City Airport is hitting new heights

MORE passengers are flying out of Docklands than ever before, according to latest figures from London City Airport.

The business travel hub reported a 17% leap in passenger numbers to 155,000 in September, its busiestever month. Managing director Richard Gooding said the continuing strong demand for business travel to 22 UK airports and European short-haul destinations will see City airport hit five million passengers a year within a decade, making it about a quarter the current size of Stansted.

Having reported a 12% rise in passengers to 820,000 in the first half of the year, the airport is firmly on track to beat the previous annual record of 1.6m, the level at which it stalled after the decline in business travel post-9/11.

The airport, controlled by Irish entrepreneur Dermot Desmond, should go through a seismic shift next year when it is linked to the Docklands Light Railway. That will cut the journey time from Bank in the heart of the City to 20 minutes, with trains running every 10 minutes.

'We are confident that we will remain the London airport for the business traveller, especially as next year we will launch the most frequent airport rail link, putting us firmly on the public transport map,' said Gooding.