<p>Anne Doyere is helping to lead London City’s resurgence, as the compact airport – loved by devotees for its convenience and short check-in times, not to mention spectacular approaches – looks to restore and build on its pre-Covid passenger numbers.</p>
<p>A Frenchwoman who “fell in love with London” as an exchange student and ended up working there for Air France before her current employer “came knocking” in 2012, Doyere is tasked as aviation director with promoting the Docklands airport to airlines and local businesses.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.flightglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/007_ANNE_DOYERE_220328_LCY_ABK-1-1024x669.jpg" /></p>
<p><em>Doyere: Customers love London City’s frequencies and the convenience it offers</em></p>
<p><em>Source: London City Airport</em></p>
<p>She is confident the airport – conceived in the Thatcher era as part of the redevelopment vision for London’s down-at-heel docks and due to celebrate its 40th birthday next year – can continue to expand its appeal.</p>
<p>This is despite the fact that passenger numbers – on track to recover to near four million this year – are still significantly below 2019’s 5.1 million. Much of that is down to changing post-pandemic business travel habits, with virtual meetings replacing many short trips.</p>
<p>Another factor is that several operators that offered regular connections from London City before 2020 have either collapsed – in the case of regional carrier Flybe – or, like Aer Lingus and TAP, decided not to restart services.</p>
<h3><strong>LEISURE BOOST</strong></h3>
<p>However, countering this trend has been an increase in leisure traffic, a pattern that started under the reign of last-chief-executive-but-one Robert Sinclair in 2018. These days, those departing London City are as likely to be bound for a Malaga beach as a meeting in Munich.</p>
<p>In fact, 43% of passengers are flying for leisure and 40% for business, with those visiting friends and family making up the rest. London City is still a commerce-oriented airport, but, says Doyere, “it’s a different place to when I joined in 2012”, when business travel represented nearly 70%.</p>
<p>Back then, with occupancy of the nearby Canary Wharf business district rebounding after the financial crisis, and British Airways offering daily all-business-class flights to New York, London City was competing hard with Heathrow for premium travellers.</p>
<p>A limit on aircraft size has held back the potential for leisure to grow further. The largest types permitted are the Airbus A220-100 – although Swiss no longer operates the variant – and Embraer E195-E2, which made its London City debut last year.</p>
<p>British Airways’ transatlantic service, axed in 2020, used an A318, but it was configured with 32 lie-flat seats and, because of London City weight restrictions, stopped at Shannon on the Irish west coast where it refuelled and passengers cleared US immigration and customs.</p>
<p>However, the airport’s latest Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) could loosen the shackles. If approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, aircraft landing at London City could deploy a shallower 4.49° approach instead of the current 5.5° (most UK airports use 3° to 3.5°).</p>
<p>That seemingly small tweak would open London City – which alone among the capital’s five commercial airports has a cluster of skyscrapers just 2.1nm (4km) from the western end of its runway – to the A320neo as soon as this year.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.flightglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/london-city-c-AirTeamImages-scaled.jpeg" /></p>
<p><em>Shallower approach approval would open way for larger types. </em></p>
<p><em>Source: AirTeamImages</em></p>
<p>“Allowing next-generation aircraft is key to our strategy. From having access to about 4% of the market, we would be able to reach 40%,” says Doyere, who adds that permissions for the Boeing 737 Max would likely follow at some point.</p>
<p>In 2024, the new Labour government also cleared the airport – majority owned since last year by Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management – to lift its passenger cap from 6.5 million to 9 million, but without an increase in aircraft movements or significant additional infrastructure.</p>
<p>Doyere insists London City will never compete in the budget travel market with Gatwick, Luton, and Stansted. Instead, its niche will remain “premium leisure”, with many of its regular business users also choosing the airport for holiday flights, she says.</p>
<p>That it is the closest airport for half of all Londoners, and British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa and Swiss offer regular daily connections to European long-haul hubs such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid and Zurich also work in London City’s favour, she maintains.</p>
<h3><strong>ENHANCED INFRASTRUCTURE</strong></h3>
<p>Constructed on a former dock with additional space since claimed from the River Thames, the airport’s ability to expand its footprint is limited, but London City has been investing in its terminal building and other infrastructure, and plans further enhancements in anticipation of the ACP taking effect.</p>
<p>In January 2021, it became the first major airport in the UK to be overseen by a remote air traffic control tower, which is based in Swanwick in Hampshire, 70nm away. That was followed in 2024 by an upgrade to its departure lounge.</p>
<p>One of the most significant changes was the installation in 2023 of an engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) at both ends of its runway. The crushable concrete arrestor bed is designed to decelerate aircraft that overrun the threshold.</p>
<p>The technology effectively extended the runway length 1,500m (4,920ft) from 1,350m, another factor that will make it easier for larger aircraft to operate. London City also plans to install eight remote stands for the A320neo to which passengers will be bussed (there are no boarding walkways).</p>
<p>Describing her job as being a “bridge between the airport, the airlines, and the corporate world”, Doyere says any further expansion of London City will take place “gradually, over 10 years, and in a way that won’t lose its boutique appeal”.</p>
<p>Previously head of sales, she was promoted to the aviation director role in March 2020, just as stay-at-home restrictions were being imposed and the airport was shuttered for 10 weeks. “The anxiety was terrible,” she recalls.</p>
