London City has published encouraging traffic figures as it continues to rebuild following the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The airport reported its fourth consecutive busiest week since the start of the pandemic, with March passenger numbers set to be up 40 per cent on February.
LCY also said that it had reached pre-pandemic 2019 levels for business traffic share, representing 46 per cent of passenger journeys, with routes to Edinburgh, Zurich, Amsterdam and Dublin “all seeing strong growth”.
Further ahead the airport will operate to 36 destinations this summer, “nearly” 80 per cent of the figure achieved in 2019.
British Airways is set to launch new routes to Luxembourg and Milan Malpensa (replacing the previous route to Milan Linate) on March 27, with flights to Rotterdam and Nice also resuming.
The new routes and service resumptions mean the carrier will have restored flights to 20 of the 25 destinations that it operated to in 2019.
Meanwhile Italian flag carrier ITA Airways is to launch flights between London City and Milan Linate from March 28, using two Embraer E190 jets wet-leased from German Airways.
ITA Airways to wet lease German Airways Embraer E190s for London City-Milan Linate route
Commenting on the news London City airport’s head of aviation Anne Doyere, said:
“We are delighted to see key routes and strong passenger growth returning to LCY. The demand from customers has given us real confidence heading into the summer this year.
“It’s also testament to the agility of our airlines providing convenient flight times and competitive pricing that benefit our customers.
“The UK Government’s removal of all remaining travel restrictions, including the complicated Passenger Locator Form and all testing requirements, is hugely welcome news for our passengers and will make travel easier again.
“This will help businesses get moving, boosting consumer confidence in travel ahead of Easter and summer, where LCY will be connecting to 36 destinations across Europe and the UK.”