Growth stalls at London City
13.07.08
London City Airport is expecting a slowdown in growth this year as the global financial crisis takes its toll, but still expects a 12 to 15 percent rise compared to last year, to around 3.4 million passengers. The airport's Chief Executive Richard Gooding told Reuters in an interview: ‘It's slower, but not going backwards,’ adding that in 2007 growth was 23 percent.
He said: ‘The froth has come off it ... but when the current financial crisis ends passenger numbers will really start growing again,' noting that the airport expected to treble in size to 9 to 10 million passengers by 2030.
London City is more sensitive to corporate passengers' habits than other UK airports, as 70 percent of its passengers are business travellers. Mr Gooding told Reuters that it is currently unclear whether the consumer spending downturn would also have an impact on passenger numbers, as many holiday-makers would have bought their tickets well in advance. He said: ‘If we see a downturn in leisure travel, it will be later in the year.'
Mr Gooding said the British Airways business class-only route to New York planned for next year could shape the future of the airport, as it could pave the way for more 'medium haul' travel to locations such as Dubai and Moscow. He said: ‘It's a very interesting and innovating thing to do. It opens up a number of new horizons for us which otherwise would not have been there.'
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