[manxman123]

just a few comments from a regular traveller through LCY:
1.Access is easy and reliable via the DLR. Much quicker and more convenient to get to for many of us than LHR or LGW
2. There is free wifi.
3. BA do not check your ID at the gate for domestic flights
4. Arriving passengers get their baggage very quickly. (not like at LGW where I have had to wait over an hour!

BUT it is certainly a lot more congested, and I think the free shoeshine service has been suspended. I always travel without a checked bag, so can’t comment on the check-in queues.
AND if you happen to leave your phone or laptop in security, they make no attempt to find you – they just put it in a big box and wait for you to come and claim it (and they have a LOT of them in that box – I know because I went back when I realised I’d left it behind).

[Charles-P]

There is a plan for expansion at LCY.

Under the expansion, LCY plans extension of the existing terminal, seven new aircraft parking stands to accommodate larger aircraft; and a parallel taxilane to optimise runway capacity during peak hours. The expected passenger numbers rise from the existing 70,000 per year to 120,000.

The plan is being opposed by the usual protest groups and is being reviewed by Newham Council.

[AMcWhirter]

I am a fan of LCY and have followed the airport closely ever since it opened in 1987. So I was surprised to read about the overcrowding, queues etc.

When it opened LCY was a white elephant. There were only a handful of routes and just two airlines, Brymon (later taken over by BA) and London City Airways (part of the then Bmi group), using 40+ seater Dash-7 turbo-props.

At that time, all fares were at full business class levels – even though the Dash-7 flights were slow, noisy and had tight economy class seating. There were no economy and no excursion rates at all. In short you paid for the convenience of using LCY.

On one of the flights I took in the early days, a flight to CDG with Bryon at 0900hrs, I was the only passenger.

In fact there were more inbound than outbound passengers. Daytrip business travellers in mainland Europe appreciated LCY’s access to the City and the hour’s saving (because of the time difference) when flying in from CDG, AMS or FRA.

The opening of Canary Wharf, London’s growth over the years and the congestion at LHR have all been responsible for LCY’s growth.

The airlines responded. The Dash-7s were phased out and in came larger jet aircraft, many more routes and a wide range of tariffs.

But the original terminal and gates were designed for 50 + passengers and not the 100 or so who would later arrive on the BAe146 jets.

Maybe hard to imagine today but before the days of the DLR, LCY was like a boutique airport.

There was at least one airport lounge. But it was hidden away upstairs. smallish and formed part of the original terminal. It was closed when the upper floors of the terminal were extended a few years ago.

[MartinJ]

“(2) If you’re going to “Final Call” a flight, let it not be when I can see it isn’t boarding and can see you’ve not processed half the passengers for it..”

Couldn’t agree more. Just last week I saw an old lady spilling hot coffee over herself as she was making a mad dash to a “last call” gate where boarding hand’t even started. When I questioned the gate agent why this seems to be standard practice she said “so that we have everybody on board quickly”.

[Charles-P]

The “Final Call” trick is one they have used at Brussels for a little while and it is easy to see the difference between the occasional flier and the regular. We who are used to it saunter along as usual while some poor harassed holiday maker runs the length of the terminal only to discover nothing is happening. They have the opposite problem at security screening where the sign warning of the expected waiting time seems to have only two settings “2 minutes” and “10 minutes”. These are used to cover everything from an early morning near deserted security area to when the place is heaving and people are backed up to the moving walkway with a 40 minute delay.

[SimonS1]

These are (I believe) still the latest plans.

http://www.lcacc.org/future/cadp1212.pdf

As far as the ‘final call’ issue is concerned there is a specific requirement for LCY which is to get all the passengers together in the gate room and across to the aircraft in one go. Otherwise as we found last week you get passengers wandering out in dribs and drabs across the zebra crossings and the service road grinds to a standstill. Clearly in other places this isn’t so much of an issue as jetties are used or buses and you don’t have passengers wandering across the tarmac.

[Charles-P]

Simon – I really enjoyed one quote from the report,

“the airport becomes the international gateway to Newham”

Sounds like a Goon show script !

[MarcusGB]

Well, thank you everyone for your input and to share your experiences.
It seems that we have all found the same.

I certainly saw with the decline of Cityjet before AF/KLM sold them off, declining numbers on CJ, greater dissatisfaction, and the cutting of routes. I know immediately they cut the LCY-EDI route, BA double there’s and took the route Business. It was at this time taking a weekly flight to Amsterdam with CJ, and for the Flying Blue Gold membership of Flying Blue, that complaints fell on deaf ears, and i switched to KLM at LHR. Longer, but far cheaper, and real jets, great lou ges, but far more time consuming, my living in North London.

But i noticed Cityjet is miniscule in desk, and assistance airside, and they have substantially declined. As i drove towards the airport i looked over to see 8 BA planes, and 1 CityJet. They have dramatically increased one way fares and fares bought nearer the time, than previously, and frankly, their aircraft were cleaner, bus still not as good as the BA flight i took returning.
they offer an inferior service at LCY, which i think is indicative of their decline.

For the LCY – AMS route, KLM would have been far better to put in their new Embraers, and iw would have been a welcome site, to see the Blue of KLM brighten the airport with their new planes and better service.

There appears to me, to have been a huge take up of these routes and Business by BA, and it is largely their airport now, with the majority of slots, where CJ held these a year ago.

I really was shocked to see it so packed in the Middle hours of the day, and as others mentioned, have breezed through after 11am til 3pm previously.
Not any more!

