Uncertain Year Ahead for London City Airport
As the recession deepens and the credit crunch continues to bite income and profits in the UKs financial services sector continues to depreciate. Profitability in the sector is declining at a record rate with around 55% of city firms reporting a fall.
The CBI have said that there is a ‘clear sign that tightened credit markets are hitting the wider economy’ as the amount of business conducted with manufacturers, retailers and other commercial firms also shrank at a record rate, job losses increased and investment plans were curtailed.
London City Airport is one of the city based services that has been severely affected by the economic downturn. The airport experienced record passenger figures during 2008 with 3.3 million passengers passing using the airport. This represented a massive 12% increase on the figures for 2007. But this continued growth is not likely to be reflected in the figures for 2009.
The increase in passenger figures at London City Airport was brougt about by a number of major airport developments that took place during 2008. In October last year the airport received approval to increase the flight movements from 80,000 to 120,000 per year.
From autumn 2009 British Airways intend to offer the first long haul flights from the airport destined for New York from Autumn 2009. Passengers bound for new york will conveniently be able to go through customs and immigration checks while on stopover at Irelands Shannon airport. Shannon will be the first European airport to be granted pre-clearance facilities for transatlantic flights to North America.
But even with new services like this and the addition of new routes from London City the airport is remaining cautious about the prospects for 2009. By the end of the year the airport will host no less than nine airlines servicing 33 destinations in the UK and Europe and with the 2012 Olympic games just around the corner the airport is poised for great success. But this is very much dependent upon stability returning to the financial services industry.
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