After a great breakfast, it was time to continue the tour of the airport - with a walk down to Gate 23/24. Gate 23 is where the BA1/3 services depart. This end of the airport is the interesting bit too - as this is where the planned expansion of the airport will occur - as Gate 23/24 are over water and are built on stilts. To expand gates and extra space, expect more expansion from Gate 24 onwards in the future.
We dropped into Gate 23 - the British Airways Club World London City Airport departure gate.
Gate 23 Departure Lounge
Not flying today... but thank you!
Walking onto the ramp, G-EUNB was resting after its long leg from New York and was being serviced
Ground crew checking G-EUNB out
Meanwhile, LCY arrivals and take offs were abound - this being the rush hour.
London City's major tenants are CityJet (by the number of flights) and BA CityFlyer (by passengers).
By airline alliance it's a slightly different picture with the following breakdown:
- 36% of Traffic is Oneworld traffic (through BA CityFlyer and SunAir for BA)
- 36% is SkyTeam traffic (through CityFlyer, Air France and Alitalia)
- 23% is Star Alliance Traffic (through Lufthansa and Swiss)
- 6% through other operators who are non aligned to a major alliance (Aer Arran, Blue Islands, Luxair and SkyWork)
Whilst the airport has no major maintenance facilities (for the very simple reason - a lack of space), it does allow night-stopping of aircraft so they are in position for the next day.
Checked luggage - although minimal to some hubs is still an important operation at London City Airport as it handles both checked bags and cargo consignments.
Luggage loading/unloaded moving belt... moving.
Luggage at City is much less complex affair, with a luggage going through the check-in belt, then through screening and then onto a reception belt where bags are sorted for flights in one hall. Bags are then consolidated by hand to match up with the manifests.
Luggage then goes out to the plane and consolidated again so numbers tally and matches the fuel estimates that the captain needs to get their plane to the destination.
Whilst not a massive operation, it still is a hive of activity when the airport is active.
Coming up - How do you marshal a plane into a small stand? LCY Shows you how....