For me the exit into LCY off a flight remains good but baggage is slower due to more flights. Far more than a year ago with take off and planes coming in at twice the rate as i observed then.

Security departing is a worry, and with snaking queues ready for BA Customers in the departure Hall, i would stand by my view, that now you need at least one hour to depart from LCY, and that may well be a gamble.

It certainly is not what it was, and frankly i find the departure area, a mess.
The restaurant towards gate s 20 etc, was completely empty and you could say 1/3rd of that departure areas space. It is overpriced and not much favoured, and better use could be made of it.

Good for LCY, and BA, but my perception of it , with all you valid views with thanks, means i will add extra time Ex LCY IF i use them, as they certainly cannot say anymore it is a 30 min departure airport, by a long way!

Certainly the Border control area, with the new E Passport gates, i think 4-5, are welcome, but they were slower than at LHR for some reason and i noticed a different design.
It also does not help one staff member shouting at everyone as to how to use one, as if none of us have ever held a passport before or used an electronic gate!!!

I value comments made from you all, so a big thanks for that, and in just 24hrs much input.
Quite a response and all echoing similar experiences!

[MarcusGB]

Re Travelex at LCY…for All BT users information.

Having been quite rudely dealt with at the Airside desk collecting a pre-ordered, prepaid on line exchange, I made a formal complaint by phone to Travelex.

I was told they “We are not proper Travels, we are different, we don’t have the system to award miles…etc” The staff member was rude, unhelpful clearly did not know or could not be bothered about how Travelex function worldwide. I was “Refused” miles to my KLM Flying Blue account. She created such a scene and was so rud,e other people walked away and told me how disgraceful it was to be spoken to and dealt with in this way. around 30 people nearby clearly heard and saw what was going on.

I have been using Travelex for some years at LHR and LCY, also Holland and Australia, and never had such problems.

This was followed up at Head office, and i had two phone discussions, and was promised that “We shall contact their Manager and we are ensuring their procedures are up to date and training. The person concerned will be spoken to also.

So you ARE, entitled to your Airline miles as a loyalty from That desk. They DO, have the capacity to put them through the system.
They are NOT, “Different or no longer Travelex”.
You do NOT have to be spoken to, or dealt with in such a way, and They are taking steps to ensure this does not happen in the future.

If you do experience this, please do contact Travelex and make a formal complaint. the staff member was wrong, contradicting the Policies and procedures of The Company, and the Contract with KLM/ AF Flying Blue.

I aloso used LHR yesterday and the miles and process was very helpful and i got a slip with my miles put through as always.

Don’t put up with rude or knowingly incorrect people when you travel, and stand up for what we know. This is one of the most annoying aspects of travel, when someone does things that you know are completely wrong. If us frequent travellers do not do this, then others will also get the same, and the reputation of a Company also decreases. So as long as it is constructive, i believe in praise as well as criticism.

Please DO remind them at Travelex LCY if you experience such belligerent attitude, rather than service! I hope this benefits others travelling.

[SealinkBF]

OP’s experience of LCY has always been my experience of the airport. Small, hot and cramped… doesn’t stop me using it because it still beats the traipse to Heathrow. But it’s never felt ‘special’!

[MarcusGB]

I agree being based in Far North London.

But allowing 1.5 hrs from getting there to check in, go through security, and be sure to get yr flight, is some change from the 30m minutes viable a year ago.
It certainly is great to fly back into though, if hand luggage you can get out within 10 minutes, and improved now with E passport gates.
Fast become a BA dominated Airport now though, with the demise of Cityjet.
Shame KLM did not put in their own fleet of Embraer’s they would have done very well i think for the Dutch routes.

[MartynSinclair]

From a slightly different perspective, I have a choice next week when my Asia trip ends and I land in AMS.

Back to the UK either LHR or LCY.

LCY wins hands down. Generally luggage takes a few minutes and onto the DLR to Bank, within 10-15 minutes…

Looking forward to trying out the new passport scanners, if they are working…

Hope I am not tempting fate though!!

Outbound, I do prefer Heathrow though…

[MarcusGB]

A good choice Martyn, I have done the same several times, even coming in from Australia. It was quite an anti-climax to a long journey, but quite comforting to land and be home in an hr.

The scanners seemed to be slow, with one broken, and a total of i think 4-5, but still better than those queues snaking down the corridor for the manual checks.

If you collect Skyteam Miles, you would need to book Cityjet via KLM or AF for it to be validated for levels and miles. if you book direct with now independant CityJet you receive no benefits , or membership qualifications at all. As long as you get an AF or KL prefix and ticket with them it goes through. Their tickets, also include baggage, and if you get extra items on the program, but you would have to pay or buy a higher value on CJ, and no lounge access either.
Have a good trip.

[MartynSinclair]

MarcusGB – my choice is BA. Ticket is free (22 Euros I think), due to GREAT European Avios availability and I get 2 checked bags included and I will check both pieces in from AMS to LCY to save hassles going through security.

[AMcWhirter]

The CEO of LCY has mentioned the fact that the airport will soon be handling up to 18 flights a day on the Dublin route.

Cityjet alone is operating eight flights each-way between Monday and Friday. Then of course there’s BA along with the new Flybe service starting next week.

And with Flybe also adding new routes (staring October 27) from LCY to Edinburgh, Belfast, Inverness and Exeter … one wonders how LCY will cope.

[Author]

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