London City

British Airways launches new yuppie flight amidst protests

By Richard on 30/09/2009
Tags:

Protestors were out in force when City Airport’s first transatlantic flight to New York took off at 12.50 yesterday. Local group Fight the Flights was joined by supporters from Plane Stupid and HACAN to protest about the new all-business class flight which sends a handful of yuppie scum to New York and - most irritatingly - brings them back again afterwards.

The campaigners - dressed as City yuppies - had come together to celebrate sarcastically at London City Airport with banners proclaiming 'We love carbon emissions' and 'global warming is cool' and also making a lot of noise using whistles, drums and horns.

Alan Haughton, from Fight the Flights said, "We had a lot of fun but the message was deadly serious. The super-rich are getting pampered. The super-poor are under the flight path getting the noise and pollution. No wonder people are angry."

Elizabeth Baines, from Plane Stupid, said, "This makes a mockery of all BA’s claims that they want to cut their emissions. This sort of flight should have no place in a world threatened by climate change."

Photo by Mini Mouse. You can see more at his gallery.

London City Airport gets a makeover

By Anna on 25/09/2009
Tags:
Source: Flickr

Q: What do you get if you take an idiotic government policy, add a dash of self serving business interest, a sprinkle of corruption, a handful of cash incentives and a short sighted local council, rub them all together and leave them to bake in one of the poorest boroughs in London?

A: London City Airport!

When central government asked all airports in the country to figure out the most effective way to shit on local communities whilst increasing carbon emissions as much as humanly possible – otherwise known as putting together an airport masterplan – London City Airport's owners, Global Infrastructure Partners, began rubbing their grimey money-grabbing palms together with glee. Their time had surely come!

And to be honest, they're doing a pretty good job of taking the piss. Heathrow's third runway may be threatening to bulldoze 700 homes, create a carbon emitting monolith and wipe out any possibility of meeting any climate change targets whatsoever. But do BAA have the self serving arrogance of LCA's owners with their audacious claims that a 50% increase in air traffic from City Airport - achievable only by enticing the business elite to pump increasing levels of noxious emissions and noise across one of the poorest and most polluted areas of London - will actually benefit the local community?

Luckily, even though the airport has bought out the local council (or is it that the councillors have bought the airport?...), and despite their determination to bribe the local community and ignore the fact that we're heading for climate catastrophe, the rest of us are fortunate enough to be able to see through their lies.

So it comes as no surprise that City Airport has been getting a bit of a makeover lately. A little reminder that this battle has only just begun. They'd better watch this space...

Anthill Mob send message to LCA frequent flyers

By Richard on 03/09/2009
Tags:

Passengers flying over East London now have a new landmark to spot. A group of activists known as the Anthill Mob left the Camp for Climate Action earlier this week, climbed a 100ft tor in Thamesmead and sprayed 'Climate Crime' in indelible paint.

The message - believed to be large enough to see from aircraft flying overhead - comes as a gentle reminder to passengers to stop flying so bloody much. London City Airport recently received local authority permission to expand its commercial flights from 80,000 to 120,000. The airport aims to increase this total to 176,000 by 2030, despite vocal and organised opposition by local people.

A spokeswoman for the group, Penny Pitstop, said that "We are only months away from talks in Copenhagen and big business cannot get away with thinking it can pollute its way out of carbon reduction."

The high-flying habits of the wealthy often come at a severe cost to local residents. Newham - where London City Airport is based – is one of the most economically deprived areas of England. Residents not only fail to reap any significant benefits from the airport but they’re having to deal with the ground level impact including high rates of asthma and respiratory diseases, as well as constant noise.

"It’s now increasingly the champagne-sippers of society who can afford to maintain their commitment to the aviation industry. This is particularly so at London City Airport where most of the flights are business-related," Pitstop continued.

London City Airport: lies, damn lies, and airport expansion!

By Anonymous on 11/05/2008
Tags:

London City airport

London City Airport (LCA) is a small airport with big ideas. It submitted an application to expand flights by 50%; another application (due in June) will take flights to 176,000 by 2010. LCA claims to have brought prosperity to Newham but walking from North Woolwich to Silvertown shows no sign of it: roaring jets over head, no open spaces for recreation, a poor bus service, streets full of derelict buildings and a constant stream of taxis and chauffeur driven cars bound for the airport. The 'prosperity' LCA is so proud of arrives and departs in a car, leaving nothing for Newham residents - apart from the fumes and noise and inconvenience.

London City Airport and Newham Council claim to have carried out "extensive consultations", but many residents who live in the Royal Docks and surrounding areas have no idea about the expansion plans. They claim that the 50% increase in flights would only affect a very small area - wishful thinking, as the expansion will extend the noise contours over 26,000 residents in east and south-east London. Newham already has the worst housing shortage in the country and the highest asthma mortality levels in under 30s in the whole of the country - how much more suffering can the Council heap on it's constituents?