[UPDATED] More retail stores are expected to reboot their operations at London City Airport (LCY) in line with passenger demand after the first flight took off this week after almost three months.

As reported, routes to key UK cities and regions are tipped to recommence first followed by international flights from early July.

“To begin with, we have very few flights and passengers – presently there is only one flight a day, to the Isle of Man,” an LCY spokesperson told TRBusiness.

“We currently have Boots open airside, and car hire available with Avis and Hertz taking pre bookings. Our commercial team is working closely with all of our retail and food and beverage partners to prepare to reopen as more flights resume, more passengers travel and demand increases.”

MORE AIRLINES ROUTES

The single terminal houses a number of retail concessions including Boots, WHSmith, Aspinal of London, Dixons Travel, Tumi, The Watch Collection, plus Lagardère Travel Retail’s Aelia Duty Free outlet.

Ordinarily, the airport handles around five million passengers per year and it exceeded this total in 2019.

It says it continues to work closely with its airline partners to re-establish routes, with more due to be announced in the coming weeks.

British Airways launched the airport’s first scheduled flight this week since commercial and private flight operations were suspended on 25 March in response to the escalating coronavirus (Covid-19) situation.

The London to Isle of Man service took off on 21 June. Loganair is expected to fly to Dundee on 6 July, the same day as Eastern Airways begin flights to Teeside.

KLM has also announced it will resume flights from the airport on 13 July to popular connection Amsterdam.

The route, operated by KLM’s subsidiary Cityhopper, will begin as a single daily service and increase in frequency as demand dictates.

City Airport’s Chief Commercial Officer Richard Hill has hailed KLM’s return as ‘an important milestone’.

Passengers can now purchase BA tickets to a range of destinations such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin, Ibiza, Florence, Málaga and Palma in what is hoped will be a boost to in a boost to regional connectivity and international connectivity.

During the pandemic, the airport has been working hard to implement measures to create a safe environment for passengers and employees.

Terminal access is limited to passengers holding a valid ticket on the day of travel.

Passengers are being asked to wear face coverings in the building with the airport implementing enhanced cleaning protocols; a long-life anti-microbial surface treatment called Zonitise is being used throughout the airport.

Accompanying this are touch-free hand sanitiser stations; one-way systems; perspex screens in areas such as check-in; clear signage and floor markings; automatic temperature-checking technology; and the use of face masks, visors and gloves by airport staff.

PROJECTS CONTINUE

Last year, the airport shared plans for its £500 million/$644 million investment into the new 51,000sq m terminal to boost capacity while uprating the travel experience.

A new departures lounge will feature more than double the provision of shops, restaurants and facilities and is set to unveil by the time the new terminal building completes in 2022.

The existing terminal measures 17,000sq m. Combined, the new facility will span a total area of 68,000sq m – four times the size of the current facility – with commercial floorspace taking 5,000sq m.

Accompanying this will be a fresh arrivals hall, with additional café and retail options and check-in, security, baggage claim and gate lounge areas.

“Work on the City Airport Development Programme continued during the temporary suspension of commercial operations at the airport,” confirmed the spokesperson.

“While programmes and on-site processes were carefully reviewed in light of the public health situation, significant progress was able to be made with flights suspended – in particular on new aircraft stands and the parallel taxiway – a bit of a silver-lining for this very dark cloud.

“We are progressing with a number of current projects underway. With respect to the longer-term development programme, we are waiting to see what the rest of the year brings for aviation and the economic recovery, and will make a decision at that stage.”

All images courtesy of London City Airport.