London City International Airport is located in the heart of London, enabling convenient access to the city for some 3.5 million passengers per year. Because of its location, the airport requires a steeper approach path of 5.5 degrees, compared to the standard 3 degree glide slope. This in turn requires airlines to operate specially certified aircraft with specially trained crews.
As of last month, the number of certified aircraft has grown by one, allowing operations by the Embraer E195-E2, the largest aircraft to now operate at London City.
On March 26th at 12:01 local time, Helvetic Airways’ first scheduled flight operated by an Embraer E195-E2, configured for 134 passengers in single class, arrived at London City International Airport. After a short ceremony, the aircraft, registered HB-AZI, departed for Zurich at 13:51 local time, where it landed at 16:01 local time after a one hour and 10 minute flight (LX 456/457).
Airlines
London City is served by eleven European airlines. Air Dolomiti, Aurigny, British Airways, Helvetic Airways, ITA Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Loganair, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Luxair and Swiss International Air Lines currently operate at LCY.
British Airways is the main carrier at London City Airport, flying mainly with BA CityFlyer Embraer 190s, seating 106 passengers. The airline has 20 aircraft of this type in its fleet and, in accordance with our database, between six and eight are based at London City.
The British company has services to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Chambéry, Dublin, Edinburgh, Florence, Frankfurt, Geneva, Glasgow, Ibiza, Málaga, Milan Linate, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Rotterdam, San Sebastián and Zurich, with France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom the markets offered.
As can be seen in the following graph, London City Airport had more than 2,500 scheduled flights during the last month, with Friday, April 3rd being the busiest day with the highest number of services operated (110).
London City routes
| Destination | Weekly flights | Aircraft | Airline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam (AMS) | 33 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Amsterdam (AMS) | 48 | Embraer 190 | KLM |
| Barcelona (BCN) | 4 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Belfast (BHD) | 17 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Berlin (BER) | 21 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Chambéry (CMF) | 2 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Dublin (DUB) | 38 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Edinburgh (EDI) | 40 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Florence (FLR) | 15 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Frankfurt (FRA) | 17 | Embraer 190 | Air Dolomiti |
| Frankfurt (FRA) | 16 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Geneva (GVA) | 5 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Glasgow (GLA) | 26 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Guernsey (GCI) | 17 | ATR 72-600 | Aurigny |
| Ibiza (IBZ) | 7 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Isle of Man (IOM) | 8 | ATR 72-600 | Loganair |
| Luxembourg (LUX) | 29 | Dash 8 | Luxair |
| Málaga (AGP) | 6 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Mallorca (PMI) | 4 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Milan (LIN) | 13 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Milan (LIN) | 32 | Airbus A220 | ITA Airways |
| Nice (NCE) | 9 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Rome (FCO) | 12 | Airbus A220 | ITA Airways |
| Rotterdam (RTM) | 19 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| San Sebastián (EAS) | 2 | Embraer 190 | British Airways |
| Vilnius (VNO) | 5 | Embraer 190 | LOT |
| Zurich (ZRH) | 16 | Embraer 190 | British |
| Zurich (ZRH) | 10 | Airbus A220 | Swiss |
| Zurich (ZRH) | 14 | E190/E195-E2 | Helvetic |
According to our database, Air Peace, Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, Binter Canarias, Helvetic Airways, KLM CityHopper, LOT Polish Airlines, Porter Airlines, Royal Jordanian and TUIfly Belgium are the airlines having Embraer E195-E2 in their fleet.
In addition to Helvetic, with respect to companies operating at London City, KLM CityHopper and LOT Polish Airlines will be able to fly from Amsterdam and Vilnius, respectively, using these larger aircraft, adding capacity without adding frequency. Binter Canarias and TUIfly Belgium are other European airlines with E195-E2s, but both do not have services to London City.
Flights
More than 60% of London City Airport’s flights are performed by British Airways, being the only operator on 15 routes. Guernsey, Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Rome and Vilnius are the connections offered by other airlines, with Aurigny, Loganair, Luxair, ITA and LOT Polish Airlines, respectively.
From the 95 daily flights approximately (except Saturdays and Sundays), British Airways has between 50 and 60. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and ITA Airways are other major operators at LCY, averaging five daily flights.
By 2025, taking into account the last month, London City Airport could be ending up with around 30,000 scheduled flights (30,000 arrivals and 30,000 departures), giving a total of 60,000 movements. The current record for movements is held by 2008, with over 94,000, while the passenger record, achieved in 2019, is 5.1 million. In 2024, 3.57 million passengers traveled through London City.
Cover photo: n94504 – JetPhotos (London City Airport – EGLC – United Kingdom)