<p>However, “extremely exciting” is how Doyere describes her job today. “Customers love London City’s frequencies and the convenience we offer,” she says. “We just need now to bring in more airlines and passengers. We are underserved.” </p>
<p>A Frenchwoman who “fell in love with London” as an exchange student and ended up working there for Air France before her current employer “came knocking” in 2012, Doyere is tasked as aviation director with promoting the Docklands airport to airlines and local businesses.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.flightglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/007_ANNE_DOYERE_220328_LCY_ABK-1-1024x669.jpg" /></p>
<p><em>Doyere: Customers love London City’s frequencies and the convenience it offers</em></p>
<p><em>Source: London City Airport</em></p>
<p>She is confident the airport – conceived in the Thatcher era as part of the redevelopment vision for London’s down-at-heel docks and due to celebrate its 40th birthday next year – can continue to expand its appeal.</p>
<p>This is despite the fact that passenger numbers – on track to recover to near four million this year – are still significantly below 2019’s 5.1 million. Much of that is down to changing post-pandemic business travel habits, with virtual meetings replacing many short trips.</p>
<p>Another factor is that several operators that offered regular connections from London City before 2020 have either collapsed – in the case of regional carrier Flybe – or, like Aer Lingus and TAP, decided not to restart services.</p>
<h3><strong>LEISURE BOOST</strong></h3>
<p>However, countering this trend has been an increase in leisure traffic, a pattern that started under the reign of last-chief-executive-but-one Robert Sinclair in 2018. These days, those departing London City are as likely to be bound for a Malaga beach as a meeting in Munich.</p>
<p>In fact, 43% of passengers are flying for leisure and 40% for business, with those visiting friends and family making up the rest. London City is still a commerce-oriented airport, but, says Doyere, “it’s a different place to when I joined in 2012”, when business travel represented nearly 70%.</p>
<p>Back then, with occupancy of the nearby Canary Wharf business district rebounding after the financial crisis, and British Airways offering daily all-business-class flights to New York, London City was competing hard with Heathrow for premium travellers.</p>
<p>A limit on aircraft size has held back the potential for leisure to grow further. The largest types permitted are the Airbus A220-100 – although Swiss no longer operates the variant – and Embraer E195-E2, which made its London City debut last year.</p>
<p>British Airways’ transatlantic service, axed in 2020, used an A318, but it was configured with 32 lie-flat seats and, because of London City weight restrictions, stopped at Shannon on the Irish west coast where it refuelled and passengers cleared US immigration and customs.</p>
<p>However, the airport’s latest Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) could loosen the shackles. If approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, aircraft landing at London City could deploy a shallower 4.49° approach instead of the current 5.5° (most UK airports use 3° to 3.5°).</p>
<p>That seemingly small tweak would open London City – which alone among the capital’s five commercial airports has a cluster of skyscrapers just 2.1nm (4km) from the western end of its runway – to the A320neo as soon as this year.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.flightglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/london-city-c-AirTeamImages-scaled.jpeg" /></p>
<p><em>Shallower approach approval would open way for larger types. </em></p>
<p><em>Source: AirTeamImages</em></p>
<p>“Allowing next-generation aircraft is key to our strategy. From having access to about 4% of the market, we would be able to reach 40%,” says Doyere, who adds that permissions for the Boeing 737 Max would likely follow at some point.</p>
<p>In 2024, the new Labour government also cleared the airport – majority owned since last year by Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management – to lift its passenger cap from 6.5 million to 9 million, but without an increase in aircraft movements or significant additional infrastructure.</p>
<p>Doyere insists London City will never compete in the budget travel market with Gatwick, Luton, and Stansted. Instead, its niche will remain “premium leisure”, with many of its regular business users also choosing the airport for holiday flights, she says.</p>
<p>That it is the closest airport for half of all Londoners, and British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa and Swiss offer regular daily connections to European long-haul hubs such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid and Zurich also work in London City’s favour, she maintains.</p>
<h3><strong>ENHANCED INFRASTRUCTURE</strong></h3>
<p>Constructed on a former dock with additional space since claimed from the River Thames, the airport’s ability to expand its footprint is limited, but London City has been investing in its terminal building and other infrastructure, and plans further enhancements in anticipation of the ACP taking effect.</p>
<p>In January 2021, it became the first major airport in the UK to be overseen by a remote air traffic control tower, which is based in Swanwick in Hampshire, 70nm away. That was followed in 2024 by an upgrade to its departure lounge.</p>
<p>One of the most significant changes was the installation in 2023 of an engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) at both ends of its runway. The crushable concrete arrestor bed is designed to decelerate aircraft that overrun the threshold.</p>
<p>The technology effectively extended the runway length 1,500m (4,920ft) from 1,350m, another factor that will make it easier for larger aircraft to operate. London City also plans to install eight remote stands for the A320neo to which passengers will be bussed (there are no boarding walkways).</p>
<p>Describing her job as being a “bridge between the airport, the airlines, and the corporate world”, Doyere says any further expansion of London City will take place “gradually, over 10 years, and in a way that won’t lose its boutique appeal”.</p>
<p>Previously head of sales, she was promoted to the aviation director role in March 2020, just as stay-at-home restrictions were being imposed and the airport was shuttered for 10 weeks. “The anxiety was terrible,” she recalls.</p>
<p>However, “extremely exciting” is how Doyere describes her job today. “Customers love London City’s frequencies and the convenience we offer,” she says. “We just need now to bring in more airlines and passengers. We are underserved.” </p>