London City Airport is reopening to the public today after being closed to commercial flights for nearly three months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The airport has introduced a series of new safety and hygiene measures as part of efforts to curtail the Covid-19 crisis, including enhanced cleaning, limiting terminal access to those with a ticket and mandatory face coverings.
Its first flight following the restart will be operated by Loganair on behalf of BA CityFlyer from the Isle of Man and is due to land shortly after 6pm.
Initial routes will mainly be restricted to those within the UK and Ireland, with services to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin expected to return next month.
New routes to Teesside and Dundee will be launched on July 6 while flights to sunshine destinations such as Ibiza, Florence, Malaga and Palma are likely to resume in the coming weeks.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “It is hugely encouraging to see new flight routes connecting Dundee and Teesside to the heart of the UK’s financial sector.”
The resumption of operations comes after London City’s runway was closed to commercial and private flights on March 25 due to the collapse in demand and travel restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
The airport has been available to Government agencies and the military during the crisis, however.
The results of a survey of 4,700 London City customers published earlier this week suggested that 79 per cent are very likely or quite likely to fly when they are told by the Government and airports or airlines that it is safe to do so again.
Robert Sinclair, chief executive of the airport, said the poll shows passengers have “a desire to not only enjoy a holiday soon after nearly three months of lockdown, but to get back to business travel as well”.
Last year it was the UK’s 12th busiest airport, handling 5.1m passengers.
Its location in east London, close to the capital's financial district, means the airport is particularly popular with business travellers.
