made up 15% of the airport’s flights in 2023 and Edinburgh, which made up 10% – can be reached quickly by train: Amsterdam takes four hours and Edinburgh four hours and 20 minutes.
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The Climate Change Committee has recommended that there should be no net airport expansion in the UK if the country is going to meet its legally binding target of net zero emissions by 2050. The airport is owned by Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, the Kuwait Investment Authority, and a group of Canadian pension funds.
Dr Alex Chapman, a senior economist at the NEF, said: “The new government is keen to cut planning red tape and get the country building, but not all proposals are made equal. New developments can’t come at the expense of the climate or low-income communities.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
