Ldnn1

Assad Ahmed just claimed on BBC London that LCY will get a bigger runway. Gotta love the media's attention to detail on aviation stories...

orbitmic

I wouldn't call that a small plane by any stretch of the imagination! I meant small as in LCY small, ie typically E70/E90, which is half the capacity of the midhaul 321.

gw76

why would they do a lounge now given that its worked fine without thus far? when space is such a premium and short checkin lead times will remain the offered advantage

Innocent Abroad

Yes, I understand. I was thinking of something more similar to an A319 but have no idea if this is doable under the current conditions. Anyway, the trip eastbound is quicker so this might be a good starting point.

Camflyer

Can someone explain why there is no Crossrail station at LCY? I seem to remember reading that it was down to some political problems but I can't recall the details.

dnajockey

There will be a walkway and possibly magic carpets a la t5 tunnel to the nearest cross rail station

Forever in Seattle

Why research the facts, that takes effort!

UKtravelbear

Not politics but the practicality of the location of the existing track they are using - lack of a long enough straight section to build a platform - and not much space to build a station at the surface.

Not ideal but you could get crossrail to Woolwich Arsenal then the DLR back to LCY. There will also be a regular bus service to LCY from Custom House Station.

CommanderB

I think only the A318 Babybus can land at LCY... at least according to the list of aircraft I read. I believe the aircraft need a modification to allow for the steeper glide slope too.. although I could be wrong.

TabTraveller

Do you have a source for that or is it an attempted funny?

It seems madness not to have a station at LCY given that the tunnels pass underneath the airport and the airport offered to fund the extra works for the station:

http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-ne...n-lcy-11406486

UKtravelbear

Look at the map in Ian Visits article

Where are they going to build a station?

Just because the tunnels pass underneath part of the airport does not mean it is easy to just build a station

In this article linked from the one you posted -

TFL - “We have not had a formal feasibility study from London City Airport and we are focused on delivering the current project on time and to budget.”

"Mr McLoughlin said the airport would have to show the project required no public money, would not affect Crossrail’s 2018 completion date and would not increase journey times before it could be considered."

"A City Airport feasibility study found that the station would increase journey times by just two-and-a-half minutes and could be built after 2018 without affecting Crossrail."

London_traveller

Where did you get info about a lounge? I haven't seen that in any of the details.

It's also not accurate to state it's worked fine up to now. Having transited through the terminal at 'zoo' times of the day and end up in departures with time to spare, aside from the fact lounges are meant to be a core part of the BA proposition for premium or status travel, doesn't mean all is fine. That aside from getting caught with a delay. With the increase in BA flights and the substantial network coverage from LCY that BA has and will have, it's poor indeed they don't use this expansion opportunity to sort the issue out. The found the will to sort it for the JFK flights quick enough.

It's interesting in the detailed plans there is some considerable space in the main terminal building for airport offices and internal meeting rooms. There's no need at all for them to be located in the main terminal building literally adjacent to the departure lounge, when in fact that would be perfect space for a lounge.

However, it would require a will for BA to invest in something new for its passengers. So obviously it's not going to happen. Missed opportunity though.

Sorry this is a bit ranty. But the apologists for lack of a BA lounge at such a significant location in terms of flights/passengers gets my goat.

Pyros

Completely agree with the lounge argument above. While people generally don't transfer though LCY, flights get delayed often enough, so the (relatively) quick check-in/security process is no excuse.

No Crossrail station is unfortunate, though seeing as Crossrail won't reach T5 either, I think there are larger glaring omissions in the whole project.

TabTraveller

I agree that a lounge would be great. I also agree it is part of BA's proposition and, given the lack of an empty middle seat, it detracts from reasons to fly CE from LCY.

I guess the issue is that there has to be a very high number of CE/OWS/OWE passing through the airport. Most won't bother using the lounge most of the time but during delays / bad weather / holidays I can see there being capacity issues. No doubt this would lead to complaints that the lounge was too full and there were no seats, etc. etc.

One obvious solution would be to just put a mini-CCR in there

Innocent Abroad

I think you're right about the A318 being the only "large" aircraft that is allowed to land in LCY. It seems, anyway, that theoretically a TLV service could be operated by the 318. LCY-TLV is 221,3 miles and LCY-JFK 3472 miles.