London City Airport Consultative Committee
A selection of documents and pictures highlighting the Airport's history
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London City Airport Consultative Committee |
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A selection of documents and pictures highlighting the Airport's history |
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On this Page:A selection of documents and pictures gathered for the Airport's History Project launched in 2006 {Airport Press Release] Before the Airport |
Early Press Cuttings |
More History Pages: |
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Before the AirportThe black and whie pictures were taken by an officer of the National Air Traffic Services when he visited the site early in 1982. The coloured pictures were found in sorting a box of early papers for the Airport's History Project in 2007 - click the thumbnails to see a larger version
Dash 7 Demonstration - Heron Wharf - 1982
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Copy of Invitation delivered to local residents (727kb) |
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Video Clip taken from an Airport promotional CD (.wmv 724kb) |
- click the thumbnails to see a larger version of the picture of Captain Harry Gee and also these photographs taken on 27th June 1982:
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In 1988 a plaque was unveiled at Heron Quays DLR Station to commemorate the 1982 landings - see page 2 of London City Airport News - Issue 7. This was removed when the station was rebuilt but was restored and unveiled again in June 2005 - see pictures to the right. In the picture on the right (L-R): Richard Gooding (Managing Director, London City Airport), Reg Ward (former Chief Executive London Docklands Development Corporation) and Ian Brown, Managing Director, Docklands light railway - click the thumbails to see a large version |
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In April 1982 the LDDC appointed the Economic and Transport Planning Group to investigate the technical, environmental, and commercial feasiblity of establishing and operating aviation facilities for pasengers and freight from a location or locations within the Docklands. Their report Aviation Market Studies (.pdf 3.03mb) was published in September 1982. The LDDC's press release is reproduced elsewhere on this site
The original public inquiry into Mowlem's proposal to build the airport (then known as the "Stolport") was held between June and October 1983 in a disused Terrapin dock building adjoining the Albert Basin which was specially re-opened for the inquiry. [Note of Pre Inquiry Meeting .pdf 233kb]. The Secretary of States's decision was announced in a letter received in mid August 1984 with which was a copy of the report of the inquiry which took up more than 200 pages:
*Decision Letter (.pdf - 275kb)
*Inquiry Report - Cover page, Contents and Sections 1-7 (.pdf - 1.5mb) - preamble, application site and its surroundings, general historical background, history of current application, planning policies, 'STOL' concept, proposed airport facilities
*Inquiry Report - Sections 8-11 (.pdf - 2.16mb) - proposed airport operations, airports policy and licensing, airspace and safety, aircraft types
*Inquiry Report - Section 12 (.pdf -1.85mb) - noise and pollution
*Inquiry Report - Sections 13-17 (.pdf - 2.07mb) - planning controls and safeguards, surface access, employment, the LDDC's approach to regeneration of the Docklands, the GLC's approach (returning cargo handling to the Royal Docks )
*Inquiry Report - Sections 18-21 (.pdf - 1.32mb) - Newham Borough Council's approach (the residential/community option), the People's Plan, summaries of cases opposing the application
*Inquiry Report - Sections 22-23 (.pdf - 1.19mb) - summaries of cases supporting the application, findings of fact, conclusions and recommendations
*Inquiry Report - Appendices A-D (.pdf - 817kb) - site description (Plymouth Airport), appearances, lists of witnesses, proofs of evidence and appendices, list of documents
Prince Charles laid the Airport's Foundation Stone at a special cerrtemony on 29th May 1986. Here are some pictures of the event found in the LDDC's archive. The event included a low level flypast by a Brymon Dash 7 flown by Captain Harry Gee.
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These pictures were taken by Mr R Bryan of East Ham who worked on the construction of the Airport in 1986/87:
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These pictures showing the works to roof over the dry dock to create the Airport's apron are from the Airport's archive - with thanks to Jonathan Smith for finding them. When the works were completed what had been the dry dock was re-filled with water.
- click the thumbails to see a larger version
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See also the following documents:
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London City Airport - a new approach to city centre travel - 1987 paper by Roger Sainsbury (848kb) |
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London City Airport - 1993 paper by Roger Sainsbury and Don Butler (1.76 mb) |
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Reaching for the Sky - 1998 article by Roger Sainsbury (114kb) |
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Department of Transport Press Release of 19th February 1987 (51kb) recording remarks made by Aviation Minister, Michael Spicer, at a ceremony to mark the completion of the Airport's runway. |
Roger Sainsbury MA, FEng, FICE was the Mowlem's Director chiefly responsible for the Airport. Don Butler, BSc (Eng), ACGI, DIC, MICE is Managing Director of Donald Butler Associates, Consulting Engineers - he was deeply involved in the early design and construction of the Airport.
