London City Airport is the UK’s leading business airport, with a renowned reputation for speed between kerbside and aircraft, facilitated by efficient departing and arriving processes for the over 3mppa. It operates within a highly constrained site – partly situated above the water of the Royal Docks, directly beside residential areas and Docklands Light Rail infrastructure. 

Pascall+Watson were the design team leaders for the London City Airport Development Programme. The £500m phased development is aimed at increasing the number of aircraft parking stands and enabling a step-change in passenger facilities. 

The programme covers an area of 60.1 hectares and includes a large new Terminal extension to both east and west, a new 3-storey passenger pier, new and upgraded aircraft parking stands, a 260-bed hotel, and a new landscaped multi-modal transport forecourt, as well as multiple enabling projects that support the transformation of this tight site. 

Our innovative design solutions enabled a phased approach that maintained continuous airport operations and revenue generation. By aligning with client aspirations and conducting a thorough optioneering process, we effectively managed the complexities of build phasing and functional constraints. 

Pascall+Watson were key contributors to the programme’s successful planning application, and have since realised the beginnings of the transformation programme such as the temporary goods-in and immigration buildings, as well as the world’s first digital air traffic control tower to operate at a major airport.

In 2015 P+W were awarded the AOA Consultant of the Year Award for our services to London City Airport on the CADP. Since then the Airport have received the 2022 ACI Europe Digital Transformation Award and the 2017 AOA Best Innovation Award for the digital control tower project.