Robert Sinclair said a £480million expansion plan will help secure the transport hubs future. It is now used by just as many holidaymakers as business travellers

By Laura Enfield

London City Airport’s recently appointed CEO said the future of the transport hub was in no way reliant on securing a Crossrail station.

Robert Sinclair took over the helm in November as work began on a £480million project to radically expand and change the Royal Docks facility.

The development will include a parallel taxiway, seven extra aircraft stands and a 40,000sq m expansion of the terminal.

The New Zealand native said it would create a “significant new airport” for the capital, boosting annual passenger numbers to 6.5million.

The airport was originally built to deal with up to a million passengers, but in 2017 was used by more than 4.5million and continues to see a growthe in the number of holidaymakers coming through its doors.

“It has historically been seen as a business airport but we are seeing our passenger mix change,” said the West India Quay resident.

“In fact it is almost 50-50 now. In the third quarter of last year we actually handled more leisure passengers for the first time ever.

“We think that’s a positive dynamic because, while we will absolutely continue to serve the business community in Canary Wharf and such, we are becoming more of a mainstream airport.”

The father of two teenage boys was attracted to Docklands by the “scale of the opportunity” he sees.

He said: “It’s not the biggest airport in the world but it’s right at the heart of the capital and that’s incredibly exciting. I consider this the best city in the world.

“It’s a time of potential transformation for the airport through the major redevelopment project.

“But also we are seeing aircraft types changing, increased population on our doorstep and what that means for businesses and residents around us, improvements in surface access with Crossrail coming our way and improvements to the DLR and the continued growth of Canary Wharf.

“There are some clouds on the horizon in terms of Brexit, but the fundamentals of air travel from London over the long term will remain strong.”

He has also taken over work started by former CEO Declan Collier to try and secure a Crossrail station at London City.

A feasibility study has begun and Robert said he would be working with the DfT and Newham Council to try and right the “missed opportunity” by the time the development project is complete.

However, he said it would be complementary rather than essential to the airport’s success.

“Crossrail is going to open up connections in the east and that’s changing the dynamic for London City as it means more people will choose to live and work in this area and we will be their closest airport,” he said.

“Our plans are not predicated on a Crossrail station being here.

“The airport system in London is incredibly congested and mostly at capacity so we feel very confident with the development and connections we have we will be successful with or without one.”

Born and raised in Auckland, Robert has had a love of aviation since childhood and earned his pilots licence as a teenager.

Short-sightedness put paid to a career with an airline, so he trained as a lawyer and later an accountant, spending a decade with UBS in investment banking.

“I learnt a lot about finance and funding and transport infrastructure, which is incredibly useful now,” said Robert.

“One of my clients was Auckland International Airport and when their CFO resigned they asked if I was interested in the job.

“It seemed a brilliant opportunity to marry up those two things that were precious to me, aviation and a job where I could actually do something, make something, change something.

“That’s what I love about airports, you can build something tangible.”

He moved to the UK to take up a role as CEO of Bristol Airport in 2008, overseeing a £160million development programme which he said would stand him in good stead during the four years of building works at London City.

“The challenge is going to be operating the airport while building one at the same time,” said Robert.

“The development is quite transformative and I don’t think people will recognise the new London City Airport once it is finished. It will be a new airport on completion.

“That said, a lot of the work is outside the existing terminal so we will be doing as much as possible to ensure the customer experience won’t be impacted.

“There won’t be any changes to flights at all.”

Around 1,000 contractors will be on site over the next few months preparing to drive new piles into the docks with divers undertaking safety checks and a fish sanctuary created.

Robert said passengers wouldn’t notice changes to the terminal until 2021 when it would triple in size with a new departure lounge and baggage system created.

It will make the transport hub capable of handling up to 6.5million passengers a year and an extra 300,000 flights, allowing it to boost leisure routes.

“We connect Europe and, increasingly, the world, which is an interesting changing dynamic we have seen in the last year or so,” said Robert.

Three new airlines commenced operation at the airport in 2017- KLM, TAP Portugal and VLM Airlines with routes added to Lisbon, Manchester, Prague, Reykjavik and Skiathos.

TAP is also set to start a six-times-a-week Porto service from March 25.

The top five routes by passenger numbers were Amsterdam (595,000), Edinburgh (483,000), Dublin (468,000), Zurich (401,000) and Milan Linate (247,000).

Robert’s favourite spot is by the runway watching planes and passengers arriving and leaving.

He doesn’t have much time for flying himself these days, starting at 8am and sometimes not finishing until 10pm but said the hard work was worth it.

“It’s long days but surrounded by a really good team,” he said.

“Kiwis by our nature are quite personable and I’m a Jack of all trades and like to have a transparent form of leadership and be clear about where we are going.

“London City has an amazing opportunity right now to really rethink its vision for what it does and can do, not just for the east but the whole of London.”

Go to londoncityairport.com for more information.