More flights from London City Airport… but not on Saturday afternoons
Cornerstone Climate, Public Law and Judicial Review, Planning and Environment
Yesterday, a decision was published on behalf of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Transport to allow an increase in passenger capacity at London City Airport from 6.5 million to 9 million passengers per annum.
However, in allowing the appeal, the Secretaries of State agreed with the recommendation in the Inspectors’ Report that one of the most controversial aspects of the airport’s expansion proposals – the plan to remove the present curfew on Saturday afternoon flights – should not be allowed. The Inspectors considered that the removal of the curfew would represent a material impact on local residents which could not be satisfactorily mitigated (IR §§14.98, 14.100) and that the economic benefits from the scheme would not be substantially undermined if the Saturday afternoon curfew remained in place (IR §14.210). The Secretaries of State agreed, concluding that the appeal proposals without the removal of the curfew would be in line with development plan policies and national aviation policy, but that removal of the curfew would be in conflict with the development plan overall (DL §§27-28).
The expansion proposals were the subject of a three-week inquiry which concluded in January 2024 and heard evidence on the noise, economic and climate change impacts of the proposal. In considering the climate impacts of the scheme, the Secretaries of State agreed with the Inspectors that the proposed increase in passenger capacity at the airport would comply with national policy on aviation growth and climate change, including the Aviation Policy Framework and the Jet Zero Strategy. Although they considered that the Mayor of London’s 2030 climate targets signified a “direction of travel for future London policy”, they noted that it did not have statutory weight (DL §18).
This decision is the first on aviation expansion from the new government and suggests that there will be no immediate departure from the general policy support for aviation growth seen under the previous government, although it remains to be seen what the new government’s response will be if the Climate Change Committee repeats its previous recommendation that no airport expansions should proceed until a UK-wide capacity management framework is in place to assess annually and, if required, control sector CO2 emissions and non-CO2 effects.
Estelle Dehon KC and Lois Lane represented the Rule 6 Party HACAN East, who opposed the scheme, instructed by Ricardo Gama of Leigh Day.
For more coverage of the decision see the BBC News website, the Financial Times, and the Guardian.
