London City saw over five million passengers travelling through the airport for the first time last year.
A total of 5,100,025 travellers flew into and out of the airport in 2019, a 6.3 per cent increase on the previous year.
LCY said the figure “has been driven by the launch of new routes combined with additional flights and larger aircraft with more seats on existing routes”.
Amsterdam remains the airport’s most popular route, with 664,621 passengers travelling on the route last year, an increase of 6.9 per cent on 2018. The Dutch city was followed by Edinburgh and Dublin as the second and third most popular destinations.
UK routes fared particularly well, with passengers numbers to Belfast up 14.7 per cent, and those to Glasgow up 10.2 per cent.
Loganair is set to switch its Dundee-London service from Stansted airport to London City in March this year, and British Airways recently announced plans for a new route to San Sebastian starting in July.
LCY also pointed to a “diversification of the airport’s customer base and increased relevance in the leisure market”, with the latest CAA figures showing that leisure travellers now account for 55 per cent of the airport’s passenger traffic.
Commenting on the news Richard Hill, chief commercial officer, said:
“2019 was a very successful year for London City Airport, with increased demand from passengers and airlines, the launch of new routes and expansion of others, and continued high scores for passenger satisfaction. It demonstrates that the combination of speed, convenience, excellent customer service and connectivity to and from the heart of London continues to be a recipe for success.
“That is why we are investing half-a-billion pounds in the transformative City Airport Development Programme to increase capacity and improve our facilities for passengers and airlines. This will ensure we can play a greater role in supporting London as an international destination for business and leisure, while also creating more opportunities for people in East London.
“At the same time, we are working on becoming the most sustainable airport in the UK and our Carbon Neutral accreditation announced last month is a significant milestone in that journey. With progress on so many fronts, and new routes to San Sebastián and Dundee already announced, 2020 is shaping up to be another successful year for London City Airport.”