These pictures were sent to us by William G Billing who, in the early eighties, was Head of Projects and Engineering (Requirements) at HQ National Air Traffic Services. His department was responsible for design and planning of the ATC Visual Control Room (VCR) at the Airport. William comments "The unique problems included keeping it low in height agl, but at the same time ensuring that the Controller could see aircraft making their steep (then 7.5 degrees) approach. Initially, only Dash 7s were envisaged - happily that changed over time. As part of the planning process, a full-scale mock-up was made of the Controllers' desks and evaluated by prospective ATC staff. Operationally, arrangements had to be made for the direction of inbound aircraft by a radar controller then based at Heathrow; LCY became another part of the intricate pattern of air traffic serving the capital." The equipment shown, which served successfully for many years, has since been replaced. - click the thumbails to see a larger version |
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The first aircraft landed at the Airport on 31st May 1987 at a specally organised event to which local people were invited. These pictures were taken by by Mr R Bryan of East Ham who worked on the construction of the Airport - see above.
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See also: *Summer 1987 edition of Brymon News (.pdf 556kb) and London City Airport News - Issue 2 (.pdf 1.39mb)
These aerial photographs were taken in 1987 prior to the opening of the airport
- click the thumbails to see a large version
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These photographs, showing the Airport at its completion in 1987, were sent to us by Nicholas Hopkins who was responsible for public relations at Mowlem's at this time. He was heavily involved in promoting the Airport from 1981 onwards.
- click the thumbails to see a large version
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The picture at bottom right shows Nicholas Hopkins speaking to Sir Philip Beck (Chairman of John Mowlem and Co plc) - right, at the end of the table - with Airport Director, John Douthwaite, and Roger Sainsbury (a Mowlem director) with their backs to the camera.
These splendid first day covers were arranged by members of the British Aerophilatelic Federation to commemorate the start of services from London City Airport on 26th October 1987. At the far right is a link to a note by Peter Little of the BAF explaining in detail how the covers were conceived, designed, printed and posted. It will be noted that 150 covers were produced for the Brymon flight and 149 for that by Eurocity Express - click the thumbails to see a large version |
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On 18 December 1987 London City/Paris services were suspended because of fears expressed by Brymon's Chief Pilot that ATC services were not of a satisfactory standard for a public transport operation. A month later the CAA nominated three approved London City/Paris routeings, all navigationally superior to NATS' initially specified routeing. Passenger services resumed on 20 January 1988, virtually in controlled airspace throughout.
These events had a considerable impact on perceptions of the Airport which took a long time to dissipate. The matter was investigated by the Competition Commission as part of a 1990 inquiry into the supply of navigation and air traffic control services to civil aircraft. An extract from the report is attached
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London City Airport - a Mowlem's brochure (mid 1980s) - 1.7mb |
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A Businessman's Guide to Air Travel Straight from the Heart - a 1987 Eurocity Express Leaflet (606kb) |
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1987 Timetable - Eurocity Express (498kb) |
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The Future of Business Travel - 1987 Brochure of London City Airport (1.44 mb) |
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London City Airport Information Guide 1987 (557kb) |
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London City Airport 1992 Brochure (2.82 mb) |
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London City Airport - a short history by Malcolm Ginsberg (1.45 mb). (Published in December 2005 in connection with the opening of the DLR extension to the Airport) |
At the time of its construction and opening the Airport attracted a good deal of attention in the quality press.
The copyright of these articles lies with the newspaper mentioned
Between 1987 and 1989 the Airport published a series of news sheets which are rich in infomration about the early period of the Airport's history. They are reproduced here - Issue 8 is missing, if anyone has a copy we'd love to copy it for this page!
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London City Airport News - Issue 1 (Spring 1987 - 1.42mb) |
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London City Airport News - Issue 2 (Summer 1987 - 1.39mb) |
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London City Airport News - Issue 3 (Summer 1987 - 1.61mb) |
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London City Airport News - Issue 4 (Early Autumn 1987 - 1.52mb) |
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London City Airport News - Issue 5 (Winter 1987 - 1.56mb) |
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London City Airport News - Issue 6 (Spring 1988 - 1.38mb) |
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London City Airport News - Issue 7 (September 1988 - 1.64mb) |
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London City Airport News - Issue 9 (June 1989 - 1.28mb) |
On 24th July 1988 local residents experienced the BAe 146 when it visited the Airport on a demonstration flight.
