Johnson’s departure removes further hurdles for London City Airport expansion

In one of his first moves as successor to Boris Johnson as Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has removed all objections by Johnson to the proposed expansion of London City Airport (LCY).
The plans are to expand a physically restricted site that would increase the size of the existing terminal and see the creation of a taxiway that would run parallel to the single runway, as well as add to the number of aircraft stands.
One of the problems previously faced is the land on which the stands are located. To create additional stands this land would have to be purchased, but the owner is the Greater London Authority, which meant Johnson could obstruct any sale on the grounds of increased noise pollution and environmental concerns.
The owners of the airport had sought a compulsory purchase order on the land to enable their £300m (US$435m) expansion plan to proceed and the planning enquiry began on May 10, 3 days after Boris Johnson was replaced by Sadiq Khan as London Mayor. As a consequence, Khan removed all objections previously lodged against the application.
According to an LYC spokesperson, “The inquiry will continue, because there are other parties [apart from the GLA] involved in giving evidence, but the GLA was the main objector and we expect to be able to prepare the deal without resorting to a compulsory purchase order.”
The planning inspector in charge of the enquiry is expected to give their decision by the end of June after which it will be submitted to the government for a decision, though it will be combined with the results of another planning enquiry into the actual principal of the airport’s expansion.