- click the pictures to see a larger version
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The British Aerospace 146 and London City Airport - British Aerospace 146 brochure (2.09mb) |  |
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Video Clip taken from an Airport promotional CD (.wmv 387kb) |
The public inquiry into the Airport's October 1989 application to extend the runway. and vary a number of conditions of the earlier planing permission, started in July 1990 and ended in January 1991. The Secretary of States's decision was announced in a letter received in September 1991 with which was a copy of the report of the inquiry which ran to more than 100 pages:
* Secretary of State's Decision Letter (.pdf 479 kb)
* Inquiry Report - pages 1 to 26 (.pdf, 1.13mb)
* Inquiry Report - pages 27 to 50 (.pdf, 1.10mb)
* Inquiry Report - pages 51 to 76 (.pdf, 1.18mb)
* Inquiry Report - pages 77 to 100 (.pdf, 1.06mb)
* Inquiry Report - Appearances and Documents (incomplete) - .pdf 387kb
To celebrate its 10th anniversary in October 1997 the Airport published and 80 page Birthday Book. This is reproduced here without the full-page advertisements - 48 pages in all:-
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Pages 1-6 (2.61mb) | |
Pages 7-12 (3.75mb) |
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Pages 13-18 (2.62mb) | |
Pages 19-24 (2.95mb) |
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Pages 25-30 (3.19mb) | |
Pages 31-36 (2.73mb) |
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Pages 37-42 (2.30mb) | |
Pages 43-48 (2.33mb) |
The London Docklands Development Corporation, which managed the regeneration of London's Docklands between 1981 and 1998, played a leading role in conceiving London City Airport and securing its develepment. Here is a selection of the Corporation's press releases about the Airport:
These press releases are provided by links to the LDDC History Pages - please see the Note on that site concerning the copyright of the LDDC's documents
The airport's consultative committee, an independent body representing the airport's key stakeholders, has operated since before the airport opened for business in October 1987. Its minutes are a rich source of contemporaneous and chronological information for those interested in the airport's history.
The notes of the Steering Group set up in 1986 to establish the Committee are also available - they met on 8th October, 24th October and 17th November 1986 and on 28th January, 26th March, 6th April and 23rd April 1987
| 1987 | - June, Aug, Sept, Nov, Dec | 1998 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1988 | - Jan, Feb, Apr, May, Jul, Aug, Sep, Nov | 1999 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1989 | - Jan, Mar, Apr, May, Jul, Sep, Nov | 2000 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1990 | - Jan, Mar, March*, May, Jul, Sep, Nov | 2001 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1991 | - Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov | 2002 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1992 | - Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov | 2003 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1993 | - Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov | 2004 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1994 | - Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Oct | 2005 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1995 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct | 2006 | - Jan, Feb*, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1996 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct | 2007 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct |
| 1997 | - Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct | 2008 | - Jan, Apr |
* Special meeting
We are grateful to Malcolm Ginsberg for providing these photographs. He was a member of Brymon's Executive Board from 1984 until 1990 and was responsible for external affairs.
- click the pictures to see a larger version
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| Brymon's Chief Pilot Cpt Harry Gee | (l to r) Tony Auld, Carol Bolton and Robert Hardless who was Brymon's Marketing Manager for South East England | Brymon group at Amsterdam with a Dash 7 in the background. On the left (with the umbrella) is Bruce Unsted who was a senior member of the Airport's staff |
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| Charles Stuart | Charles Stuart (left) with Malcolm Naylor | Robert Hardless (left) with Michael Portillo MP and Leanne McCully |
The late Charles Stuart became Brymon's Chairman in 1983 when Bill Bryce, co-founder of the airline, became financially over-extended and sold out to the Plimsoll Line. Malcolm Naylor was the Managing Director - he now manages Air SouthWest for Sutton Holdings. Robert Hardless was Brymon's Sales Direcotor but in 1992 left to form the the RHA Group specialising in marketing, public relations, representation and consultancy services to the travel and tourism industry with a particular emphasis on aviation. Tony Auld was Brymon's Station Manager at LCY - he is now CEO of Atlantic Airlines based at Coventry. Carol Bolton was in Customer Services at LCY.
Here are some of the other pictures we have collected for the project - other contributions would be most welcome
- click the pictures to see a larger version
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| Bill Lindsell, airport director, on the ramp with the Duke of Kent | A 1987 briefing for Newham's mayor (Cllr Jack Clow) and his daughter - left Peter Polish (LDDC), Bill Lindsell, John Douthwaite - right Nicholas Hopkins and Stuart Innes (LDDC) | A 1982 aiport progress meeting at LDDC - adjourned to the car park when the building was evacuated. | Aerial view of apron - July 1989 |
There is an Edd the Duck video item on YouTube which makes use of London City Airways footage with pictures of their Dash 7 aircraft - click here
Since October 2005 the Airport has distributed a community newsletter to local homes three times per year. So far there have been six editions:
Starting in 2004 the Airport has published a periodic overview of its Community and Environmental Programmes. So far there have been two editions:
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Community and Environment Review 2004 (907 kb) | |
Community and Environment Review 2007 (1.66 kb) |
This important extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which runs from Canning Town to the Airport and on to North Woolwich, opened for passenger services on Friday 2nd December 2005.
The DLR's Monitoring Report for the first year of operation was published in July 2007.A scanned copy of the report London City Airport Extension - Monitoring Report -Year One (.zip 8.26mb) can be downloaded by clicking the link.
Here are the supporting documents submitted with the Airport's application to vary the limits in the airport planning permission so as to increase to 120,000 the number of permitted flights. The application did not seek permission to construct any new facilities.
An independent Consultative Committee established by London City Airport pursuant to Section 35 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982
Chairman: John Adshead Secretary: Stuart Innes
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Page last modified:15th April 2008
